A journal of byzantine digressionS
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The Nanny State
Last week San Francisco turned out for a good deed: the cheering-up of a fatally ill child in response to a request from the Make-a-Wish foundation. The wish? To be Batman for a day. Everyone from cheering crowds on the street to Police and the US Department of Justice, the Mayor and the President, all…
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Daily Office – 23 – 30 Nov AD 2013
The Daily Offices for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Rite of St Tikhon. The readings are as assigned by the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate supplemented with other devotional material. St Clement PM (St Felicitas, VM) – MP – EP – Martyrology Sunday Next before Advent / Last Pentecost (St Chrysogonus M) – MP –…
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O Adonai – Second 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. Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us…
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Daily Readings week of 20 Trinity
The Daily Offices for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Rite of St Tikhon. The readings are as assigned by the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate supplemented with other devotional material. Sat – BVM – MP – EP – Martyrology XX Sunday after Trinity / 21 Pentecost (St Gregory the Wonderworker BC, St Gregory of Tours…
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O Sapientia – First Advent Meditation
A blessed Advent! For my friends in the Western Ecclesial traditions, a little explanation: our Eastern Pre-Nativity Fast starts today. Advent is, of course, a Western Name, but we call it the Advent Fast here in America’s mostly-convert communities. Yes it is a bit longer than Western Advent, but for what it’s worth your fast…
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Thoughts on Advent in the Orthodox Western Rite
Monday (11 Nov) was Martinmas for westerners on the Gregorian Calendar, for Old Calendar folks it falls on Saturday 24 November. In times past, in Northern Europe, the next day (12 November) was the beginning of the Advent Fast. I did a little research on Advent because, as a pious Orthodox Convert, I assumed our…
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Byzantine Time
This is not a post about culturally and ethnically Orthodox folks who never seem to get to Church before the sermon. As an Orthodox Convert exposed to other Orthodox Converts and our peculiar brand of stress-inducing hyper-piety I’ve often heard a discussion of “Midnight to Midnight vrs Sunset to Sunset”. The argument being that…
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Daily Readings, Week of 19 Trinity
The Daily offices for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Rite of St Tikhon, as assigned by the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate together with other devotional material. For other material, see the Book of Common Prayer as published by Lancelot Andrewes Press. Saturday – Dedication of the Basilica of St Saviour (St Theodore Tyro, M) –…
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Sine Nomine
For all the saints, who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia! Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia!…
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Daily Readings, Christ the King
The Daily Readings for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Rite of St Tikhon, as assigned by the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate together with other devotional material. For other material, see the Book of Common Prayer as published by Lancelot Andrewes Press. Sunday of Christ the King (XVII Sunday after Trinity / 18 Pentecost) –…
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Well now.
That’s just prideful.
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Hedonic Choice
That definition is a key phrase, “considered in terms of pleasant sensations” and it provides us with a logical course for the second image: There are many reasons this may be of concern to a Christian, but I want to lay aside the first one: Hedonism is not only about anti-Christian moral choices. Once can…
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Reverse Identity Theft
XKCD totally gets it! I am an early adopter. I joined and paid for Blogger when Ev was still in an apartment on Judah St. My Twitter number is only 6 digits. I’ve had an Amazon account since 1998 or so. I’ve had my gMail account only a tiny bit less: certainly it was this millenium,…
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All Saints’ Day
TIZ THAT Time of the year again when accusations will fly: you stole our holidays! You’re being Satanic! We will be bombarded with bad history and bad social science and bad theology. I won’t even bother to link to the most common Christian “proof sheet” that takes the Irish name of the holiday (Samhain) and…
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Beingness
What do you think it might mean to “be” something? In Irish when one is greatly wanting food, one says “Ta ocras orm.” In English we say “I am hungry” but the Irish say “there is hunger upon me.” The English seems to say “I have become this thing in my being.” We use the…
Orthoparadoxy 