March 2, 7534
What does the common phrase “The Lord visited someone” mean? How should we understand such situations, draw the right conclusions, and avoid the necessity for such occurrences? The phrase “The Lord visited” or “the visitation of the Lord” is used in Holy Scripture to refer both to blessings and to punishments. For instance, regarding Hannah,…
What does the common phrase “we crucify Christ with our sins” mean? How can this be understood if Christ was crucified once, long before our time? When the Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry, St. John the Forerunner, who was calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the Jordan, pointed to Christ and…
What kind of effort is being referred to? And why must it be achieved through effort rather than an easy, pleasant, carefree life? When reading and interpreting this phrase, it is essential to remember that the Lord spoke these words while conversing with the people about John the Baptist. He first asked the Jews listening…
In the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to John, we are given an example of how, from living water—the Holy Ghost, the incorruptible seed—the words of the Lord, a new spiritual man is born. The Lord converses with the Samaritan woman at the well. “Give Me to drink,” He says to the woman. “How…
There is perhaps no more useful invention that holds within it one of the spiritual treasures of humanity—knowledge. A book must not be regarded as a mere vessel of information. A thoughtful book is far more to a person than the volume of information measured in printed sheets, number of pages, or physical thickness; a…
The most frequently read books of the Bible in the Church are the Psalter and the Gospel. It can be said that various excerpts from the Psalter constitute the lion’s share of all Orthodox services. Moreover, according to the Ustav, if a Christian cannot attend church services for some reason, they can pray in place…