26 October 2024
Therefore, do not say: “Why was John allowed to die?” For what occurred
was not a death, but a crown, not an end, but the beginning of a greater life.
Learn to think and live like a Christian. You will not only remain unharmed by
these events, but you will reap the greatest benefit.
St. John Chrysostom
Treatise on Good Works
25 October 2024
The first, highest, and most precious of all good works is faith in Christ, and as it says in John 6 [:28-29], when the Jews asked him, "What must we do, to be doing the good work of God?" Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." Now when we hear that or even preach it, we pass over it: we think nothing of it and think it easy to do, but actually we ought to pause a long time and think it over properly. For in this work all good works exist, and from faith these works receive a borrowed goodness. We must make this absolutely clear, so that men can understand it.
Martin Luther
The first, highest, and most precious of all good works is faith in Christ, and as it says in John 6 [:28-29], when the Jews asked him, "What must we do, to be doing the good work of God?" Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." Now when we hear that or even preach it, we pass over it: we think nothing of it and think it easy to do, but actually we ought to pause a long time and think it over properly. For in this work all good works exist, and from faith these works receive a borrowed goodness. We must make this absolutely clear, so that men can understand it.
Martin Luther
Folly of Idol Worship
24 October 2024
And neither do we honour with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honour), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. For why need we tell you who already know, into what forms the craftsmen, Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:3. carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! That dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.
Justin Martyr
And neither do we honour with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honour), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. For why need we tell you who already know, into what forms the craftsmen, Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:3. carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! That dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.
Justin Martyr
Sign of the Cross
23 October 2024
By the signing of the holy and life-giving cross, devils and various scourges are driven away. For it is without price and without cost and praises him who can say it. The holy fathers have, by their words, transmitted to us, and even to the unbelieving heretics, how the two raised fingers and the single hand reveal Christ our God in His dual nature but single substance. The right hand proclaims His immeasurable strength, His sitting on the right hand of the Father, and His coming down unto us from Heaven. Again, by the movement of the hands to our right the enemies of God will be driven out, as the Lord triumphs over the Devil with His inconquerable power, rendering him dismal and weak.
Athanasius of Alexandria
By the signing of the holy and life-giving cross, devils and various scourges are driven away. For it is without price and without cost and praises him who can say it. The holy fathers have, by their words, transmitted to us, and even to the unbelieving heretics, how the two raised fingers and the single hand reveal Christ our God in His dual nature but single substance. The right hand proclaims His immeasurable strength, His sitting on the right hand of the Father, and His coming down unto us from Heaven. Again, by the movement of the hands to our right the enemies of God will be driven out, as the Lord triumphs over the Devil with His inconquerable power, rendering him dismal and weak.
Athanasius of Alexandria
On Spiritual Growth
22 October 2024
When we stop making grand promises and ask for grace to endure momentary temptations, then there is the potential for real growth. Just as evil takes its time to gain ground, holiness must also grow inch by inch.
Lauren Myers
When we stop making grand promises and ask for grace to endure momentary temptations, then there is the potential for real growth. Just as evil takes its time to gain ground, holiness must also grow inch by inch.
Lauren Myers
On Being
21 October 2024
Wherever the message is preached and brought in whatever language it comes from, the language it comes to and the culture into which it penetrates must, as some stage of its maturation, learn to answer yet again the question: “Who do you say that I am?” Because the “you say” in that question is the culture in which we live. He’s not asking, “Who does the fourth century say that I am?” when it was writing in Greek. That’s important, because without that we wouldn’t be where we are. But, at some point, you have to be who and what you are in the only culture in which you’re ever going to live, the only century in which you’re going to live and die, and, in that century, you have to answer with whatever linguistic and philosophical equipment you have, you have to answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”
Jaroslav Pelikan
Wherever the message is preached and brought in whatever language it comes from, the language it comes to and the culture into which it penetrates must, as some stage of its maturation, learn to answer yet again the question: “Who do you say that I am?” Because the “you say” in that question is the culture in which we live. He’s not asking, “Who does the fourth century say that I am?” when it was writing in Greek. That’s important, because without that we wouldn’t be where we are. But, at some point, you have to be who and what you are in the only culture in which you’re ever going to live, the only century in which you’re going to live and die, and, in that century, you have to answer with whatever linguistic and philosophical equipment you have, you have to answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”
Jaroslav Pelikan
Concepts and Wonders
20 October 2024
Concepts create idols; only wonders comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonders makes us fall to other knees.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Concepts create idols; only wonders comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonders makes us fall to other knees.
St. Gregory of Nyssa
The Bread of Life
18 October 2024
Break one loaf, which is the medicine of immorality, and the antidote that wards off death, but yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ.
St. Ignatius of Antioch
Break one loaf, which is the medicine of immorality, and the antidote that wards off death, but yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ.
St. Ignatius of Antioch
On Avaricious Individuals
17 October 2024
What then did Christ say? “How difficult it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” He was not criticizing money itself but the wills of those who are taken captive by it. If it will be difficult for the rich, how much more so for the avaricious!
St. John Chrysostom
What then did Christ say? “How difficult it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” He was not criticizing money itself but the wills of those who are taken captive by it. If it will be difficult for the rich, how much more so for the avaricious!
St. John Chrysostom
Earthly Possessions
16 October 2024
Teach us, O Lord, this difficult lesson to manage conscientiously the goods we possess and not covetously desire more than you give to us.
Saint Augustine
Teach us, O Lord, this difficult lesson to manage conscientiously the goods we possess and not covetously desire more than you give to us.
Saint Augustine
On Being Human
15 October 2024
You are not big enough to accuse the whole age effectively, but let us say you are in dissent. You are in no position to issue commands, but you can speak words of hope. Shall this be the substance of your message? Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God. You agree? Good. Then go with my blessing. But I warn you, do not expect to make many friends.
Thomas Merton
You are not big enough to accuse the whole age effectively, but let us say you are in dissent. You are in no position to issue commands, but you can speak words of hope. Shall this be the substance of your message? Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God. You agree? Good. Then go with my blessing. But I warn you, do not expect to make many friends.
Thomas Merton
On Christian Dignity
14 October 2024
Be conscious, O Christian, of your dignity! You have been made partaker of the divine nature; do not fall again by a corrupt manner of life into the beggarly elements above which you are lifted.
Leo the Great
Be conscious, O Christian, of your dignity! You have been made partaker of the divine nature; do not fall again by a corrupt manner of life into the beggarly elements above which you are lifted.
Leo the Great
Our Lord Said
13 October 2024
For He said not, do not hate, but love; He said not, do not injure, but do good. And if any one should examine accurately, he will see that even to these things somewhat is added, much greater than they are. For neither did He simply command to love, but to pray.
St. John Chrysostom
For He said not, do not hate, but love; He said not, do not injure, but do good. And if any one should examine accurately, he will see that even to these things somewhat is added, much greater than they are. For neither did He simply command to love, but to pray.
St. John Chrysostom
Keep Our Eyes on Jesus
11 October 2024
When I read the Gospel and find there testimonies from the Law and from the Prophets, I see only Christ; I so see Moses and the Prophets and I understand them of Christ. Then when I come to the splendor of Christ Himself, and when I gaze at that glorious sunlight, I care not to look at the lamplight. For what light can a lamp give when lit in the daytime? If the sun shines out, the lamplight does not show. So, too, when Christ is present the Law and the Prophets do not show. Not that I would detract from the Law and the Prophets; rather do I praise them in that they show forth Christ. But I so read the Law and the Prophets as not to abide in them but from them to pass to Christ.
St. Jerome
When I read the Gospel and find there testimonies from the Law and from the Prophets, I see only Christ; I so see Moses and the Prophets and I understand them of Christ. Then when I come to the splendor of Christ Himself, and when I gaze at that glorious sunlight, I care not to look at the lamplight. For what light can a lamp give when lit in the daytime? If the sun shines out, the lamplight does not show. So, too, when Christ is present the Law and the Prophets do not show. Not that I would detract from the Law and the Prophets; rather do I praise them in that they show forth Christ. But I so read the Law and the Prophets as not to abide in them but from them to pass to Christ.
St. Jerome
Benediction Hand Gesture
10 October 2024
When giving a blessing or benediction, the pastor’s fingers may be held in a way which approximates certain letters which abbreviate Jesus Christ. The pastor’s index finger is held straight up, approximating the Greek I; his second finger is curved for the Greek C [Σ]; his third finger is crossed with the thumb for the Greek X; and his fourth finger is curved, for another Greek C [Σ]. This therefore makes for Greek letters: ICXC. These letters are often seen on icons as two words: IC XC. In the early Greek Bibles, a common way of abbreviating an often-used word was to write only the first and last letter of the word, with a line above the abbreviation. Thus, IC abbreviates IECOUC, or actually IESOUS, since the Greek C was an early form of S. In English, of course, it’s JESUS. The Greek XC abbreviates XRICTOC, which is CHRISTOS, or in English, CHRIST. In short, ICXC is IC XC, which means JESUS CHRIST. This, the pastoral benedictions are made with the sign of the cross, while the fingers designate the One who was crucified on the cross, namely JESUS CHRIST. The blessing is therefore made with a visible sign that it is Jesus Christ the Crucified who is the source and cause of the blessing given.
Burnell Eckardt
When giving a blessing or benediction, the pastor’s fingers may be held in a way which approximates certain letters which abbreviate Jesus Christ. The pastor’s index finger is held straight up, approximating the Greek I; his second finger is curved for the Greek C [Σ]; his third finger is crossed with the thumb for the Greek X; and his fourth finger is curved, for another Greek C [Σ]. This therefore makes for Greek letters: ICXC. These letters are often seen on icons as two words: IC XC. In the early Greek Bibles, a common way of abbreviating an often-used word was to write only the first and last letter of the word, with a line above the abbreviation. Thus, IC abbreviates IECOUC, or actually IESOUS, since the Greek C was an early form of S. In English, of course, it’s JESUS. The Greek XC abbreviates XRICTOC, which is CHRISTOS, or in English, CHRIST. In short, ICXC is IC XC, which means JESUS CHRIST. This, the pastoral benedictions are made with the sign of the cross, while the fingers designate the One who was crucified on the cross, namely JESUS CHRIST. The blessing is therefore made with a visible sign that it is Jesus Christ the Crucified who is the source and cause of the blessing given.
Burnell Eckardt
Faith as a Strong Foundation
9 October 2024
We know how, for the sake of the name of the Lord, trials have beset alike individuals and cities that have put their trust in Him. Nevertheless, one and all have passed away, and the distress caused by the days of darkness has not been everlasting. For just as when hail-storm and flood, and all natural calamities, at once injure and destroy things that have no strength, while they are only themselves affected by falling on the strong, so the terrible trials set in action against the Church have been proved feebler than the firm foundation of our faith in Christ.
St. Basil the Great
We know how, for the sake of the name of the Lord, trials have beset alike individuals and cities that have put their trust in Him. Nevertheless, one and all have passed away, and the distress caused by the days of darkness has not been everlasting. For just as when hail-storm and flood, and all natural calamities, at once injure and destroy things that have no strength, while they are only themselves affected by falling on the strong, so the terrible trials set in action against the Church have been proved feebler than the firm foundation of our faith in Christ.
St. Basil the Great
On Baptism
8 October 2024
Even as when he [the priest] baptizes, not he does baptize you, but it is God that possesses your head with invisible power, and neither angel nor archangel nor any other dare draw near and touch you; even so now also. For when God begets, the gift is His only.
St. John Chrysostom
Even as when he [the priest] baptizes, not he does baptize you, but it is God that possesses your head with invisible power, and neither angel nor archangel nor any other dare draw near and touch you; even so now also. For when God begets, the gift is His only.
St. John Chrysostom
Of the Spirit
7 October 2024
Newly created and reborn of the Spirit by the mercy of God, let us imitate what we shall one day be.
St. Cyprian
Newly created and reborn of the Spirit by the mercy of God, let us imitate what we shall one day be.
St. Cyprian
The Beauty of Christian Marriage
6 October 2024
What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service? They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are 'two in one flesh.' Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well. Together they pray, together they bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding. In the church of God they hold an equal place. They stand equal at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments.
Tertullian
What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service? They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh. They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests. Truly they are 'two in one flesh.' Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well. Together they pray, together they bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding. In the church of God they hold an equal place. They stand equal at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments.
Tertullian
The Old Man
5 October 2024
Let us then put off the old man with his deeds and having obtained a share in the sonship of Christ, let us renounce the deeds of the flesh.
Pope St. Leo the Great
Let us then put off the old man with his deeds and having obtained a share in the sonship of Christ, let us renounce the deeds of the flesh.
Pope St. Leo the Great
The Divine Service
4 October 2024
The majority […] don’t go to the service to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it. Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best—if you like, it “works” best—when through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning the dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about your eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we are almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
C.S. Lewis
The majority […] don’t go to the service to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it. Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best—if you like, it “works” best—when through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning the dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about your eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we are almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.
C.S. Lewis
Mother of God
3 October 2024
At this point, my dear brothers in Christ, we have to be careful not to
overlook something of great importance to our sisters in Christ; that's to say,
how modestly the Virgin Mary behaved.
She'd taken the angel's word literally.
She'd given birth to the Son of the Most High. She'd deferred to Joseph in
conversation. She could've crowed about
the honors bestowed on her, but she didn't.
The humble Christ could have taught her humility but, apparently, she
taught it to Him. Mary had great reason
to be proud, but she wasn't.
St. Augustine
Keep Us, O Lord
2 October 2024
Dear God, we are thankful for guardian angels, who protect us from danger. Keep and protect us always. Never let us go to places where the holy angels cannot go with us. Let us never do or say things which Thou and the holy angels cannot be pleased. Keep us ever, Thou dear children, and finally take us to heaven; for Christ sake. Amen.
W. A. Kramer
Dear God, we are thankful for guardian angels, who protect us from danger. Keep and protect us always. Never let us go to places where the holy angels cannot go with us. Let us never do or say things which Thou and the holy angels cannot be pleased. Keep us ever, Thou dear children, and finally take us to heaven; for Christ sake. Amen.
W. A. Kramer
On the Incarnation of the Word
1 October 2024
For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes to our realm, howbeit he was not far from us before. For no part of Creation is left void of Him: He has filled all things everywhere, remaining present with His own Father. But He comes in condescension to show loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us.
St. Athanasius
For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes to our realm, howbeit he was not far from us before. For no part of Creation is left void of Him: He has filled all things everywhere, remaining present with His own Father. But He comes in condescension to show loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us.
St. Athanasius
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