A journal of byzantine digressionS
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O Lord: 2nd Advent Meditation
Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched…
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O Wisdom: 1st Advent Meditation
By way of introduction I have been posting meditations on the “Great O” Antiphons since I was Chrismated in 2002. There are seven in the Tridentine liturgy plus one more from the Sarum Rite. These 8 antiphons space out rather nicely over the 40 days of the Byzantine Rite Advent Fast which starts today, 15…
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Quest for Chicken
So there was this Sheik who, as a youth, had studied in America, in the south, in fact, where he learned to like fried chicken with all the fixings And as he was sitting at the Oasis, surrounded by the court and camels, he turned to his son and said, “My son, my son, the…
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From St Bede on the Feast of All Saints
Dearly beloved : Today we keep holy-day, with one great cry of joy, in memory of all the Saints ; whose presence is a gladness to heaven ; whose prayers are a blessing to earth ; whose victories are the crown of holy Church ; whose testimony is now to be honoured in proportion to…
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Kingdomtide: The All Saints Project
Tomorrow, 25 October, is the Sunday of Christ the King in the Pre-Vatican II Ordo – the “Extraordinary Form” – for the Roman Church and also in the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, which last also uses the older calendar as well. On the Novos Ordo calendar this feast is the last Sunday before Advent starts,…
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St Jerome, Doctor of the Church
When I ask God for an Orthodox Western Rite parish to be founded in San Francisco, I do so under the intercession of the Four Latin Doctors of the Church, the Great Teachers of the West: Sts Gregory the Great, Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome. Today is the feast of the latter-most and I…
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Custodia Oculorum
The Latin Phrase which was employed as the title of this article is translated as “Custody of the Eyes”. It’s a quaint, perhaps Victorian-sounding, phrase to which I was introduced by a Priest in NYC who had once been an Benedictine at the Great House of Nashdom in the UK. He noticed me, please forgive…
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Chop wood, pray office.
From 6 – 12 August, I was on retreat at the first Western Rite monastery established in the Antiochian Archdiocese. The Monastery of St Laurence & Our Lady of Glastonbury is located about three hours outside of Denver to the South and West, back up in the mountains, near Canon City, CO. Remote: it is some…
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Report from the Diocesan Assembly
I wrote this for the Parish Newsletter. This year’s Assembly of the Diocese of the West, at which I was honored to serve as your lay delegate, was only a brief event: just a couple of hours time before the All American Council rather than the two days of meetings and discussions that would have…
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Carnem et Sanguinem (Reponse Series, Part 4)
Pop culture of late has become enamoured with indicating disasters via portameaus: Stormageddon. Snowpocalypse. Sharknado. Despite the number of conservatives in my social media, and the number of hipsters – and conservative hipsters – no one has yet come up with a word for the recent Supreme Court marriage decision. I have been waiting with…
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Totally Unnatural Marriage (Response series, Part 3)
It is clear that the Church and the World mean different things by the word, “Marriage”. These things have never been the same, although at times the Church has come dangerously close to accepting the definition used by the world. To wit: parents or society in general recognize that this couple has permission to have…
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Revealed Religion (Response Series, Part 2)
Christianity is a revealed religion. This may or may not come as a surprise to my readers. Christianity is not contained in the text of the Bible in any way. It is the other way around: the Bible is contained in Christianity. Bibles in Hotel Rooms are as effective as bumper stickers in teaching the…
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St Augustine not talking about America.
Only let the Republic remain undefeated, they say, only let it flourish and abound in resources; let it be glorious by its victories, or still better, secure in peace; and what matters it to us? This is our concern, that every man be able to increase his wealth so as to supply his daily prodigalities,…
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A Theological Response: Intro
The current moral panic over same sex marriage replaces what could be a great theological depth on the part of the supporters of traditional marriage. Their appeal is mostly to emotion: Who would even dare? (what one Orthodox priest in Chicago called the “Ick Factor”) Or else on emotional abstractions, What about the children? Both of…
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No Revolution, but a Revelation
American Media (Left and Right) is making much of the recent vote in Ireland to legally recognize same sex marriages. Now, why they are making so much of it is worth a whole essay on conspiracy theories. Yet let us take them at their word: the American Left and the American Right are all susprised.…
Orthoparadoxy 