On September 8, the Church sings that the Nativity of the Theotokos has “proclaimed joy to the whole universe”. It is easy enough to sing, but somewhat harder now for us to understand. Why, we may ask, did the birth of a baby girl in...
In the late Metropolitan’s Kallistos Ware’s classic The Orthodox Church, he describes the Church as “a continued Pentecost”. This is true, but it is important not to misunderstand his meaning.It is possible to understand the description...
It seems to be commonly held among scholars that the so-called monarchical episcopate (i.e. the system of having one bishop governing a city church with presbyters working with him) was not apostolic and did not come to Rome until the...
I have just finished reading (devouring actually) a biography of Ted Byfield entitled Prairie Lion, who left the earthly battlefield for the Kingdom of God on December 23, 2021. The book is eminently readable and documented what I...
On my sainted parents’ graves, I swear the following conversation actually took place.Perplexed Man: “Male gametes—that’s what makes me male.”Transgender Apologist: “No—your sperm don’t make you male.”PM: “Then what does?”TA: “It’s a...
The recent decision of Archbishop Elpidophoros to baptize the adopted child of an openly gay couple in Greece is only the latest addition to a series of actions which have raised Orthodox eyebrows, coming as it does hard on the heels of...
This last May St. Ninian’s Anglican Church in Scarborough, Ontario was deconsecrated by the Anglican bishop of Toronto and returned to secular use. Usually the deconsecration of Anglican churches is of no interest to me, unless they are...
Orthodox people love symbols—we even find symbols in places where they don’t really exist, such as when we say that the Gospel Entrance in the Divine Liturgy is a symbol of Christ going out to preach. (Liturgical footnote: an entrance...
In reflecting on the recent legal overturn of Roe vs. Wade in the United States, I am acutely aware of my status as a foreigner here in Canada living north of all the action. The decisions of the United States Supreme Court have no...
One of the first things that clergy do after entering the church on Sunday morning for Divine Liturgy is to put on special clothes called “vestments”. They are highly stylized and every priest wears the same things: first the priest...
Everyone once in a while one finds a book that is illuminating, easy and fun to read, opens doors, and leaves you larger than you were before. Fr. John McGuckin’s St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography is such a book. I...
What are “traditional family values” and what is their role in the life of a Christian?First of all, it is important to understand what is not meant by the term “traditional family values”. In particular, the term does not mean that the...
The clergy friends I know are a diverse lot. Some are Orthodox, some are Protestant, some are Canadian, and some are American. But when I talk to them of late, I find that they all tell the same story: at the beginning of the Covid...
The year 1453 marked a very significant event in the life of the Orthodox Church, for that was the year that the city of Constantinople fell to the Turks, effectively bringing to an end the long thousand year reign of the Christian Roman...
The ancient world was built on three fundamental realities—foundations which persist to this day—and Christ overturned all of them. No wonder His Church was considered both radical and dangerous.The first reality was the foundation of...
