If you ever wondered who is responsible for the moral decay, corruption and lack of discrimination in our day, it belongs firmly – FIRMLY – to those who are called to preach. The preachers are wholly responsible for the moral decline in our society. Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails […]
Out Of The Cross
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon When we speak of excruciating pain, we do well to look at the etymology of that adjective: ex cruce, “out of the cross.” It is nearly impossible to exaggerate what the Savior suffered on the cross. Whether the cause of Jesus’ death was asphyxiation, or hypercarbia, or hypovolemic shock, or […]
Orthodox Worship As A School Of Theology: Part Six
by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev Lecture delivered at the Kiev Theological Academy on September 20, 2002 Church Singing Permit me to say a few words about church singing. Recently I visited the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration, where I served an all-night vigil and Divine Liturgy in the monastery’s main church. The services there struck me […]
Sermons and Snickers Bars
by Fr. John A. Peck This little article recounts an important object lesson, given at a St. Herman Seminary homiletics class in 1996. I attended St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska. At that distant outpost of theological instruction, we took homiletics very seriously, as we knew that on any given day or week, we might […]
Fear and Loathing in Preaching
The following has been excerpted from an article by Fr. Aris Metrakos, entitled, On The Priesthood, and published in 2002 by Orthodoxytoday.org. The more we pray, the better we preach. Why? Because it frees the Holy Spirit to guide the thoughts and words of the homilist. At the same time, preparing and delivering sermons is […]