Sunday of St. John of the Ladder Today, we celebrate St. John Climacus. He received the name “Climacus,” which means “ladder,” from a book he wrote: The Ladder of Divine Ascent. There, St. John describes 30 steps, or rungs, for

Sunday of the Holy Cross With COVID-19 raging all around us, we live in uncertain times. While the situation may be unique, having uncertainty is not. Many of us have faced the unknown through the loss of a job, a

The Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas St. Gregory of Palamas was a 14th-century monk and bishop of Thessaloniki. He is most famous for defending the monks who practiced hesychasm (“silence” or “stillness”), which is the use of the Jesus Prayer.

The Sunday of Orthodoxy  Today, the first Sunday in Lent, the Church celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy over Iconoclasm. In the 8th and 9th centuries, there was a dispute over whether icons of Christ and the saints were appropriate. Some

The highlight of the Christian life, and the most important spiritual practice we have as Orthodox Christians, is partaking in the Holy Eucharist. We are encouraged to participate in the Eucharist every Sunday. In fact, in the Lord’s Prayer, we

Reading Scripture Daily Like many Orthodox Christians—and Christians of many other denominations for that matter—I  try to spend some time every day reading scripture. (It’s great spiritual food!) The lectionary of the Orthodox Church makes this easy to do. Every

Forgiveness Sunday A recent survey found that when American kids grow up, they would rather be a vlogger or Youtube star before becoming anything else in life. It’s also common to find kids who want to become influencers—people who are

If someone were to ask you what the most important service in the Orthodox Chruch is, what would you say?  Would you mention Pascha? Or, perhaps, one of the Holy Week services? Maybe, you’d say the most important service is

Judgment Sunday  In one of our culture’s most beloved stories, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, we encounter a few people with some character deficiencies. One of them is a boy named Augustus Gloop, whose major flaw is

Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee In America, we have a saying, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” This saying encompasses our attitude that one will get ahead in life through education and a good hard day’s work. In fact,