Articles on Orthodox Topics

Meatfare Sunday and the Beginning of the Fast

Meatfare Sunday, The Sunday of the Last Judgment, has passed and Great Lent is following soon after Cheesefare Sunday.?

What do these days mean, and what is the fasting supposed to teach us? Below are a couple of articles from jurisdictional Websites that will help explain to us what this season of the year is really all about.

Leavetaking of the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Cross

As we behold the Wood of the Cross exalted on high, let us magnify God who in His goodness was crucified upon it in the flesh. (Small Vespers of the Feast)

Today is the Leavetaking of the Feast of The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, to give the Feast its full title. This is the last day that we liturgically end our commemoration and veneration of the Cross that was placed in the middle of the church on September 14. This Feast, therefore, has a full "octave" for its celebration - it is an eight-day Feast which serves to stress the importance of the Cross in the life of the Church and in our personal lives. To further turn our attention toward the Cross, we recall the Third Sunday of Great Lent - the Adoration of the Cross; and the less well-observed Feast of the Procession of the Cross on August 1. And, importantly, every Wednesday and Friday is a day of commemorating the Cross, one of the reasons that we fast on those two days on a weekly basis.

Yet, the Apostle Paul very succinctly and profoundly captured the unbelieving world's attitude toward the Cross in his well-known text:

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (I COR. 1:23-24)

Dan Brown's Debt to Protestantism

One reason why this idea of Brown?s, that we have been collectively lied to about the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, has found such resonance might be because of its similarity to established radical Protestant doctrine. If that is the case, then Brown has actually some of the most conservative Protestants around to thank for his massive literary success.

Debunking the DaVinci Code

David Nethery has prepared the following informational links. Since a major movie based on this book starring Tom Hanks was released, it is imperative that all Christians are ready for the questions our non-believing or nominally believing friends are sure to ask. While the movie was not very successful, the phenomenon the book/movie caused in pop culture is still very much with us. Since the book/movie has focused so many people's attention on the Early Church, it is a great opportunity to introduce the American public to the Church of the New Testatment, which is of course the Orthodox Church.

The Dormition

Father Steven Kostoff explores the Dormition of the Theotokos and reaches some conclusions that we should all carefully consider:

In other words, to miss this Feast for any reason that is not worthy of a blessing, would in some way?be?equivalent to missing your own mother's funeral - or at least the annual commemoration of her death when other family members gather together for that commemoration!