Frederica.com - Essays - Orthodoxyhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/Essays, commentaries, movie reviews, Q&A, columns, etc...en-US2013-05-20T02:49:16ZSquarespace V5 Site Server v5.13.156 (http://www.squarespace.com)The Akathist Hymnhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/the-akathist-hymn.htmlFrederica2013-03-15T19:09:21ZAkathist Annunciation Hymn Orthodoxy TheotokosThis version of the Akathist Hymn is my translation, from my book “Mary as the Eastern Christians Knew Her.”  (Note: this is a paperback version of a book published a few years ago in hardback as “The Lost Gospel of Mary.” We decided to change the title, since the “Lost Gospel” meme has passed.)

The main thing I wanted to do was to provide footnotes for all the verses from Scripture and other references St. Romanos makes, since just singing it in church it goes by so quickly. It is a beautiful hymn, very profound, and makes a good text for study and prayer.

St. Romanos, author of the Akathist Hymn, was born in Beirut in 475 AD.

]]>History, Blasphemy, and Russiahttp://www.frederica.com/writings/history-blasphemy-and-russia.htmlFrederica2012-08-22T14:29:07ZArts Orthodoxy The Culture When the protesters were sentenced last week for their performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, a friend asked me why Orthodox Christians were so upset about what they’d done. For him, this was clearly a political protest. It was aimed at a too-close entwining of church and state, so it took place in a church. What’s the big deal?

 But, in practice, there’s a difference.

]]>The Pro-Life Cause, Orthodoxy, and Hopehttp://www.frederica.com/writings/the-pro-life-cause-orthodoxy-and-hope.htmlFrederica2012-01-22T19:14:50ZChristian Life Orthodoxy Pro-Lifeth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion—through all 50 states, for any reason whatsoever. When I was a college student, back in the 70’s, I was in favor of legalizing abortion. I wasn’t a Christian then, but I was a feminist, the first feminist in my dorm, and I was loudly in favor of social revolution and women’s rights. I took it for granted that abortion was necessary, if women were ever going to be equal to men. ]]>Mysteries of the Jesus Prayerhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/mysteries-of-the-jesus-prayer.htmlFrederica2011-02-23T17:06:42ZChristian Life OrthodoxyWhat’s so mysterious about the Jesus Prayer? It’s one of the shortest and simplest prayers you can find: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” It’s one of the most ancient prayers, too; think of how often in the Gospels people ask Jesus for mercy. A prayer for mercy would likely have been one of the variations when the Desert Mothers and Fathers (AD 2nd-5th c), who sought to pray constantly, were trying out different short, repeated verses of Scripture to discipline the wandering mind. (St. Augustine reports that they “have very frequent prayers, but these are very brief.”) Those ancient monasteries and hermitages are the spiritual nursery in which the Jesus Prayer had its birth. 

 

]]>Good Noushttp://www.frederica.com/writings/good-nous.htmlFrederica2011-01-23T21:24:20ZOrthodoxyI was once asked to give a talk at Washington’s National Cathedral on prayer in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. I brought with me a large icon, one familiar to many people, showing the Holy Trinity as the three visitors who came to Abraham (Gen. 19:1-8); it was painted by St. Andrei Rublev in 1410. I set up the icon on an easel, but after saying a few words about it, focused on the Jesus Prayer. This simple, repetitive prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”— was developed by the Desert Fathers, as a help toward learning to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17).

But when we re-gathered for a workshop later on, I found that the participants wanted to know more about the role of the icon. What is its function in prayer? What are the prayers used when looking at an icon?

]]>The Holy Gazehttp://www.frederica.com/writings/the-holy-gaze.htmlFrederica2010-09-02T16:16:01ZArts OrthodoxyAmong the illustrations in this volume there is an AP news photo from the Russian district of Bogorodsk, dated 1950, of a crowd of people carrying icons out of a church. This isn’t a religious procession; instead, they are handing the paintings up to a man standing in a farm cart. Though it is cold—you can tell from the bundling garments and fleece-lined caps—the crowd looks energetic and happy, and a pretty young woman at the center of the photo looks particularly joyous. In the foreground a boy is holding a small icon, perhaps of Christ. The cart is already overflowing with these paintings of saints and biblical figures on wooden plaques. The load is going to be hauled out of town and burned.

 

]]>Dn. Barnabas Powellhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/dn-barnabas-powell.htmlFrederica2010-08-13T15:42:32ZOrthodoxy PodcastFrederica:  I’m here in the living room of my son Stephen Matthewes’ apartment on the campus of Holy Cross Seminary, Hellenic College, and he’s a first-year seminarian, starting just a few months ago.  And we have daughter Ruthie who is almost two and son Lucas who is three months now, who might be making some sound effects in the background.  My husband is here as well, and little Alexandra Powell, visiting from upstairs.  And they’re watching Lady and the Tramp.  We’re hoping to create a little more quiet in the room thanks to that.

I’m talking to Deacon Barnabas Powell, formerly Chuck Powell, and you just became a deacon—was it two weeks ago?

Dn. Powell:  Yeah, exactly.  Actually, November the 8th—Sunday November the 8th—I was ordained in my hometown, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Annunciation Cathedral.  Pretty cool.

]]>Kyria: The Jesus Prayerhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/kyria-the-jesus-prayer.htmlFrederica2010-05-03T13:47:22ZChristian Life Orthodoxy[Kyria; May, 2010]

 

“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thess 5:17)

 

Have you ever wondered what St. Paul was talking about? How can a person pray constantly? Yet this wasn’t the only time St. Paul urged his hearers to constant prayer.

 

“Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” ( Romans 12:12).

 

“Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance” (Eph 6:18).

 

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving”  Col 4:2.

 

If he took the trouble to say this to four different communities, he must have thought it was important. And he must have thought it was possible. He wouldn’t have kept urging his hearers to do something that was completely beyond their capability.

 

]]>Big Family, Special Needshttp://www.frederica.com/writings/big-family-special-needs.htmlFrederica2010-03-23T18:34:33ZChristian Life Marriage and Family OrthodoxyF: Of course, you have an unusual family, and people notice that right away. You have ten children, and six are your own…

 

M: They’re all my own!

 

F: Oh, God bless you, that’s true, they’re all your own. Six are biological children, four are adopted children. You put the words to it, tell me about your children.

 

M: We like to say that our six biological kids are the ones we made all by ourselves—our “homemade” ones—and the other four we picked out of the catalog. [laughing] Our four adopted ones have special needs, although our oldest one has resolved most of his special needs.

]]>Lent--Why Bother?http://www.frederica.com/writings/lent-why-bother.htmlFrederica2010-03-03T16:02:34ZChristian Life OrthodoxyRemembering Fr. George Calciuhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/remembering-fr-george-calciu.htmlFrederica2009-11-22T19:44:19ZChristian Apologetics Christian Life Orthodoxy Podcast[Holy Cross Orthodox Church; November 22, 2009]

This weekend we are remembering the repose of Fr. George Calciu, who died on November 21, 2006, just two days before 81st birthday. He died of pancreatic cancer, a fast-moving and painful cancer, and had barely survived long enough to complete one last trip to his homeland, Romania.

 The news reached us on a Sunday evening that he had taken a turn for the worse. Father Gregory and I were hosting a gathering for Orthodox young people at our home that night, but I left our guests and went with Chris Vladimir to the hospital.

]]>Sin as Pollution and Forgiveness Vespershttp://www.frederica.com/writings/sin-as-pollution-and-forgiveness-vespers.htmlFrederica2009-11-15T19:05:34ZOrthodoxy Podcast[Ancient Faith Radio; April 8, 2008]

Well, another Forgiveness Vespers has arrived, and challenged us in many ways, not least challenging those muscles that run up the back of our legs, with all the making metanias, and certainly brought forth some tears and a lot of hugs, and a profound sense of being bonded with the other people in our church.  At Holy Cross, we have about—I guess on a Sunday morning we see a hundred to a hundred thirty people.  There’s some variation; people travel and visitors show up.  But at Forgiveness Vespers, we usually have around a hundred people there.

]]>The Voice Beneath the Altarhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/the-voice-beneath-the-altar.htmlFrederica2008-12-04T17:11:45ZChristian Apologetics Christian Life Orthodoxy[from A Faith and Culture Devotional, Zondervan, 2008]

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; they cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?”( Revelation 6:9-10)

During the first centuries of Christianity, the church was battered within and without. Pseudo-Christians distorted the faith and misled the faithful, while the powerful Roman Empire persecuted Christians with torture and death. When local church members were able to gather the remains of their fellow-believers (often, this was forbidden), they lovingly interred these broken bodies beneath their altars, a reminder that the blessed departed are invisibly present to join us in worship. St. John writes that, in his vision, he heard the voice of the martyrs crying out from under the altar.

 

]]>Growing a Parishhttp://www.frederica.com/writings/growing-a-parish.htmlFrederica2008-12-03T15:45:00ZChristian Life Orthodoxy Podcast[Ancient Faith Radio; December 3, 2008]

 

FMG: Today I am at St. Justin Martyr OCA Church in Jacksonville, Florida, just south of Jacksonville, in the area of Mandarin. My family has owned a small farm here since 1880 or so; it’s been in the family, or with the in-laws of the family, since then. I came down to visit my sister, Dorothy, who’s a member of this church, and to visit my mother, who’s in a nursing home here, and now I’m talking to one of my favorite priests, Fr. Ted Pisarchuk. “Ball of fire” is what they call him behind his back, because he’s always up to something. You especially have a love of missions. Were you the founding pastor of St. Justin Martyr?

]]>The Liturgy of St. Jameshttp://www.frederica.com/writings/the-liturgy-of-st-james.htmlFrederica2008-11-27T14:55:00ZOrthodoxy Podcast[Ancient Faith Radio; November 27, 2008]

FMG: I’m in a crowded and noisy banquet room here. This is the annual banquet for St. John Chrysostom Antiochian Orthodox Church in York, PA. I’m sitting here at the banquet table, we’ve just finished our… this was really a good meal. This was some kind of terrific filet mignon, sliced, a little garlic, almonds on the green beans, it was delicious. And in this little space we have between when they bring out the dessert- I love these banquets- I would like to talk to Fr. Elias Yelovich. What is the name of your parish, Father?

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