A journal of byzantine digressionS
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St Mary of Egypt
THE LIFE OF OUR HOLY MOTHER, Mary of Egypt is not well known in the west although her feast day is the same day on both Eastern and Western calendars. She is commemorated today, 1 April. Her life is read liturgically in the Byzantine and Orthodox churches at Matins for the Thursday of the 5th week…
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Cancel Welcome
IT WAS SUCH A FEELING of power! Standing on the 38 Geary bus one night reading Vespers, a woman in front of me got up and moved over to a different part of the bus. She began to point and speak. I know very little Russian but the thing she was pointing at (and the…
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7LW: Messy
Behold Your Mother. BY WAY OF disclaimer, this admission: Pope Francis has stepped out to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this seems to me a good thing. As the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the whole world is his See, and he can make Eucharist with all that…
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7LW: Fire and Water
Today you will be with me in Paradise. TODAY.How hard it is to imagine this. Today in paradise. Sometime in the distant future or, perhaps, sometime in the distant past, certainly. But today? Hardly. Of course, the Wise Thief is about to die, so that makes sense, right? Your going to die and you’ll be…
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Holy, Mighty!
ST PATRICK Is the copatron of our Archdiocese and so today’s Lenten commemoration is observed as a Solemnity here in San Francisco (as in NYC). We usually hear of driving the snakes out of Ireland (there’s never been any snakes there…) but while miracles are cool, the proof of anyone’s sanctity is the life of…
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7LW: Forgive
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. FORGIVENESS is a full-circle claim. We know this from “forgive us as we forgive others.” Certainly, we wrestle with that. It is hard. Resentments, parents, bullies in school, coworkers, backstabbing, etc. How we navigate forgiveness is an ongoing process of grace: Christianity is only always…
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Colossians
THE ASSIGNMENT was to read a selected book of the New Testament (in my case, The Epistle to the Colossians) and answer selected questions. A five-page paper was assigned as well as a 10-12 mins presentation. What Problem is Being Addressed? This depends on who is writing and when. Is this letter written by Paul…
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Fasting, Abstinence, and Liberation
WHAT DID YOU GIVE UP FOR LENT? Don’t tell me – you’re not supposed to tell folks. But what was it? Do you think of it as a struggle or a punishment to do so? Are you making a sacrifice for God? Or are you doing something to make up for your sins? What is…
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Ladder Of Divine Ascent
Reading Schedule for 2022 ATRADITIONAL LENTEN practice in the eastern churches is to read St John’s Ladder of Divine Ascent bit by bit through the Fasting Season. (There’s a PDF here.) Although our Western Lent is a couple of days shorter, it can be done. Here’s a reading schedule if you’d like to read along.…
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A Burning Faith
Reflection Paper on Hebrews. Dancing with Jesus from Fear, through Faith, to Fire.
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Salvation through the Vales
WHO GETS SAVED HERE? Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) and then Tina Durrance How is this salvation accomplished? Charlotte falls in love and directs that love to something good, sacrificing herself to save Tina as well. There’s a lot here that can be worked with. Charlotte’s relationship with her mother (Gladys Cooper) seems to be beyond…
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Anamnesis
A SEARCH ON FACEBOOK let me know an old friend had died at the beginning of COVID, on 26 December 2020 “after a short illness”. I’ve been cataloging my memories of Minka Sprague since then in an act of anamnesis, a Greek word that means “remembering” and also implies “making present”. It’s what happens at…
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Salvation & John Wayne
This essay was part of a project in 2004 called “Salvation and the Silver Screen“. It was intended to be a bunch of Orthodox bloggers watching old movies and then commenting on the theological content. I WATCHED THE BEST MOVIE last night (that is, in 2004), The Angel and the Badman (Republic, 1947). It is a John…
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The Ring
From my poetic imagination in 1988 or so… Introduction Just Fourteen Lines, but seven tens is allI get! How can I speak my mind in there?My heart of ever-singing joy is fullto overflowing. Why confine it thus? Doth put within a garden mountains tall?Within a sieve how can we hold the air?and if I tried,…
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Salvation in All About Eve
This essay was part of a project in 2004 called “Salvation and the Silver Screen“. It was intended to be a bunch of Orthodox bloggers watching old movies and then commenting on the theological content. Best laid plans… I don’t remember why the other folks didn’t make posts. “I have taken a wife, I have…
Orthoparadoxy 