Христос Воскресе!

Christ is Risen!

[orthodoxadventure]

With this being the Apostles' Fast in the Orthodox Church, now is a good time to spend reflecting on their writings. What is your favourite verse from the Epistles of the Holy Apostle Peter?

[orthodoxadventure]

Unity in the Spirit embraces in a mysterious, time-conquering fashion, the faithful of all generations. This time-conquering unity is manifested and revealed in the experience of the Church, especially in its Eucharistic experience. The Church is the living image of eternity within time. The experience and life of the Church are not interrupted or broken up by time. This, too, is not only because of continuity in the super-personal outpouring of grace, but also because of the catholic inclusion of all that was, into the mysterious fulness of the present. Therefore the history of the Church gives us not only successive changes, but also identity. In this sense communion with the saints is a communio sanctorum. The Church knows that it is a unity of all times, and as such it builds up its life. Therefore the Church thinks of the past not as of something that is no more, but as of something that has been accomplished, as something existing in the Catholic fulness of the One Body of Christ.

Bible, church, tradition: an Eastern Orthodox view by Georges Florovsky

[orthodoxadventure]

For those interested in reading about Orthodox Christianity The Phronema Initiative has a huge catalogue of books that you can read for free. I am not affiliated with them, but I thought I would promote their site as I have been benefitting from it a lot myself and thought my followers would benefit also!

Their catalogue has the following categories:

Church Fathers

Highly venerated

Orthodox Councils and Conciliar Documents

Ancient Writings of Church Historians and Clergy

Modern Theological, Historical, and Hagiographical Writings

Patristic and Historical Collections

Prayers and Liturgics

Miscellaneous

Writings of the Non-Orthodox on Church Fathers, History, Theology

The Phronema Initiative

[orthodoxadventure]

The Saints are close to Christ; they "have courage" with Him. Jesus declared them His "friends" (John 15:14) and assured them, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7). "Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). On the basis of these assurances of the Lord, the Church is convinced that the Saints put this courage of theirs into loving service toward those who need help and for their salvation, asking for this help and for their salvation from Christ, as Abraham did (Gen 18:23-33). For only in this way is their joy complete. Only when they see us saved together with them at the end of the world will they also receive in full the eternal joy (Heb 11:40). Joy is so much greater when it is shared by many, and thus God is known in a much richer way as He shines in more souls, if "the Kingdom of Heaven is within us" (Luke 17:21).

The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology - The Fulfillment of Creation by Saint Dumitru Stăniloae

[orthodoxadventure]

We should pray ceaselessly. We should cense God's temple, which is man's body and soul, with the fragrance of prayer.

The Art of Salvation by Elder Ephraim of Arizona

[orthodoxadventure]

Christ's Church honours those who truly live according to God's will even after their death, and every day of the year commemorates those saints who departed hence on that day and left this transitory life. It also sets before us the life of each one of them for our benefit, and shows us their end, whether they died in peace or finished their life as martyrs.

The Homilies by Saint Gregory Palamas

[orthodoxadventure]

Let us too, brethren, give honour to God's saints. But how should we honour them? By imitating them and purifying ourselves "from all defilement of flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1), and hastening towards holiness through abstaining from all evils. If we keep our tongue from swearing and making false oaths, as well as from speaking nonsense and abuse, and stop our lips from uttering lies and slanders, then we offer the saints sweet praise.

The Homilies by Saint Gregory Palamas

[orthodoxadventure]

God's Saints are near to believing hearts, and, like the truest and kindest of friends, they are ready at a moment's notice to help the faithful and pious who call upon them with faith and love.

My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[orthodoxadventure]

The Christian has no reason to have in his heart any ill-feeling whatever against anyone—such ill-feeling, like every other evil, is the work of the Devil; the Christian must only have love in his heart; and as love cannot think of evil, he cannot have any ill-feeling against others.

My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[orthodoxadventure]

Most holy and gracious Mother of God, beseech God to make us lowly in spirit.

Saint Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex

[orthodoxadventure]

O, sweetest, holiest name, almighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ! O Lord, my victory, glory to You! Lord, we are Your members, we are one body with You, You are our Head! Lord, grant that all passions, all demons may flee from us! Lord, bestow upon us the grace of never failing love! Lord, grant that we may show respect and love to each other, as to You, as is proper for those deified by You.

My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[orthodoxadventure]

Do not, therefore, allow your heart to become cold, especially during prayer, and avoid stony insensibility in every way possible. Very often a person prays only with the lips, but his heart is wounded by weak faith or complete lack of faith. With his words, this man seems near to God, but in his heart he is far from Him.

My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[orthodoxadventure]

If anyone has offended you, do not hold a grudge against him. When he who has offended you looks kindly at you and turns to speak to you, do not let your heart incline to evil, but talk pleasantly and good-humoredly to him, as if nothing had happened between you. Learn to conquer evil with good, anger with kindness, meekness, and humility. Do not say in your heart regarding the one who has offended you, "What? He speaks to me, after having offended me, counting his offense against me as nothing? I do not consider him worthy of speaking to me; I reject, despise him; let him know what it means to offend me!" Do not be proud or hold grudges. Do not speak in this way, lest the Lord be angered by your hard-heartedness.

My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[orthodoxadventure]

Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Mebane, North Carolina

[orthodoxadventure]

When you look at the icon of the Mother of God, with her Preeternal Child, marvel how God was completely united with human nature, glorify the goodness and omnipotence of God, and, recognizing your own dignity as man, live worthily of the high calling to which you are called in Christ--that is, the calling of a child of God and an heir to eternal bliss. - My Life in Christ by Saint John of Kronstadt

[thinkofothers]

Are there any good Orthodox podcasts out there? I've been listening to St Anthony's Tongue on my lunch for a couple days and I'm enjoying it a lot, but I'd also like to find something more Orthodox oriented. I'm hesitant to pick a random podcast because in case they're all comprised of far right content.

[orthodoxadventure]

An Orthodox Catechism by Fr. Josiah Trenham

This 16-part audio series offers a full-orbed introduction to Orthodox Christianity. It has been used for over 20 years to prepare dozens of catechumens for the Church. You can start listening for free on Patristic Nectar's site: https://app.patristicnectar.org/discover/catechism/an-orthodox-catechism . You will need to sign up before you are able to listen.

This was personally recommended to me by my Priest who was leading my Catechism. The episodes are very informative, very engaging, and serve as a really good introduction to the Orthodox Church and various aspects of it.

The Lord of Spirits: The Seen and Unseen World in Orthodox Christian Tradition

The modern world doesn’t acknowledge but is nevertheless haunted by spirits—angels, demons and saints. Orthodox Christian priests Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young host this live call-in show focused on enchantment in creation, the union of the seen and unseen as made by God and experienced by mankind throughout history. What is spiritual reality like? How do we engage with it well? How do we permeate everyday life with spiritual presence? The live edition of this show airs on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at 7pm ET / 4pm PT. 

The episodes are roughly 2-3 hours, so these are a bit lengthier. But this is a highly recommended podcast that tackles a wide variety of topics. Some topics are across multiple episodes, others are more standalone. Some particular episodes I've seen recommended:

How (and How Not) to Read the Bible: Reading the Bible is easier now than in any previous moment in history. And misreading it is also the easiest it’s ever been. What does it mean to read the Bible historically? To read it literally? What are some interpretive/hermeneutic ideas that don’t make sense if you look closely at them? Join Fr. Stephen De Young and Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick as they go “meta” for this episode and talk about what it means to read the Bible as Orthodox Christians.

The Priest Shall Make Atonement: "Atonement" is a word invented for the translation of the Bible into English, because there was no good English word for the concept it describes. So what does it mean? People have atonement theories. Is atonement purely theoretical? Does it have anything to do with suffering or punishment? And who or what is atoned for? 

The Mountain of God and the Boat of Theseus: The Scriptures speak of what we might call spiritual places—sacred geography—the Mountain of God, Heaven, Paradise, the Underworld. Are these imaginary places? If not, how does one go there? In this first of two episodes on sacred geography, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young begin a fantastic voyage into another world.

The Lord of Spirits Goes to Hell: With this Holy Week / Pascha special episode, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young take a close biblical look at what happens when the Lord of Spirits Himself journeys into the underworld to set his people free.

You Are the Christ, the Son of the Living God: What does it mean that Jesus is the Messiah? What were the apostles saying when they said that, identifying Him as the Christ? Find out the weight behind their words with Fr. Stephen De Young and Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick.

The Whole Counsel of God: An Introduction to Your Bible

If you are looking for an in-depth Bible study podcast then The Whole Counsel of God: An Introduction to Your Bible comes highly recommended by a lot of people. Each episode takes a very small section and dives into it. The episodes themselves aren't super long (generally under 30 minutes) so it's relatively easy to slot into your schedule. While each episode follows on from the last, you absolutely can just hop in to whatever episode you would like.

There is also a book by the same name which aims to clear up some misconceptions people have about the role of the Bible in the Orthodox Church. Including addressing topics such as inspiration, inerrancy, the formation of the biblical canon, the various texts and their provenance, the place of Scripture within Orthodox Tradition, and how an Orthodox Christian should read, study, and interpret the Bible.

Light Through the Past: A Survey of Church History

This podcast will look at the course and development of the Orthodox Church, its struggles with heresy, the empire, and relations to other Christian bodies.

Glory to God: Thoughts and reflections on Orthodox theology and life

Fr. Stephen Freeman is a retired Archpriest of the Orthodox Church in America and resides in Upstate South Carolina. He is the author of Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe, and Face to Face: Knowing God Beyond Our Shame, as well as the popular Glory to God for All Things blog. His blog has quickly become one of the most read Orthodox blogs, being translated frequently in Romanian, French, and Serbian, by enthusiastic readers. You can check out the podcast here.

Search the Scriptures Live: Interesting and Accessible Bible Study for Busy People

Presbytera and Dr. Jeannie Constantinou guides us through Holy Scripture with the eyes of the Church Fathers and answers listener questions in this edition of the Search the Scriptures podcast recorded live.

I would say Ancient Faith Ministries is where a lot of the high quality podcasts are hosted. While I don't rule out the potential for a podcast here or there to perhaps have content you disagree with politically (I have not listened to every podcast), I feel like the site is relatively safe for just picking a random podcast that sounds interesting. You can always try googling the name of the podcast to see if people have made any comments about views shared on it if you want to be on the safe side.

[orthodoxadventure]