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Revelation Class 15;  Heading to the Final Showdown 26 February 2025 Revelation, Chapter Twenty – Twenty-two   Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Fr. John Peck; Fr. Barnabas Powell. Rejecting RAPTUREMANIA: An Orthodox Look at a Dubious Doctrine (Function). Kindle Edition. Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018). Chapter Twenty One thousand years.   Andrew of Caesarea:  … The one thousand years, therefore, is the time from the Incarnation of the Lord until the coming of the Antichrist. Gog and Magog. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  The name is not especially important for the identification of the invader; like the other names in these chapters of Ezekiel, it symbolizes evil realities much larger and more menacing than their historical references. Thus understood, Gog and his forces appear here in Revelation 20. On Eternal Punishment Andrew of Carsarea.  For also as there are “many mansions in my Father's” among those saved, thus, here too, there are different places and manners of punishments, those sharper and those milder, by which those not deemed worthy of the Book of Life will be tried. Chapter Twenty-One The End of Evil. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In this final vision, which lasts two chapters, John is aware that seven things are gone forever: the sea, death, grief, crying, pain, the curse, and the night (21:1, 4; 22:3, 5). Here we are dealing with the definitive abolition of conflict, the end of chaos. The first symbol of this chaos is the sea... The New Eden. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  John's vision here, especially verses 19–21, is also related to Ezekiel 28:12–15, where we find joined the themes of the mountain and the precious stones, for this city is also the Garden of Eden, where those stones first grew (cf. Gen 2:10–12). An Example of Symbolic Interpretation (the stones) Andrew of Caesarea.  By the amethyst, being somehow fiery in appearance, I surmise Matthias is signified, having been deemed worthy of the divine fire in the distribution of tongues and filling again the place of the one who had fallen, with fiery yearning to be well pleasing to the One who had chosen . Chapter Twenty-Two The Living Waters. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  The theme of the living waters is very much central to the Johannine corpus (cf. Jn 4:7–15; 7:38; 19:34; 1 Jn 5:6–8). The Seal/Name. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  Heaven, portrayed here as vision and worship with the angels (verses 8–9), is for all those whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the living God. This sealing, of course, stands in contrast to the mark of beast… Blessed is the Kingdom… Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In this book a great deal has been said about the worship in the heavenly sanctuary. Now we learn that Christians already share in the worship that the angels give to God (verses 8–9). The End of Old Time Fr. Patrick Reardon.  Verse 11 indicates a definite cut-off point in history, which is the final coming of Christ. Verse 12, which quotes Isaiah 40:10, promises the reward, which is access to the Holy City, eternal beatitude—the fullness of communion with God. In preparation for that reward, verses 14–16 are something of an altar call, an appeal for repentance, based on all that this book has said. The Final Partition Fr. Patrick Reardon.  In referring to those “outside” the City, John is relying on an ancient eucharistic discipline of the Church, called “excommunication,” which literally excluded the person from receiving holy communion. … Some Terms Chiliasm was (may have been?) renounced at the Second Ecumenical Council.   The millennium is now.  The first resurrection confused people: it is the one to hades or the bosom of Abraham. Pre-millennialism is very similar to chiliasm.  A literal reign.  It misunderstands the language. About the Rapture From Fr. John Peck and Fr. Barnabas Powell.  “There is no Rapture. It isn't in the Bible. It was invented in the 19th century, and spread because of new religious groups, and the use of a specifically tailored study Bible. Believers will be present for the Great Tribulation to give their witness and glorify God, as the Bible says. There is no Third Coming of Christ. When Christ returns, that is the end of this world, and it will be unmistakable. There will be no doubt whatsoever.  Stop worrying about what you will do if Jesus comes back before you die. Instead, worry about what will happen if you die before Jesus comes back.” From the OSB: Christ's second coming will entail a sudden revelation of judgment.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation.  The separation of the saints from the wicked will occur on “the day when the Son of man is revealed” (v. 30) and not, as some speculate today, at an event that occurs before His return. As for Preterism and Partial Preterism; the Orthodox Church does not look to the book of Revelation for specific data on the end times.  If you want to shoehorn it into this debate, it is partial-preterist.  

Revelation Class 14 – 19; Heading to the Final Showdown 12 February 2025 Revelation, Chapter Fifteen - Twenty    Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018), 79–. Chapter Fifteen John sees in heaven the tabernacle of testimony from the Book of Exodus, the traveling tent of the divine presence that Moses and the Israelites carried through the desert. This tent, however, is “heavenly,” which means that it is the original model, the very pattern that Moses copied (Ex 25:9, 40; Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5). … The tent itself is full of the cloud of the divine presence, the very cloud that led the Israelites through the desert of old. When that tent was dedicated in the desert, the divine cloud took up residence within it (Ex 40:34–38). That cloud later took residence in Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 8:1–12), where Isaiah beheld it (6:1–4). In prophetic vision Ezekiel saw that cloud return to the second temple built in 520–16 (Ez 44:4). Chapter Sixteen … As in the account in Exodus, the intent of this [these] plague[s] is that the idolaters should repent, but in neither case does it happen. … … Verse 15 contains a well-known saying of Jesus, in which he compares his final return to the coming of a thief in the dead of night. This dominical saying is preserved in the Gospels of Matthew (24:43) and Luke (12:39)…. Chapter Seventeen John's vision of the woman on the scarlet beast is better understood if one bears in mind certain features of his cultural and religious memory [idolatry as fornication; Jezabel as a wicked woman with loose morals connected with Baal;  Proverbs on good vs. bad woman (Wisdom vs. Folly); Cleopatra? And Berenice (daughter of Herod); and the city of Rome].  Chapter Eighteen This chapter deals with the city of sin, Babylon. It is not a prophecy of the downfall of Rome, such as that of AD 410 for instance, but an affirmation of hope for the downfall of what the pagan Roman Empire stood for. … John's complaint against the economic and commercial idolatry of his time should be regarded against the background of the Bible's prophetic literature, especially the prophecies of Amos and Isaiah, who spoke out frequently against the unjust practices of the business world that they knew. price fixing, monopoly, widespread unemployment, and so forth. Actually, such considerations are among the most common in the Bible. We observe that John does not see Babylon fall. An angel tells him that it has already happened. John, that is to say, has no violent vision. There is no projection, here, of a vindictive spirit; it is, rather, the divine resolution of a cosmic problem. … Chapter Nineteen The previous chapter spoke of the destruction of Babylon, pictured as a woman dressed in scarlet. …. We begin the chapter with the “Alleluia.” Although our own experience may prompt us to associate that fine prayer with the sight and scent of lilies, here in Revelation it resounds against the background of smoke rising from a destroyed city. The worship scene portrayed here is related to victory over the forces of hell… By portraying the reign of God as a marriage feast, John brings together three themes, all of them familiar to the Christians of his day. [banquet; wedding; garments]…

Revelation Class 13 – The Woman and the Beasts 05 February 2025 Revelation, Chapter Twelve - Fourteen    Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018), 70–78. Chapter Twelve … Nonetheless, this is not simply a description of the Lord's nativity. The Woman in the vision is the mother of Jesus, but she is more; she is also the Church, which gives birth to Christ in the world. The sufferings and persecution of the Church are described as birth pangs (cf. Jn 16:21–22). The serpent, of course, is the ancient dragon that is the enemy of our race, the one who seduced the first woman in the garden. … Chapter Thirteen Up till now we have seen two beasts, one of them from the underworld (Chapter 11) and the other from the heavens (Chapters 12). Two more beasts will appear in the present chapter, one of them from the sea (verse 1), who also has seven heads and ten horns (cf. 12:3), and one from the land (verse 11). …  Far more than ourselves, one fears, the early Christians were aware of the power of evil in the world. They spoke of it frequently in personified forms that are difficult to interpret literally. And the Christians described their relationship to this evil as one of warfare. … Now we come to the beast arising out of the earth, a parody of Christ in the sense that he faintly resembles a lamb (verse 11). Performing great signs and bringing fire down from heaven (verse 13), he is also a parody of the two witnesses in Chapter 11; in this respect he resembles the magicians of Egypt. The Gospels, we recall, have several warnings against false christs and false prophets, who will work wonders. … Interpreters of the sacred text, however, have been most partial to the Hebrew form of the name, “Nero Caesar,” which does, in fact, add up to exactly the number six hundred and sixty-six. There are other possibilities, but this explanation seems the most compelling. The number was thus a reference to Nero, the first Roman emperor who ever undertook the persecution of the Christian Church. Chapter Fourteen … On the image of harvest as judgment, see Joel 4:13–14 (3:9–14). The Son of Man on the cloud is, of course, from the Book of Daniel, an image that Jesus interprets of Himself in each of the Synoptic Gospels. The rising pool of blood becomes a kind of Red Sea. Indeed, the following chapter will be full of imagery from the Book of Exodus. plagues, the cloud of the divine presence, the tent of testimony, Moses, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the pursuers.

Revelation Class 12 – The Trumpets 22 January 2025 Revelation, Chapter Eight - Eleven    Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018), 58–69. In the present text, the immediate response to the opening of the seventh seal is silence in heaven for thirty minutes (verse 1), while the angels with the seven trumpets prepare themselves (verses 2, 6), and the throne room is ritually incensed (verse 3). The silence that accompanies the incensing provides a time for prayers to be offered, the ascending of which is symbolized in the rising incense smoke (cf. Lk 1:9–10; Ex 30:1–9; Talmud, “Tamid” 3.1). In the temple ritual of Israel, it is likely that thirty minutes was required for the priest to make the rounds of the temple with his censer, though it sometimes took longer (cf. Lk 1:21)… The trumpets, moreover, will be sounded by the seven “angels of the Presence” (cf. Tob 12:15; Lk 1:19). The trumpets themselves are best understood in two points of reference. First, there were seven trumpets sounded in the procession around the walls of Jericho in Joshua 6. It is useful to bear in mind that the Ark of the Covenant was borne at the end of that procession, after the seven trumpets. Similarly, at the end of the sounding of the seventh trumpet in the Book of Revelation, the Ark of the Covenant will once again appear (cf. 11:15, 19). Second, that event of the fall of Jericho was given a constant liturgical expression in the ritual of the Jerusalem temple by the sounding of the trumpets (1 Chron 15:24; Neh 12:4–42). Almost any time anything of significance happened in the worship at the temple, such as prayers, sacrifices, and so forth, the trumpets were sounded. Thus, the blare of the trumpet symbolized Israel's constant and sustained worship of God. This is also the function of the trumpets here in Revelation 8. The blowing of the seven trumpets parallels the opening of the seven seals in several close particulars. Thus, the first four trumpets form a unified whole (verses 7–12), as did the first four seals (6:1–8). As in the case of the fifth and sixth seals (6:9–17), the fifth and sixth trumpets will be expressed in a longer and separate narrative (9:1–21). Finally, a pair of visions will precede the sounding of the seventh trumpet (10:1–11:14), as another pair preceded the opening of the seventh seal (7:1–17). In addition, by introducing various plagues upon the earth, the seven trumpets find another extensive parallel in the seven bowls of plague that will follow them. Finally, let us note that the plagues visited on the earth at the sounding of the trumpets, like the plagues visited on Egypt, do not touch those who, having been sealed, belong to God. Chapter 9 The first four trumpets produced plagues that resembled the seventh, first, and ninth plagues of Egypt (Ex 9:22–26; 7:20–21; 10:21). These plagues, prompted by the trumpets, affect only the physical and astrophysical world, not human beings—at least not directly. The final three, described by the heavenly eagle as “woes,” afflict mankind directly (8:13). The image of a fallen star already appeared in 8:10–11. Now another star falls in response to the fifth trumpet (verse 1; cf. Is 14:12–20). This star opens the bottomless pit, from which arises a hellish smoke (verse 2; cf. 8:12) that contrasts with the incense smoke of prayer. The abyss represents existence without the worship of God—the theological term for which is “hell.” As John watches, a massive swarm of locusts takes form within that hellish cloud (verse 3), reminiscent of Egypt's eighth plague (Ex 10:12–15). Unlike those former locusts, however, these locusts attack men themselves, not plant life (verse 4). Their activity is limited to five months, which is roughly the normal life span of locusts… The torture inflicted by these followers of Abaddon is spiritual, not physical, and the Christians, sealed with the sign of the Living God, are exempt from it. To the citizens of the Roman Empire the Euphrates River was a symbol analogous to the “Iron Curtain” of the Cold War era, that is, a border beyond which the enemy world lay massively in menace (verse 14). … The army that John sees, like the army of locusts summoned by the previous trumpet, comes right out of hell. Both of these invaders, the locusts and the horsemen, are sent to encourage men to repentance, but men's hearts, like the heart of Pharaoh, are hardened. The idolatries listed in verse 20 are the root of the other moral evils listed in verse 21. This relationship of idolatry to moral evil is identical to that in Romans 1:21–32 and Ephesians 5:6. Chapter 10 Just as there was a double interrupting narrative immediately prior to the opening of the seventh seal, so a pair of visions will now precede the sounding of the seventh trumpet. the angel holding the little scroll, and the two faithful witnesses. In the first of these, John is struck by the angel's numinous character, at once bright and obscure. The angel's body is clothed in a cloud, reminiscent of the cloud of the divine presence during ancient Israel's desert journey and the cloud associated with the tabernacle of the divine presence. The face of the angel, on the other hand, has the luminosity of the sun. Nonetheless, the very fierceness of his countenance is tempered by the rainbow arching over his head, a reminder of the eternal covenant between God and creation in Genesis 9.  The scroll the angel holds is smaller than the scroll in Chapter 5, a detail suggesting that its message may be less universal. Indeed, the message of that scroll is not directed to the world, but to the community of faith (verses 8–11). It is not read but eaten; John absorbs its message into himself. He assimilates the Word that he might then give expression to it. In this respect he imitates the prophet Ezekiel (cf. Ez 2:9–3:4). Chapter 11 In our reading of the Book of Revelation thus far we have encountered the Danielic expression, “a time, times, and half a time” (Dan 12:7). If we substitute the word “year” for “time,” the meaning of the expression is clear. “three and a half years,” or forty-two months, or (following the Hebrew calendar of thirty days per month) twelve-hundred and sixty days. In the Book of Daniel this was the length of time during which the Jerusalem temple was violated by Antiochus Epiphanes IV (Dan 9:27). Similarly here in Revelation it is the symbolic length of time of severe trial and the apparent triumph of evil (verses 2–3; 12:6; 13:5). John's contemporaries must also have been struck by the fact that the Roman siege of Jerusalem also lasted three and a half years, from AD 67–70. In the present chapter this length of time refers to the persecution of the Christian Church, of which Jerusalem's temple was a type and foreshadowing. Within the Christian Church, however, we find an inner court, as it were, a deep interior dimension that the forces of evil cannot trample. … This is the inner court of which John is told to take the measure (cf. Ez 40:1–4; Zech 2:1–2), a measuring that he will narrate later (21:15–17). The literary background of John's vision of the two witnesses is Zechariah 4:1–3, 11–14, where the prophet has in mind the anointed ruler Zerubbabel and the anointed priest Jeshua, the two men who preserved the worship in God's house. Those two figures represented royalty (Zerubbabel was a descendent of David) and priesthood (Jeshua was a descendent of Aaron), which are two essential aspects of the life in Christ (cf. Rev 1:6; 5:10). “Two” witnesses are required, of course, this being the minimum number required in order “to make the case” (Deut 19:15). But the two witnesses in this chapter of Revelation are the heirs, not only to Zerubbabel and Jeshua, but also to Moses and Elijah. It was the first of these who afflicted Egypt with plagues, and the second who closed up heaven for three and a half years (cf. Lk 4:25; Jas 5:17). This is John's way of asserting that the Christian Church, in her royal priesthood, continues also the prophetic war against false gods. She will destroy God's enemies by fire (verse 5), as did Moses (Num 16:35) and Elijah (2 Kgs 1:9–12). When the monster from the abyss kills these two servants of God (verse 7), the forces of evil seem to have triumphed (verse 10), but they will be carried up to heaven, again like Moses and Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11), because the victorious Lamb has the final word…. In the hymn that follows the seventh trumpet (verses 17–18), we should especially observe that God's wrath is salvific, a matter at which believers will rejoice, because God's reign is established by his wrath. God is not a neutral observer of history. … The wrath of God is the last thing in the world that Christians should be afraid of, for the wrath of God is on their side (Mt 23:35–36). As in the ancient procession around Jericho, the Ark of the Covenant appears after the seventh trumpet (verse 19).  

Today I talked to Daniel B. Hinshaw about his book Journey to Simplicity: The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2023). The events of Fr Roman Braga's life unfolded on three continents in complex and tumultuous times. In Romania, he lived through turbulent historical events, and he suffered for Christ under communist persecution. Later he continued his life and ministry in Brazil, and ended his days in the United States. He was a confessor of the faith and spiritual father of great wisdom and compassion, who shared Christ's love with all who came his way. This text presents the life of Fr Roman Braga, while also exploring the broader historical context in which he lived. Most fundamentally, it reveals the transfigured life of a man who is close to us in time, but who passed far beyond us in his spiritual life, who was not broken but rather transformed by God's grace, even in the midst of the horrors of torture and imprisonment. He continues to shine as a beacon of God's love, and a witness to His power to overcome even the greatest of evils. All the royalties for this book go to support Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where Fr Roman was a spiritual father: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today I talked to Daniel B. Hinshaw about his book Journey to Simplicity: The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2023). The events of Fr Roman Braga's life unfolded on three continents in complex and tumultuous times. In Romania, he lived through turbulent historical events, and he suffered for Christ under communist persecution. Later he continued his life and ministry in Brazil, and ended his days in the United States. He was a confessor of the faith and spiritual father of great wisdom and compassion, who shared Christ's love with all who came his way. This text presents the life of Fr Roman Braga, while also exploring the broader historical context in which he lived. Most fundamentally, it reveals the transfigured life of a man who is close to us in time, but who passed far beyond us in his spiritual life, who was not broken but rather transformed by God's grace, even in the midst of the horrors of torture and imprisonment. He continues to shine as a beacon of God's love, and a witness to His power to overcome even the greatest of evils. All the royalties for this book go to support Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where Fr Roman was a spiritual father: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Today I talked to Daniel B. Hinshaw about his book Journey to Simplicity: The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2023). The events of Fr Roman Braga's life unfolded on three continents in complex and tumultuous times. In Romania, he lived through turbulent historical events, and he suffered for Christ under communist persecution. Later he continued his life and ministry in Brazil, and ended his days in the United States. He was a confessor of the faith and spiritual father of great wisdom and compassion, who shared Christ's love with all who came his way. This text presents the life of Fr Roman Braga, while also exploring the broader historical context in which he lived. Most fundamentally, it reveals the transfigured life of a man who is close to us in time, but who passed far beyond us in his spiritual life, who was not broken but rather transformed by God's grace, even in the midst of the horrors of torture and imprisonment. He continues to shine as a beacon of God's love, and a witness to His power to overcome even the greatest of evils. All the royalties for this book go to support Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where Fr Roman was a spiritual father: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Today I talked to Daniel B. Hinshaw about his book Journey to Simplicity: The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2023). The events of Fr Roman Braga's life unfolded on three continents in complex and tumultuous times. In Romania, he lived through turbulent historical events, and he suffered for Christ under communist persecution. Later he continued his life and ministry in Brazil, and ended his days in the United States. He was a confessor of the faith and spiritual father of great wisdom and compassion, who shared Christ's love with all who came his way. This text presents the life of Fr Roman Braga, while also exploring the broader historical context in which he lived. Most fundamentally, it reveals the transfigured life of a man who is close to us in time, but who passed far beyond us in his spiritual life, who was not broken but rather transformed by God's grace, even in the midst of the horrors of torture and imprisonment. He continues to shine as a beacon of God's love, and a witness to His power to overcome even the greatest of evils. All the royalties for this book go to support Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where Fr Roman was a spiritual father: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

Today I talked to Daniel B. Hinshaw about his book Journey to Simplicity: The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga (St Vladimirs Seminary Press, 2023). The events of Fr Roman Braga's life unfolded on three continents in complex and tumultuous times. In Romania, he lived through turbulent historical events, and he suffered for Christ under communist persecution. Later he continued his life and ministry in Brazil, and ended his days in the United States. He was a confessor of the faith and spiritual father of great wisdom and compassion, who shared Christ's love with all who came his way. This text presents the life of Fr Roman Braga, while also exploring the broader historical context in which he lived. Most fundamentally, it reveals the transfigured life of a man who is close to us in time, but who passed far beyond us in his spiritual life, who was not broken but rather transformed by God's grace, even in the midst of the horrors of torture and imprisonment. He continues to shine as a beacon of God's love, and a witness to His power to overcome even the greatest of evils. All the royalties for this book go to support Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan, where Fr Roman was a spiritual father: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Revelation 11 20 November 2024 Chapter 7 Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011). Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2018), 53. Fr. Patrick Reardon.  The final preservation of God's elect was foreshadowed in their deliverance at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This sealing with the mark of the true Paschal Lamb fulfilled the promise contained in that earlier marking of Israel with the sacrificial blood of its type (Ex 12:21–23). Both Ezekiel and Exodus are important for the understanding of this seal. Ezekiel's reference was to the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, of which everyone was aware who saw the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. The passage in Exodus 12 had to do with the last of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt, the slaying of the firstborn sons. This sealing in Revelation, then, involves a new Exodus, in which God's people will be delivered, not left to share in the sin of the earthly Jerusalem.   Fr. Lawrence Farley:  What is this seal? The image is drawn from Ezekiel 9. In this passage, angels were to slay all in Jerusalem that rebelled idolatrously against Yahweh. But before they began their dreadful task, one angel went through the city and, at the divine command, put “a mark” (in Hebrew a tau) on all who were faithful (Ezek. 9:4). To be thus marked on the forehead is to enjoy the protection of God and an immunity from coming judgment…. This time of great tribulation seems to last throughout the age, for in Matthew 24:29 the Second Coming is said to occur “immediately after the tribulation of those days.” The parallel version of this verse in Luke 21:24 seems to confirm this, for it describes what Matthew refers to as “great tribulation” as a time of “great distress upon the land … [the people] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”—that is, until the end of the age. Even the original prophecy of Daniel 12 states that the “time of tribulation” will be followed by the resurrection of the dead, when “many of those who sleep in the dust will awake” (Dan. 12:2). It would seem then that in Matthew 24 the “great tribulation” is the age-long time of suffering for Israel that began with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70… This understanding of “the great tribulation” (7:14) as the suffering of the Church throughout the age explains too the difference in the two crowds mentioned in this chapter. In 7:1–8, John receives a vision of the Church on earth, sealed and protected by God in preparation for their entering the final time of conflict. It is the Church of the final days. In 7:9–17, however, John sees a vaster multitude. This crowd comprises, not just the Church of the final days, but the Church gathered throughout all the centuries, coming from “the great tribulation,” the age-long struggle with the world. Unlike the former crowd, this multitude is vast beyond counting, stretching into the horizons of heaven. It is the Church glorified at last, fresh from its victorious struggle, an overwhelming testimony to the power of God.  

Sources:  Andrew of Ceasarea: Commentary on the Apocalypse Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse, Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament (Volume III) Fr. Lawrence R. Farley. The Apocalypse of St. John; A Revelation of Love and Power St. Bede.  Explanation of the Apocalypse; Letter of Bede to Eusebius Fr. Thomas Hopko: AFR podcast - A Walk Through the Apocalypse (three parts) Dr. Jeanie Constantinau: Search the Scriptures Live – Series Fr. Stephen De Young; The Whole Counsel of God; Series on Revolution   Oca.org (Rainbow Series) There was a certain hesitation on the part of the early Church to include the book of Revelation in the canonical scriptures of the New Testament. The reason for this was obviously the great difficulty of interpreting the apocalyptic symbols of the book. Nevertheless, since the document carried the name of the apostle John, and since it was inspired by the Holy Spirit for the instruction and edification of the Church, it came to be the last book listed in the Bible, although it is never read liturgically in the Orthodox Church. [Comment on historical reasons why!] It is indeed difficult to interpret the book of Revelation, especially if one is unfamiliar with the images and symbols of the apocalyptic writings of the Bible, that is the Old Testament, and of the Judeo-Christian Tradition. There exists, however, a traditional approach to the interpretation of the book within the Church which offers insight into its meaning for the faithful. The wrong method of interpreting the book of Revelation is to give some sort of exclusive meaning to its many visions, equating them with specific, concrete historical events and persons, and to fail to understand the symbolical significance of the many images which are used by the author following biblical and traditional sources. First of all, the letters to the seven churches have both a historical and a universal meaning. The messages are clear and remain relevant to situations which have always existed in the Church and which exist today. For example, many older churches in all ages of history can he identified with the Church of Ephesus. Those under persecution can be compared with the Church in Smyrna. And not a few—perhaps some in America right now—can be judged with the Church in Laodicea. The seven letters remain forever as “prototypical” of churches that will exist until Christ's kingdom comes. The visions and prophecies of the main body of the book of Revelation present great difficulties, but mostly to those interpreters who would attempt to apply them to one or another historical event or person. If the general vision and prophecy of the book is seen as revealing the correlation between events “in heaven” and events “on earth,” between God and man, between the powers of goodness and the powers of evil, then, though many difficulties obviously remain, some will also immediately disappear. In the book of Revelation, one comes to understand that the Kingdom of God is always over all and before all. One sees as well that the battle between the righteous and the evil is perpetually being waged. There are always the faithful who belong to the Lamb, being crowned and robed by Him for their victories. There are always the “beasts” and the “dragons” which need to be defeated. The “great harlot” and the “great Babylon” are forever to be destroyed. The “heavenly Jerusalem” is perpetually coming, and one day it will come and the final victory will be complete. One notices as well that there is a universality and finality about the symbols and images of the book of Revelation, a meaning to be applied to them which has already been revealed in the scriptures of the Old Testament. Thus, for example, the image of Babylon stands for every society which fights against God, every body of persons united in wickedness and fleshliness. The image of harlotry universally applies as well to all who are corrupted by their passions and lusts, unfaithful to God Who has made them and loves them. The symbolic numerology also remains constant, with the number 666 (13.18), for example, symbolizing total depravity, unlike 7 which is the symbol of fulness; and the number 144,000 (14.3) being the symbol of total completion and the full number of the saved, the result of the multiplication of 12 times 12—the number of the tribes of Israel and the apostles of Christ. Thus, through the images of the book of Revelation, a depth of penetration into universal spiritual realities is disclosed which is greater than any particular earthly reality. The insight into the meaning of the book depends on the inspiration of God and the purity of heart of those who have eyes to see and ears to hear and minds willing and able to understand. In the Orthodox Church, the book of Revelation has great liturgical significance. The worship of the Church has traditionally, quite consciously, been patterned after the divine and eternal realities revealed in this book. The prayer of the Church and its mystical celebration are one with the prayer and celebration of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, in Church, with the angels and saints, through Christ the Word and the Lamb, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the faithful believers of the assembly of the saved offer perpetual adoration to God the Father Almighty. The book of Revelation, although never read in the Orthodox Church, bears witness to the divine reality which is the Church's own very life. [Comment on other reasons!] The Spirit and the Bride [the Church] say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. “Surely I am coming soon” [says Jesus, the Lord]. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (22.17, 20)   From: https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/new-testament/book-of-revelation  on 9/11/2024 The Last Judgment – The Experience of Prayer and Worship   St. Tikhon's Seminary, Orthodox Daily Prayers (St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 1982).   Morning Prayers: The Judge will come suddenly and the acts of every man will be revealed; but in the middle of the night we cry with fear: Holy! Holy! Holy! art Thou, O God; through the Theotokos, have mercy on us. 6th Prayer, by St. Basil the Great … Grant us to pass through the entire night of this present life with a watchful heart and a sober mind, awaiting the coming of the bright and manifest day of Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, when the Judge of all will come with glory to reward each according to his deeds. May we not be found fallen and lazy, but alert and roused to action, prepared to enter into His joy and the divine chamber of His glory, where the voice of those who feast is unceasing and indescribable is the delight of those who behold the inexpressible beauty of Thy countenance. For Thou art the true Light which enlightens and sanctifies all, and all creation hymns Thee unto ages of ages. Amen. A Midnight Song to the Most Holy Theotokos I am tossed in the tempest of life: direct me to the path of repentance. Deliver me from the eternal flame, from the evil worm, and from hell. Make me not a joy for demons, though I am guilty of many sins. Compline O Christ, give rest to the souls of Thy servants with the saints, where there is no sickness, sorrow or sighing, but everlasting life. Resurrection Tropar, Tone 3 Let the heavens rejoice! Let the earth be glad! For the Lord has shown strength with His arm! He has trampled down death by death! He has become the firstborn of the dead! He has delivered us from the depths of hell, and has granted the world great mercy! Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos Guard my wretched soul at the time of my death, driving away the dark forms of the evil demons. Deliver me from eternal torments at the Day of Judgment and reveal me an heir of the inexpressible glory of your Son and our God.   Evening Prayers 4th Prayer, of St. Macarius the Great … Covering me Thyself, protect me from every assault of the enemy through Thy divine Power, inexpressible Love for mankind and Strength. Cleanse, O God, cleanse the multitude of my sins. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me from the snares of the Evil One, and save my passionate soul. When Thou comest in glory, illumine me with the light of Thy countenance. May I fall uncondemned into a sleep free of apparitions. Keep the thoughts of Thy servant untroubled, and keep far from me every satanic activity. Enlighten the reason-endowed eyes of my heart, that I fall not into the sleep of death. Send to me an angel of peace, the guide and guardian of my soul and body, that he may deliver me from my enemies. Then, when I arise from my bed, I shall offer Thee prayers of thanksgiving…   For the Day Lord, exclude me not from Thy heavenly blessings. Lord, deliver me from eternal torments… Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe me, Thy servant, in the book of life, and grant me a good end.… Lord of Heaven and earth, remember me, Thy sinful, shameful and impure servant, in Thy Kingdom. …   8th Prayer, to our Lord Jesus Christ … Yea, O Lord my Creator, Who desirest not the death of the sinner, but that he should return to Thee and live: grant repentance to me, wretched and unworthy. Snatch me from the jaws of the consuming serpent, its mouth opened to devour me and take me down to hell alive. …   Canon of Repentance Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! When the thrones will be set up for the dread Judgment, the deeds of all men will be recalled. Alas for the sinners who will be sent to torment! Knowing this, my soul, repent of your evil deeds! Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! The righteous shall rejoice, but sinners shall lament. No one will be able to help us at that moment—our deeds will condemn us! Before the end comes, repent of your evil deeds! … Our present path is wide and conducive to pleasures, but bitter will the Last Day be when the soul will part from the body. O man, beware of those pleasures, for the sake of the Kingdom of God. … Contemplate, my soul, the bitter hour of death and the dread judgment of your Creator and God. Threatening angels will seize you, my soul, and lead you to eternal flames. Repent before your death, therefore, crying: O Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner! … Put not your hope in corruptible wealth, my soul, nor in things unjustly gathered. You do not know to whom you will leave it all. Instead, cry out: O Christ God, have mercy on me, the unworthy! Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! Remember, my soul, both the eternal life and the Heavenly Kingdom prepared for the saints and the outer darkness and divine wrath prepared for the wicked. Then cry out: O Christ God, have mercy on me, the unworthy! Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! How can I not weep when I think of death? I have seen my brother lying in the tomb without glory and without form. What can I expect? What can I hope? Only grant me, Lord, repentance before the end. (twice) Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! I believe that Thou wilt come to judge the living and the dead, and that everyone will stand in his rank: the old and the young; masters and princes; virgins and priests. Where will I find myself? Therefore, I cry out: grant me, Lord, repentance before the end. … Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! I now turn to you, angels, archangels, and all the heavenly host who stand by the throne of God: pray to your Creator that He deliver my soul from eternal torments. Have mercy on me. O God, have mercy on me! I now weep before you, holy patriarchs, kings and prophets, apostles and hierarchs, and all the elect of Christ: help me at the Judgment, that my soul be saved from the strength of the Enemy. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! I now lift up my hands to you, holy martyrs, desert-dwellers, virgins, righteous ones, and all saints who pray to the Lord for the whole world: may He have mercy on me at the hour of my death. Most Holy Theotokos, save us! Help me, Mother of God, for I have great hope in you! Pray to your Son, that when He sits to judge the living and the dead, He may place me at His right hand, even though I am unworthy.   Canon to the Guardian Angel I think of the Dread Day and weep over my evil deeds. How shall I answer the immortal King? Or how shall a prodigal like me dare to look up at the judge? O compassionate Father, only-begotten Son, and Holy Spirit: have mercy on me!   PRAYERS IN PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION 1st Prayer, of Saint Basil the Great O Lord Jesus Christ my God, may the communion of Thy most pure and life-creating mysteries not bring me into judgment, nor may I become weak in soul and body by partaking in an unworthy manner, but grant me to receive communion of Thy holy things without condemnation even to my very last breath, and by them to receive communion of the Holy Spirit, provision for the journey of eternal life, and an acceptable answer at Thy dread judgment seat; that I, together with all Thy chosen ones, may also be a partaker of the incorruptible blessings which Thou hast prepared for those who love thee, O Lord, in whom Thou art glorified forever. Amen. … 3rd Prayer, of St. Simeon Metaphrastes Through Thy glorious Ascension Thou didst deify the flesh which Thou didst assume, and placed it on the throne at the Father's right hand. Grant me to receive a place at the right hand with the saved through communion of Thy holy mysteries… Thou hast promised to come again to judge the world in righteousness. Grant that I may go to meet Thee in the clouds, my Judge and Creator, with all Thy saints; that I may glorify and praise Thee without end, together with Thy Father Who is without beginning, and Thy most holy and good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.   5th Prayer, of St. Basil the Great for the correction and grounding of my life, for the increase of virtue and perfection, for the fulfillment of Thy commandments, for the communion of the Holy Spirit, for the journey of eternal life, for a good and acceptable answer at Thy dread judgment, but not for judgment or condemnation. Amen. Troparia With love hast Thou drawn me, O Christ, and with Thy divine love hast Thou changed me. Burn away my sins with a spiritual fire and satisfy me with joy in Thee, that I may joyfully magnify Thy two comings, O Good One. How shall I, who am unworthy, enter into the radiance of Thy saints? If I dare to enter the bridal-chamber, my garment accuses me, for it is not a wedding garment, and the angels will bind me and cast me out. Cleanse, O Lord, the filth of my soul and save me, for Thou lovest mankind. And this prayer: O Master Who lovest mankind! O Lord Jesus Christ my God! May these holy things not be to my condemnation, though I am unworthy of them. May they be for the cleansing and sanctification of my soul and body and a pledge of the life and Kingdom that are to come…   PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AFTER COMMUNION Glory to Thee, O God! Glory to Thee, O God! Glory to Thee, O God! … let them be for the healing of soul and body, the repelling of every adversary, the illumining of the eyes of my heart, the peace of my spiritual powers, a faith unashamed, a love unfeigned, the fulfilling of wisdom, the observing of Thy commandments, the receiving of Thy Divine Grace, and the attaining of Thy Kingdom. Preserved by them in Thy holiness, may I always remember Thy Grace and live not for myself alone, but for Thee, our Master and Benefactor. May I pass from this life in the hope of eternal life, and so attain to the everlasting rest, where the voice of those who feast is unceasing, and the gladness of those who behold the goodness of Thy countenance is unending. For Thou art the true desire and the ineffable joy of those who love Thee, O Christ our God, and all creation sings of Thy praise forever. Amen.   Another Prayer O Lord Jesus Christ our God: let Thy holy Body be my eternal life; Thy precious Blood, my remission of sins. Let this Eucharist be my joy, health, and gladness. Make me, a sinner, worthy to stand on the right hand of Thy glory at Thine awesome second Coming, through the prayers of Thy most pure Mother and of all the saints.   Sacraments Etc.   St. Tikhon's Monastery, trans., The Great Book of Needs: Expanded and Supplemented, vol. I.   Naming on the Eighth Day   …, and that he (she) may be perfected by the dread Mysteries of Thy Christ, so that, having lived according to Thy commandments, and having preserved the seal unbroken, he (she) may receive the blessedness of the Elect in Thy Kingdom: By the grace and love for mankind of Thine Only-begotten Son, with Whom Thou art blessed, together with Thy Most-holy, Good and Lifegiving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. [1]   Making of a Catachemen Inscribe him (her) in Thy Book of Life, and unite him (her) to the flock of Thine inheritance Exorcism for He shall come, and shall not tarry, to judge all the earth; and He shall punish thee and thy cooperating host in the fiery Gehenna, consigning thee to outer darkness, where the worm ceases not and the fire is not quenched.   Baptism … that, being planted in the likeness of Thy death through Baptism, he (she) may become a partaker of resurrection; and, preserving the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, and increasing the deposit of grace, he (she) may receive the prize of his (her) high calling, and be numbered with the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.   Chrismation confirm him (her) in the Orthodox Faith; deliver him (her) from the evil one and all his devices; and preserve his (her) soul in purity and righteousness, through the saving fear of Thee, that, in every deed and word, being acceptable unto Thee, he (she) may become a son (daughter) and heir of Thy heavenly Kingdom.   After Prayer … Yes, for now he (she) that is illumined by the rays of grace through spiritual birth, has been given into your arms by me, a sinner: that he (she) that was in darkness, after rebirth, will stand before the Heavenly Father in another age, as pure as today, and, in soul, whiter than snow, from the bath of regeneration. Thus, undefiled and unblemished by the action of the serpent which comes from the flesh, he (she) shall stand before the sincere Judge, Who will render to each according to his deeds. And clearly today, through your lips the cursed satan was cast out and all his activities; and God the Creator of all adopted him (her), who by grace acquired spiritual birth, and was clothed as a member of the Church of Christ with the confession of the True Christian Faith. Thus, all the days of his (her) life let him (her) remain in the One Faith without parting from the Church, and in the grace of adoption by the immutable God. Let him (her) never turn aside to the works of the evil satan, and let him (her) ever stand opposed to him. And, with the help of God he (she) shall be revealed as a mighty destroyer of all his snares, as a soldier of Christ, strengthened by the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit in the war against him. And after such God-pleasing struggles, he (she) shall receive from the Originator and Judge of struggles labor in the Heavenly Kingdom—the great blessedness of life eternal.   Confession (this is not generally read, but is part of the teaching) …. But do not conceal even one sin, not even because of shame, for I also am a man subject to passions, able to fall into similar sins, and I have experience of the weakness of man. And when despising the shame which you shall expose to the One God, through me, you will not be accused of these sins before the Angels of God and before all men at the dread Judgement. But if you hide anything, before me, from the One God, then you will be accused before the universal assembly, and you shall not be delivered from eternal punishment…   Another exhortation for Confession … But abiding in continual repentance for sins, strive to increase good deeds, that, through repentance, you not only be delivered of eternal torment, but also that you may be counted worthy, by God, of unending life for your good work, from whom will always come assistance to you for all your good beginnings, for the performing of good deeds, and mercy and blessing all the days of your life, and that you may be counted worthy to receive in the future age the gift of eternal life.   Weddings/Crowning O God, our God, Who didst come to Cana of Galilee, and didst bless the marriage there: Do Thou bless also these Thy servants, who, by Thy providence, are joined together in the communion of marriage. Bless their comings in and their goings out, replenish their life with good things, and accept their crowns in Thy Kingdom, preserving them spotless, undefiled, and without reproach, unto the ages of ages.   The Office of Holy Oil/Annointing … For Thou didst not create man for destruction, but for the keeping of Thy commandments, and for the inheritance of life incorruptible, and unto Thee do we send up glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Choir: Amen.   Funeral   St. Tikhon's Monastery, trans., The Great Book of Needs: Expanded and Supplemented, vol. III   BEFORE THE PARTING OF THE SOUL FROM THE BODY  (comfort and protection against terror) The rending of the bonds, the sundering of the natural law that holds the whole fleshly composition together, causes me anguish and unbearable necessity. Glory.… Do thou translate me, O Sovereign Lady, in the sacred and precious arms of the holy Angels, that sheltered by their wings, I not see the impious, foul and dark form of the demons. Now and ever.… O All-pure Chamber of God, count me worthy of the heavenly, supersensual Chamber, and kindle thou my smoldering and dimming light with the holy oil of thy mercy. … Do thou count me worthy to escape the hordes of bodiless barbarians, and rise through the aerial depths and enter into Heaven, that I may glorify thee unto the ages, O holy Theotokos. O thou that gavest birth to the Lord Almighty, when I come to die, do thou banish far from me the commander of the bitter toll-gatherers and ruler of the earth, that I may glorify thee unto the ages, O holy Theotokos. Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord. When the last great trumpet sounds at the fearful and dread resurrection of judgment unto all that shall arise, do thou remember me then, O holy Theotokos.   THE OFFICE AT THE DEPARTURE OF THE SOUL FROM THE BODY   [rest, forgiveness, bosom of Abraham, deliverance from death, eternal life, paradise vs hell]   We beseech Thee, O Unoriginate Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Cast not into the bottom of [Hell] the soul that was infected by the plague of the soul-corrupting world, and has passed over unto Thee, the Creator, O God, my Savior. With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Thy servant, where sickness is no more, neither sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.   In the nourishment of Paradise where the souls of the Righteous who served Thee abide [repeated often], do Thou, O Christ, join with them the soul of Thy servant who is singing: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou.   … Deliver him (her) from eternal torment and the fire of Gehenna, and grant him (her) the participation and delight of Thine eternal good things prepared for them that love Thee...   Matins– rest, forgiveness, eternal life with the blessed   O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the devil, and given life unto Thy world: Do Thou Thyself, O Lord, give rest unto the soul of Thy departed servant, N., in a place of brightness, in a place of green pasture, in a place of repose, whence sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away. As Thou art a good God and the Lover of Mankind, do Thou pardon every transgression that he (she) has committed, whether by word or deed or thought, for there is no man that lives yet does not sin. For Thou only art without sin; Thy righteousness is righteousness forever, and Thy word is truth.   I am an image of Thine ineffable glory, though I bear the wounds of sin. Take pity on Thy creature, O Master, and cleanse me by Thy loving-kindness. And grant me the desired fatherland, making me again a citizen of Paradise. Refrain:           Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. O Thou Who of old didst fashion me out of nothingness and didst honor me with Thine Image divine, but when I transgressed Thy commandment, didst return me again unto the earth whence I was taken: Raise me up according to Thy Likeness, that I may be restored to my former beauty. Refrain:           Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. Give rest, O God, to Thy servant and establish him (her) in Paradise, where the choirs of the Saints and the Righteous shine like the stars, O Lord. Give rest to Thy servant who has fallen asleep, overlooking all his (her) transgressions. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. (To the Holy Trinity) The threefold radiance of the one Godhead let us piously hymn, crying out: Holy art Thou, O Father Who hast no beginning, Co-unoriginate Son and Divine Spirit. Illumine us who serve Thee in faith, and snatch us from the fire eternal. Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Theotokion) Rejoice, O pure One, who gavest birth to God in the flesh for the salvation of all, and through whom mankind has found salvation. Through thee may we find Paradise, O Theotokos pure and blessed.   In the dread day when Thou shalt come in Thine ineffable glory upon the clouds to judge the whole world, be Thou well-pleased, O Redeemer, that Thy faithful servant whom Thou hast received from the earth may meet thee with brightness.   May Christ give thee rest in the land of the living and open unto thee the gates of Paradise, and declare thee a citizen of the Kingdom. And may He grant thee forgiveness for those things wherein thou hast sinned in life, O thou who lovest Christ. … Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in Heaven. Let us give ear unto what the Almighty saith: Woe unto them that seek to behold the terrible day of the Lord! For it is darkness; for all things shall be tried with fire.   The First Epistle to the Thessalonians (Pericope 270—1 Thess. 4:13–17): Brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant concerning those who are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so will God bring with Him those also who die in Jesus. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord: that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have died. For the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God, shall come down from Heaven; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.   The Gospel according to John (Pericope 16—John 5:24–30): The Lord said to the Jews that came unto Him: “Verily, verily I say unto you, he that hears My Word and believes in Him that sent Me, has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but passes from death unto life. Verily, verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth—they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of Mine own Self do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, for I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father Who has sent Me.”   The Last Kiss. When the soul is about to be carried away from the body with violence by dread Angels, it forgets all kinsmen and acquaintances and is troubled concerning standing before the tribunal that is to come, that shall pass judgment upon vain things and much-toiling flesh. Then, entreating the Judge, let us all pray that the Lord will forgive him (her) the things that he (she) has done.   Save them that put their trust in thee, O Mother of the Sun that setteth not, O Begetter of God. With thy prayers entreat the Most-good God, we pray, that He will give rest unto him (her) that now has been taken away, where the souls of the Righteous repose. Show him (her) to be an heir of divine good things, in the courts of the Righteous, unto memory eternal, O all-undefiled One. Glory … (TONE 6): Beholding me voiceless and deprived of breath, weep for me, O brethren and friends, kinsmen and acquaintances. For yesterday I conversed with you, and suddenly the dread hour of death came upon me. But come, all you that love me, and kiss me with the last kiss. For no more will I walk with you or converse with you. For I depart unto the Judge with Whom there is no respect of persons. For slave and master stand together before Him, king and warrior, rich and poor, in equal worthiness; for each, according to his deeds, is glorified or put to shame. But I beg and entreat you all, that you pray without ceasing unto Christ God for me, that I not be brought down unto the place of torment according to my sins, but that He will appoint me to the place where is the light of life.   9th Hour (Final Prayer of St. Basil the Great) Rescue us from the hand of the adversary, and forgive us our sins, and mortify our carnal mind; that, putting aside the old man, we may be clad with the new, and live for Thee, our Master and Benefactor; and that, so following after Thy commandments, we may attain unto rest eternal, where is the abode of all who rejoice.   Great Vespers None – note that it does NOT include Octoechos and Menaion!   Orthros/Matins Does NOT include Octoechos and Menaion. Prayer of Light.  . Illumine in our hearts the true Sun of Your righteousness, enlighten our minds and guard all our senses, that, as in the day, walking nobly in the way of Your commandments, we may attain to life eternal, for with You is the fountain of life, and that we may be vouchsafed to come to the enjoyment of Your unapproachable light. Evlogetaria.  Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. The company of the Angels was amazed, when they beheld Thee numbered among the dead, yet Thyself, O Savior, destroying the power of death, and with Thee raising up Adam and releasing all men from hades. Tropar after Psalm 50.  Jesus, having risen from the grave as He foretold, hath given unto us life eternal and Great Mercy.     Divine Liturgy Does NOT include Octoechos and Menaion Creed.  …I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the Life of the world to come. Amen. Anaphora.  … Thou it was who didst bring us from non- existence into being and, when we had fallen away, didst raise us up again and didst not cease to do all things until thou hadst brought us up to heaven and hadst endowed us with thy kingdom which is to come… … Having in remembrance, therefore, this saving commandment and all those things which have come to pass for us: the cross, the grave, the third-day resurrection, the ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand, and the second and glorious coming: Thine own of thine own… … That to those who shall partake thereof they may be unto vigilance of soul, unto forgiveness of sins, unto the communion of thy Holy Spirit, unto the fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven and unto boldness toward thee, not unto judgment nor unto condemnation… Before Lord's Prayer… Vouchsafe us to partake of thy heavenly and dread mysteries of this sacred and spiritual table, with a pure conscience, unto forgiveness of sins, unto pardon of transgressions, unto communion of the Holy Spirit, unto inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, unto boldness toward thee, and not unto judgment nor unto condemnation. Lord's Prayer.  ..thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven… Communion Prayer.  …unto forgiveness of sins and unto life everlasting…. [1] St. Tikhon's Monastery, trans., The Great Book of Needs: Expanded and Supplemented, vol. I (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2000), 7–8.

Have you ever wondered why icons are so special? Icons are windows into the invisible world. And our Eastern Catholic brothers have a very robust understanding of the role of icons in prayer. On this episode of The Spirit World, Debbie and Adam welcome from the Fr. Thomas Loya, pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Illinois, and host of EWTN's Light of the East, to discuss everything about icons. www.GRNonline.com/SpiritWorld To obtain icons by Fr. Loya, we recommend contacting St. Vladimir's Seminary Press or Nelson's Religious Gifts in Steubenville, Ohio.  

Phil and Daniel discuss Lewis' introduction to On the Incarnation. Your Lamp-post Links: Beginner Recommendations The Bible Homer, The Essential Iliad & The Essential Odyssey (8th century) Sophocles, Antigone (441 BC) Plato, Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo (399 BC) Virgil, The Essential Aeneid (19 BC) Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606) Voltaire, Candide (1759) Princeton University Press: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers Intermediate Recommendations St. Augustine, Confessions (397) Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (523) St. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue of Divine Providence (14th century) Julien of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (15th century) Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson (1812) St Vladimir's Seminary Press, Popular Patristics St. John's College Reading List You can mail us at P.O. Box 25854, Richmond, Virginia, 23232, message us at hello@lamppostlistener.com, or call us at (406)646-6733. You can also support the show on Patreon. LampostListener.com | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Feed All Extracts by C.S. Lewis copyright © C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Used with permission.

We have a Disney Original Crossover episode today ... with our pals from The Leader's Way Podcast! And we have just a teensy question: what is hope? Why do we have hope? What is the point of hope in Easter? Why do Christians have hope? Be sure to catch our guest episode with Hannah and Brandon where we share our call stories to the priesthood, and more!We're so excited to dive into this conversation with Hannah and Brandon! More about Hannah: Hannah Black, PhD, grew up in Southern California and had a first career as a dancer at Disneyland. She went on to earn an MPhil and a PhD in theology at the University of Cambridge. Now, she is the Assistant Director of Leadership and Communications at Berkeley. She is also a Research Fellow at Yale Divinity School's Jonathan Edwards Center, where she is collaborating on a book project. Hannah is writing a translation for St. Vladimir's Seminary Press's Popular Patristics Series of seven short works by Gregory of Nyssa on the life of virtue. She is also working on a book project based on her doctoral work on Gregory of Nyssa's use of imagery for salvation as a resource for feminist soteriology. More about Brandon: Brandon Nappi, DMin, is the Executive Director of Leadership Programs at Berkeley Divinity School. With twenty years of retreat ministry, Brandon founded Copper Beech Institute, a worldwide contemplative community of 50,000 people from over 50 countries dedicated to sharing contemplative practice to heal our aching world. Brandon's life has been deeply nourished by Christian mysticism, mindfulness, interreligious dialogue, and Zen practice. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Yale Divinity School, he holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Homiletics from Aquinas Institute of Theology. Brandon walks alongside seekers, divinity students, and healers as a spiritual director and mentor.The Leader's Way convenes conversation at the intersection of leadership and spirituality. Dean Andrew McGowan shares Berkeley's vision for the podcast: “The Leader's Way podcast is one of the core elements of Berkeley's strategy to support practitioners in ministry. By offering this important content, we believe that we will meet the needs and challenges facing the leaders of churches and communities and to offer hope and inspiration.”The Leader's Way Podcast: https://berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/transforming-leaders/leaders-way-podcastLike what you hear?We'd love your support on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/AndAlsoWithYouPodcastThere's all kinds of perks including un-aired live episodes, Zoom retreats, and mailbag episodes for our Patreons!Keep up with us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/andalsowithyoupodcast/ More about Father Lizzie:https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzieJubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org  More about Mother Laura:https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peachesSt. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA Theme music:"On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). New episodes drop Mondays at 7am EST/6am CST! 

Bible Study – Job Class Six: Job 8:1-11:1; 11:1-42:22  From the Orthodox Study Bible.  JOB 8: [Bildad's nonsense] TO THE EARS OF BILDAD, JOB'S SECOND RESPONDENT, a man even less tolerant than Eliphaz, the foregoing lament seems to be an attack on the justice of God and the entire moral order. Unlike Eliphaz, however, Bildad is able to make no argument on the basis of his own personal experience. He is obliged to argue, rather, solely from the moral tradition, which he does not understand very well. Indeed, Bildad treats the moral structure of the world in a nearly impersonal way. To the mind of Bildad, the effects of sin follow automatically, as the inevitable effects of a sufficient cause. The presence of the effect, that is, implies the presence of the cause. If Eliphaz's argument had been too personal, bordering on the purely subjective, the argument of Bildad may be called too objective, bordering on the purely mechanical. In the mind of Bildad the principle of retributive justice functions nearly as a law of nature, or what the religions of India call the Law of Karma. Both Eliphaz and Job show signs of knowing God personally, but we discern nothing of this in Bildad. Between Bildad and Job, therefore, there is even less of a meeting of minds than there was between Eliphaz and Job. We should remember, on the other hand, that Job himself has never raised the abstract question of the divine justice; he has shown no interest, so far, in the problems of theodicy. Up to this point in the story, Job has been concerned only with his own problems, and his lament has been entirely personal, not theoretical. Bildad, for his part, does not demonstrate even the limited compassion of Eliphaz. We note, for example, his comments about Job's now perished children. In the light of Job's own concern for the moral wellbeing of those children early in the book (1:5), there is an especially cruel irony in Bildad's speculation on their moral state: “If your sons have sinned against [God], He has cast them away for their transgression” (8:4). What a dreadful thing to say to a man who loved his sons as Job did! Like Eliphaz before him, Bildad urges Job to repent (8:5–7), for such, he says, is the teaching of traditional morality (8:8–10). Clearly, Bildad is unfamiliar with the God worshipped by Job, the God portrayed in the opening chapters of this book. Bildad knows nothing of a personal God who puts man to the test through the trial of his faith. Bildad's divinity is, on the contrary, a nearly mechanistic adjudicator who functions entirely as a moral arbiter of human behavior, not a loving, redemptive God who shapes man's destiny through His personal interest and intervention. Nonetheless, in his comments about Job's final lot Bildad speaks with an unintended irony, because in fact Job's latter end will surpass his beginning (8:7), and “God will not cast away the blameless” (8:20—tam; cf. 1:1, 8; 2:3). On our first reading of the story, we do not know this yet, of course, because we do not know, on our first reading, how the story will end (for example 42:12). So many comments made by Job's friends, including these by Bildad in this chapter, are full of ironic, nearly prophetic meaning, which will become clear only at the story's end, so the reader does not perceive this meaning on his first trip through the book. As Edgar Allen Poe argued in his review of Bleak House by Charles Dickens, the truly great stories cannot be understood on a single reading, because the entire narrative must be known before the deeper significance of the individual episodes can become manifest. As Poe remarked, we do not understand any great story well until our second reading of it. This insight is preeminently helpful in the case of the Book of Job. JOB 11 [Zophar's nonsense] WE NOW COME TO THE FIRST SPEECH OF ZOPHAR, Job's most strident critic, a man who can appeal to neither personal religious experience (as did Eliphaz) nor inherited moral tradition (as did Bildad). Possessed of neither resource, Zophar's contribution is what we may call “third-hand.” He bases his criticism on his own theory of wisdom. Although he treats his theory as self-evidently true, we recognize it as only a personal bias. Moreover, Zophar seems to identify his own personal perception of wisdom as the wisdom of God Himself. Whereas Bildad had endeavored to defend the divine justice, Zophar tries to glorify “divine” wisdom in Job's case. If it is difficult to see justice verified in Job's sufferings, however, it is even harder to see wisdom verified by those sufferings. Like the two earlier speakers, Zophar calls on Job to repent in order to regain the divine favor. (This is a rather common misunderstanding that claims, “If things aren't going well for you, you should go figure out how you have offended God, because He is obviously displeased with you.”) Zophar also resorts to sarcasm. Although this particular rhetorical form is perfectly legitimate in some circumstances (and the prophets, beginning with Elijah, use it often), sarcasm becomes merely an instrument of cruelty when directed at someone who is suffering incomprehensible pain. In the present case, Job suffers in an extreme way, pushed to the very limits of his endurance. It is such a one that Zophar has the vile temerity to call a “man full of talk” (11:2), a liar (11:3), a vain man (11:11–12), and wicked (11:14, 20). The final two verses (19–20) contain an implied warning against the “death wish” to which Job has several times given voice. This very sentiment, Zophar says, stands as evidence of Job's wickedness. The author of the Book of Job surely understands this extended criticism by Zophar as an exercise in irony. Though the context of his speech proves the speaker himself insensitive and nearly irrational in his personal cruelty, there is an undeniable eloquence in his description of the divine wisdom (11:7–9) and his assertion of the moral quality of human existence (11:10–12). Moreover, those very rewards that Zophar promises to Job in the event of his repentance (11:13–18) do, in fact, fall into Job's life at the end of the book. In this story of Job, men are not divided into those who have wisdom and those who don't. In the Book of Job no one is really wise. There is no real wise man, as there is in, say, the Book of Proverbs. While wisdom is ever present in the plot of the story, no character in the story has a clear grasp of it. True wisdom will not stand manifest until God, near the end of the narrative, speaks for Himself. Even then God will not disclose to Job the particulars of His dealings with him throughout the story. From St. Gregory the Great Ver. 3. Doth God pervert judgment? Or doth the Almighty pervert justice? xxxvi. 59. These things blessed Job had neither in speaking denied, nor yet was ignorant of them in holding his tongue. But all bold persons, as we have said, speak with big words even well known truths, that in telling of them they may appear to be learned. They scorn to hold their peace in a spirit of modesty, lest they should be thought to be silent from ignorance. But it is to be known that they then extol the rectitude of God's justice, when security from ill uplifts themselves in joy, while blows are dealt to other men; when they see themselves enjoying prosperity in their affairs, and others harassed with adversity. For whilst they do wickedly, and yet believe themselves righteous, the benefit of prosperity attending them, they imagine to be due to their own merits; and they infer that God does not visit unjustly, in proportion as upon themselves, as being righteous, no cloud of misfortune falls. But if the power of correction from above touches their life but in the least degree, being struck they directly break loose against the policy of the Divine inquest, which a little while before, unharmed, they made much of in expressing admiration of it, and they deny that judgment to be just, which is at odds with their own ways; they canvass the equity of God's dealings, they fly out in words of contradiction, and being chastened because they have done wrong, they do worse. Hence it is well spoken by the Psalmist against the confession of the sinner, He will confess to Thee, when Thou doest well to him. Ps. 49:18. For the voice of confession is disregarded, when it is shaped by the joyfulness of prosperity. But that confession alone possesses merit of much weight, which the force of pain has no power to part from the truth of the rule of right, and which adversity, the test of the heart, sharpens out even to the sentence of the lips. Therefore it is no wonder that Bildad commends the justice of God, in that he experiences no hurt therefrom. 60. Now whereas we have said that the friends of blessed Job bear the likeness of heretics, it is well for us to point out briefly, how the words of Bildad accord with the wheedling ways of heretics. For whilst in their own idea they see the Holy Church corrected with temporal visitations, they swell the bolder in the bigness of their perverted preaching, and putting forward the righteousness of the Divine probation, they maintain that they prosper by virtue of their merits; but they avouch that she is rewarded with deserved chastisements, and thereupon without delay they seek by beguiling words a way to steal upon her, in the midst of her sorrows, and they strike a blow at the lives of some, by making the deaths of others a reproach, as if those were now visited with deserved death, who refused to hold worthy opinions concerning God. We have heard what Job, his wife, and his three friends have to say.  They cycle through similar things several times.  Next week, we will briefly see what a new speaker, Elihuh has to say and spend most of the class – the last one before Great Lent – to look at God's conversation with Job.  During Great Lent, we will work through chapters of Tito Coriander's Way of Ascetics.     Scriptural review  Mentioned historically as Jobab in Genesis (4), Joshua (1), and 1 Chronicles (5) Ezekial 14:20. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.  James 5:11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. Liturgical review Mentioned (through James) at Holy Unction; “You have heard of the patience of Job.” From the Funeral for a Priest Beatitudes: Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.   “Why do you lament me bitterly, O men? Why do you murmur in vain?” he that has been translated proclaims unto all. For death is rest for all. Therefore, let us listen to the voice of Job saying, “Death is rest unto man.” But give rest with Thy Saints, O God, unto him whom Thou hast received. Ode Six:   I remind you, O my brethren, my children, and my friends, that you forget me not when you pray to the Lord. I pray, I ask, and I make entreaty, that you remember these words, and weep for me, day and night. As said Job unto his friends, so I say unto you: Sit again and say: Alleluia.   Forsaking all things, we depart, and naked and afflicted we become. For beauty withers like grass, but only we men delude ourselves. Thou wast born naked, O wretched one, and altogether naked shall you stand there. Dream not, O man, in this life, but only groan always with weeping: Alleluia.   If thou, O man, hast been merciful to a man, he shall be merciful there unto thee. And if thou hast been compassionate to any orphan, he shall deliver you there from need. If in this life thou hast covered the naked, there he shall cover thee, and sing the psalm: Alleluia. Triodion Wednesday of Cheesfare Week; Matins Canticle Eight Let us preserve these virtues: the fortitude of Job, the singlemindedness of Jacob, the faith of Abraham, the chastity of Joseph and the courage of David. Saturday of Cheesefare Week; Matins; Canticle Two … a second Job was Benjamin in his constancy … Thursday of Clean Week (and Thursday of the Fifth Week); Great Canon Ode 4 Thou hast heard, O my soul, of Job justified on a dung-hill, but thou hast not imitated his fortitude. In all thine experiences and trials and temptations, thou hast not kept firmly to thy purpose but hast proved inconstant.          Have mercy on me, Oh God, have mercy on me. Once he sat upon a throne, but now he sits upon a dung-hill, naked and covered with sores. Once he was blessed with many children and admired by all, but suddenly he is childless and homeless. Yet he counted the dung-hill as a palace and his sores as pearls.          Have mercy on me, Oh God, have mercy on me. A man of great wealth and righteous, abounding in riches and cattle, clothed in royal dignity, in crown and purple robe, Job became suddenly a beggar, stripped of wealth, glory and kingship.          Have mercy on me, Oh God, have mercy on me. If he who was righteous and blameless above all men did not escape the snares and pits of the deceiver, what wilt thou do, wretched and sin-loving soul, when some sudden misfortune befalls thee?          Have mercy on me, Oh God, have mercy on me. I have defiled my body, I have stained my spirit, and I am all covered with wounds: but as physician, O Christ, heal both body and spirit for me through repentance. Wash, purify and cleanse me, O my Saviour, and make me whiter than snow. Read at Vespers/PSL on Monday of Holy Week: Job 1:1–12. Read at Vespers/PSL on Tuesday of Holy Week: Job 1:13–22. Read at Vespers/PSL on Wednesday of Holy Week: Job 2:1–10. Read at Vespers/Vesperal Liturgy on Thursday of Holy Week: Job 38:1–21; 42:1–5. Read at Vespers on Friday of Holy Week: Job 42:12–17 (LXX ending) --- Job 38  FROM FR. PATRICK REARDON NOW THE LORD HIMSELF WILL SPEAK, for the first time since chapter 2. After all, Job has been asking for God to speak (cf. 13:22; 23:5; 30:20; 31:35), and now he will get a great deal more than he anticipated. With a mere gesture, as it were, God proceeds to brush aside all the theories and pseudoproblems of the preceding chapters. … [Whirlwind, Lord] … At this point, all philosophical discussion comes to an end. There are questions, to be sure, but the questions now come from the Lord. Indeed, we observe in this chapter that God does not answer Job's earlier questions. The Lord does not so much as even notice those questions; He renders them hopelessly irrelevant. He has His own questions to put to Job. The purpose of these questions is not merely to bewilder Job. These questions have to do, rather, with God's providence over all things. The Lord is suggesting to Job that His providence over Job's own life is even more subtle and majestic than these easier questions which God proposes and which Job cannot begin to answer, questions about the construction of the world (verses 4–15), the courses of the heavenly bodies (verses 31–38), the marvels of earth and sea (verses 16–30), and animal life (38:39–39:30). Utterly surrounded by things that he cannot understand, will Job still demand to know mysteries even more mysterious? If the world itself contains creatures that seem improbable and bewildering to the human mind, should not man anticipate that there are even more improbable and bewildering aspects to the subtler forms of the divine providence? God will not be reduced simply to an answer to Job's shallow questions. Indeed, the divine voice from the whirlwind never once deigns even to notice Job's questions. They are implicitly subsumed into a mercy vaster and far richer. Implicit in these questions to Job is the quiet reminder of the Lord's affectionate provision for all His creatures. If God so cares for the birds of the air and the plants of the fields, how much more for Job! 39 - 41. On the Behemoth and the Leviathan Both behemoth and Leviathan are God's household pets, as it were, creatures that He cares for with gentle concern, His very playmates (compare Psalms 104[103]:26). God is pleased with them. Job cannot take the measure of these animals, but the Lord does. What, then, do these considerations say to Job? Well, Job has been treading on some very dangerous ground through some of this book, and it is about time that he manifest a bit more deference before things he does not understand. Behemoth and Leviathan show that the endeavor to transgress the limits of human understanding is not merely futile. There is about it a strong element of danger. A man can be devoured by it. It is remarkable that God's last narrative to Job resembles nothing so much as a fairy tale, or at least that darker part of a fairy tale that deals with dragons. Instead of pleading His case with Job, as Job has often requested, the Lord deals with him as with a child. Job must return to his childhood's sense of awe and wonder, so the Lord tells him a children's story about a couple of unimaginably dangerous dragons. These dragons, nonetheless, are only pets in the hands of God. Job is left simply with the story. It is the Lord's final word in the argument. 42.  Finale THE TRIAL OF JOB IS OVER. This last chapter of this book contains (1) a statement of repentance by Job (verses 1–6), (2) the Lord's reprimand of Eliphaz and his companions (verses 7–8), and (3) a final narrative section, at the end of which Job begins the second half of his life (verses 9–17). The book begins and ends, then, in narrative form. First, one observes in Job's repentance that he arrives at a new state of humility, not from a consideration of his own sins, but by an experience of God's overwhelming power and glory. (Compare Peter in Luke 5:1–8.) When God finally reveals Himself to Job, the revelation is different from anything Job either sought or expected, but clearly he is not disappointed. All through this book, Job has been proclaiming his personal integrity, but now this consideration is not even in the picture; he has forgotten all about any alleged personal integrity. It is no longer pertinent to his relationship to God (verse 6). Job is justified by faith, not by any claims to personal integrity. All that is in the past, and Job leaves it behind. Second, the Lord then turns and deals with the three comforters who have failed so miserably in their task. Presuming to speak for the Almighty, they have fallen woefully short of the glory of God. Consequently, Job is appointed to be the intercessor on their behalf. Ironically, the offering that God prescribes to be made on behalf of the three comforters (verse 8) is identical to that which Job had offered for his children out of fear that they might have cursed God (1:5). The Book of Job both begins and ends, then, with Job and worship and intercession. In just two verses (7–8) the Lord four times speaks of “My servant Job,” exactly as He had spoken of Job to Satan at the beginning of the book. But Job, for his part, must bear no grudge against his friends, and he is blessed by the Lord in the very act of his praying for them (verse 10). Ezekiel, remembering Job's prayer more than his patience, listed him with Noah and Daniel, all three of whom he took to be men endowed with singular powers of intercession before the Most High (Ezekiel 14:14–20). The divine reprimand of Job's counselors also implies that their many accusations against Job were groundless. Indeed, Job had earlier warned them of God's impending anger with them in this matter (13:7–11), and now that warning is proved accurate (verse 7). Also, ironically, whereas Job's friends fail utterly in their efforts to comfort him throughout almost the entire book, they succeed at the end (verse 11). Third, in the closing narrative we learn that Job lives 140 years, exactly twice the normal span of a man's life (cf. Psalm 90[89]:10). Each of his first seven sons and three daughters is replaced at the end of the story, and all of his original livestock is exactly doubled (Job 1:3; 42:12). St. John Chrysostom catches the sense of this final section of Job:   His sufferings were the occasion of great benefit. His substance was doubled, his reward increased, his righteousness enlarged, his crown made more lustrous, his reward more glorious. He lost his children, but he received, not those restored, but others in their place, and even those he still held in assurance unto the Resurrection (Homilies on 2 Timothy 7). ___ Saint Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job, vol. 1 (Oxford; London: John Henry Parker; J. G. F. and J. Rivington, 1844), 83. Robert Charles Hill.  St. John Chrysostom Commentaries on the Sages, Volume One – Commentary on Job.  Holy Cross Orthodox Press. Patrick Henry Reardon, The Trial of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Job (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2005), 22. Manlio Simonetti and Marco Conti, eds., Job, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 4–5. Orthodox Church, The Lenten Triodion, trans. Kallistos Ware with Mother Mary, The Service Books of the Orthodox Church (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2002), 222. Mother Mary, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, trans., The Lenten Triodion: Supplementary Texts, The Service Books of the Orthodox Church (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2007), 60. Orthodox Church, The Lenten Triodion, trans. Kallistos Ware with Mother Mary, The Service Books of the Orthodox Church (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2002), 559. St. Tikhon's Monastery, trans., The Great Book of Needs: Expanded and Supplemented, vol. III (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2002), 283.        

St Ephraim the Syrian ( Jan 28 )conversation w/ Fr Symeon Kees producer of Paradosis Pavilion & host of "Eastward Iowa City" podcastReference materials for this episode: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/01/28/100328-venerable-ephraim-the-syrianhttps://orthodoxwiki.org/Ephrem_the_SyrianSt. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise,  - trans. by Sebastian Brock - St. Vladimir's Seminary Press - pages 111-112, 157-159, 167-68, 170 - Hymns XI.9-15, VI.7-10, XII.19-20, XIII.5Scripture citations for this episode:Genesis 1-4The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon KeesParadosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://twitter.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcastIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these imagesPrints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2023

Compositor estonio. Sus obras están marcadas por el minimalismo y por una profunda espiritualidad, correspondiente a su fe cristiana ortodoxa. Sufre la censura del soviet, que proscribe sus obras y le empuja al exilio. Debe parte de su popularidad a sus bandas sonoras._____Has escuchado“Credo (1968)”. Erik Cortés, piano; Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM; Ludwig Carrasco, director. YouTube Vídeo. Publicado por Ludwig Carrasco, 27 de julio de 2020: [Vídeo]Für Alina (1976). Jürgen Kruse, piano; The Ajna Offensive; Mississippi Records (2017)“Nekrolog op. 5 (1960)”. Orquesta Filarmónica de Estocolmo; Paavo Järvi, director. YouTube Vídeo. Publicado por TheWelleszCompany, 12 de marzo de 2011: [Vídeo]Pari Intervallo (1980). Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, órgano. ECM (1992)_____Selección bibliográficaBOUTENEFF, Peter, Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2015BOUTENEFF, Peter, Jeffers Engelhardt y Robert Saler (eds.), Arvo Pärt: Sounding the Sacred. Fordham University Press, 2021CHIKINDA, Michael, “Pärt's Evolving Tintinnabuli Style”. Perspectives of New Music, vol. 49, n.º 1 (2011), pp. 182-206*DOLP, Laura, Arvo Pärt's White Light: Media Culture Politics. Cambridge University Press, 2019—, “Miserere: Arvo Pärt and the Medieval Present”. En: The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism. Editado por Stephen C. Meyer y Kirsten Yri. Oxford University Press, 2020*HEINE, Erik, “Games, Simplicity, and Trees: An Analysis of Arvo Pärt's Arbos”. En: Analyzing the Music of Living Composers (and Others). Editado por Jack Boss et al. Cambridge Scholars, 2013*HILLIER, Paul, The Music of Arvo Pärt. Oxford University Press, 1997KARNES, Kevin, Arvo Pärt's: Tabula Rasa. Oxford University Press, 2017—, Sounds Beyond: Arvo Pärt and the 1970s Soviet Underground. The University of Chicago Press, 2021*KAUTNY, Oliver, Arvo Pärt zwischen Ost und West: Rezeptionsgeschichte. Metzler, 2002RESTAGNO, Enzo et al., Arvo Pärt in Conversation. Dalkey Archive Press, 2012ROEDER, John, “Transformational Aspects of Arvo Pärt's Tintinnabuli Music”. Journal of Music Theory, vol. 55, n.º 1 (2011), pp. 1-41*ROSMA, Hedi et al., In Principio the Word in Arvo Pärt's Music. Arvo Pärt Centre, 2014SHENTON, Andrew, Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music, 1956-2015. Cambridge University Press, 2019SHENTON, Andrew (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Arvo Pärt. Cambridge University Press, 2014SKIPP, Benjamin, “Out of Place in the 20th Century: Thoughts on Arvo Pärt's Tintinnabuli Style”. Tempo, vol. 63, n.º 249 (2009), pp. 2-11*SMITH, Geoff, “An Interview with Arvo Pärt: Sources of Invention”. The Musical Times, vol. 140, n.º 1868 (1999), pp. 19-25*TEYSSANDIER, Julien, Arvo Pärt. Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2017*Documento disponible para su consulta en la Sala de Nuevas Músicas de la Biblioteca y Centro de Apoyo a la Investigación de la Fundación Juan March

In the essays offered in The Evangelical Theology of the Orthodox Church (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2021), Bradley Nassif argues that an evangelical (gospel) vision is embedded in the entire structure of the Church, and must be kept clear and central in each local parish. He also explores the elements of faith that Orthodox and Evangelicals share, without glossing over their differences, thus offering a means of mutual understanding and enrichment. He concludes with the history of an emerging global dialogue between the two traditions. Adrian Guiu holds a PhD in History of Christianity from the University of Chicago and teaches at Wright College in Chicago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

From the CD available at St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, here is part three of Fr. Tom Hopko speaking on The Word of the Cross.

From the CD available at St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, here is part four of Fr. Tom Hopko speaking on The Word of the Cross.

From the CD available at St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, here is part one of Fr. Tom Hopko speaking on The Word of the Cross.

From the CD available at St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, here is part two of Fr. Tom Hopko speaking on The Word of the Cross.

This episode of Nazareth to Nicaea examines the topic of "kenosis" the belief that Jesus emptied himself as part of his incarnation. But the debate is over what did he empty himself of? We cover: - Exegesis of Philippians 2:7 - The Extra Calvinisticum  - ChapGPT tries to explain kenosis!   Otherwise keep up with me on: Twitter: @mbird12 Blog: michaelfbird.substack.com Recommended Reading Paul Nimmo and Keith Johnson, Kenosis: The Self-Emptying of Christ in Scripture and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2022) Richard Cross, Communicatio Idiomatum: Reformation Christological Debates (Oxford: OUP, 2019) Richard Cross, Christology and Metaphysics in the Seventeenth Century (Oxford: OUP, 2022) St. Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1995) Intro track by Ben Clements #Jesus #Christology #Christ

You may be aware of the following quote from St. Silouan the Athonite: "Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not." But do you know the context of that quote? Check out this episode to learn about it and stay for the timeless wisdom of a beloved Siant, whose humility and love for God and man stand as a shining beacon for us all.  The episode is a series of excerpts from the book "Saint Silouan the Athonite," by St. Sophrony, translated by Rosemary Edmonds from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thepodvigpod/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thepodvigpod/support

Jordan and Brandon talk with Jonathan Watson about his book on models of baptism, catechesis and communion. They cover topics like: What is baptism, catechesis and communion? What are the various models for how these relate? What is your preferred model and why? Which model deserves greater attention but has had the least popularity? What ways are there for Protestants (and Baptists) to think more deeply on this topic? What ways are there that they should change their practices? And more!Resources:Catechesis and Initiation in Church History*Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril, in Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen, NPNF-II, vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Edwin Hamilton Gifford, 1–157 (Buffalo: Christian Literature, 1894; reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers 1994).Dujarier, Michael. A History of the Catechumenate: The First Six Centuries. Translated by Edward J. Haasl. New York: William H. Sadlier, 1979.Fisher, John D. C. Christian Initiation: Baptism in the Medieval West: A Study in the Disintegration of the Primitive Rite of Initiation. London: S.P.C.K., 1965.Johnson, Maxwell E. The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, 2nd ed. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2007.*Packer, J. I. and Gary A. Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010.*Pelikan, Jaroslav. Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.Yarnold, Edward. The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation: The Origins of the R.C.I.A., 2nd ed. (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1994. Relating Credobaptism and CredocommunionHammett, John. 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2015.*Jamieson, Bobby. Going Public: Why Baptism is Required for Church Membership. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2015.Kimble, Jeremy. 40 Questions about Church Membership and Discipline. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2017.Vandiver, Dallas. Who Can Take the Lord's Supper?: A Biblical-Theological Argument for Close Communion (Monographs in Baptist History). Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2021. (This is on my reading list, but looks great!) PaedobaptismCullmann, Oscar. Baptism in the New Testament. Studies in Biblical Theology, 1st ser. 1. London: SCM Press Ltd, 1950.*Leithart, Peter J. Baptism: A Guide to Life from Death. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2021. (Leithart also affirms paedocommunion)Trigg, Jonathan D. Baptism in the Theology of Martin Luther. New York: E. J. Brill, 1994. Paedocommunion*Gallant, Tim. Feed My Lambs. Grande Prairie, AB: Pactum Reformanda Pub, 2002.*Venema, Cornelius P. Children at the Lord's Table: Assessing the Case of Paedocommunion. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2009.Strawbridge, Gregg ed. The Case for Covenant Communion. Monroe, LA: Athanasius Press, 2006.Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Way. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986.Support the show

St. Silouan teaches, “The soul cannot know peace unless she prays for her enemies.Without the grace of God we cannot love our enemies.If you will pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; but when you can love your enemies – know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation.”“O Merciful Lord, give Thy graceto all the peoples of the earth,that they may come to know Thee,for without the Holy Spiritman cannot know Thee, and conceive of Thy love.”St. Silouan the Athonite (+1938) has reached the hearts of many around the world, first through his prayer in his cell, and now through his writings and his heavenly intercession. A towering figure full of love, a great ascetic who by God's grace mastered the passions, his witness is essential for the Orthodox Christian today. He is the spiritual father of St. Sophrony the Athonite.Read more about St. Silouan here: https://pemptousia.com/2018/09/saint-...From “St. Silouan the Athonite” by Archimandrite Sophrony,” St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, pages 376-379, 364. Purchase the book here: https://svspress.com/saint-silouan-th...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/orthodox-wisdom/message

What connects the Captain Cook statue, a missing Black Lives Matter banner, and housing covenants in Anchorage?  We explore the answer to that question in this episode.   Resources used to make this episode: http://www.cc.com/video-playlists/qkhul9/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-between-the-scenes/g34af5 https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/06/29/most-agree-on-the-story-of-captain-cooks-time-in-cook-inlet-they-differ-on-how-to-tell-it/ Oleksa, M., 1992, Orthodox Alaska: A theology of mission, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood. Newcomb, S., 1992, ‘Five hundred years of injustice', Indigenous Law Institute, n.d., viewed 30 January 2019, from http://ili.nativeweb.org/sdrm_art.html. Indigenous Values Initiative, 2018, Dum diversas, viewed 14 February 2019, from https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/dum-diversas/. Charles, M., 2016, ‘The doctrine of discovery, war, and the myth of America', Leaven 24(3), 147-154. http://www.alaskool.org/projects/JimCrow/cov_res.htm https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/28/illegal-for-decades-many-anchorage-homes-still-have-covenants-that-prohibit-sale-to-blacks-and-alaska-natives/ Wohlforth, C., 2017, ‘How some Anchorage neighbors redeemed the city's racist past', Alaska Daily News, 27 February, 2017, viewed 30 January 2019, from https://www.adn.com/opinions/2017/02/27/how-some-anchorage-neighbors-redeemed-the-citys- racist-past/. Ford, A., 2017, ‘Redlining in Fairview', Anchorage Press, 23 February, 2017, viewed 30 January 2019, from https://www.anchoragepress.com/news/redlininginfairview/article_cb0037a0-f9a7-11e6- b9eb-5fef409ab819.html. https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/09/07/hundreds-gather-in-anchorage-over-holiday-to-commemorate-march-on-washington-anniversary/ https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2020/09/07/anchorage-labor-day-rally-urging-racial-equality-draws-hundreds-of-supporters/ https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2020/06/25/mayor-berkowitz-to-have-native-village-of-eklutna-decide-what-to-do-with-downtown-captain-cook-statue/ www.smallchurchmusic.com/Song_Display-New.php?SID=2644

In this episode of The Greater Heritage podcast we review On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius and published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.In this classic work of patristic literature, St. Athanasius expounds a wonderfully simple yet rich apology on Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection.Though over 1,600 years old, On the Incarnation still stands as the high watermark of Greek Orthodox and Nicene theology.It is filled with timeless evidences and apologies for the Christian faith and comes highly recommended. Intro and outro music provided by Five Minute Plan. Be sure to check them out!Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the reviewer. They do not represent any endorsement from the publisher.

Welcome! This is a unique study that I will be hosting as I progress through my final semester at Abilene Christian University! The aim of this study is to provide scholarly information that is relevant and accessible to modern lay members. You will find that I explore each source during the episode and attempt to synthesize what I've learned in a way that those listening will benefit, not with a mere head knowledge, but with a change in heart and reverence for the God of Christianity. Each week, I will upload an episode focusing on a historic point of emphasis in the development of early Christian Theology. *Edit* I misspoke midway through on something so easy! Paul wrote Thessalonians, NOT Peter. Have no idea why I said that.*ACU's own, Dr. Kelli Gibson, is the professor for this course, and below are the sources used for this episode: Behr, John. The Way to Nicaea. Formation of Christian Theology Vol.1. Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001.

From "On the Dormition of Mary: Early Patristic Homilies", trans. By Brian E. Daley, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1998.

From "Light on the Mountain: Greek Patristic and Byzantine Homilies on the Transfiguration of the Lord", trans. by Brian E. Daley, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2013.

My guest in this episode is Porter Taylor. Porter is currently working on a PhD from the University of Aberdeen and is Theologian in Residence at Church of the Apostles in Kansas City, MO. He is editor and contributor of a new book, We Give Our Thanks Unto Thee: Essays in Memory of Fr. Alexander Schmemann(Pickwick, 2019). He’s here to talk with me about Schmemann, the Russian Orthodox priest and theologian, and his new book.  Primary Sources: Alexander Schmemann. For the Life of the World. For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. rev. ed. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1973. Alexander Schmemann. Introduction to Liturgical Theology. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1966. Alexander Schmemann. The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1987.   Secondary Sources: David W. Fagerberg. Theologia Prima: What is Liturgical Theology?Hillenbrand Books, 2012. David W. Fagerberg. Liturgy Outside Liturgy: The Liturgical Theology of Fr. Alexander Schmemann. Chorabooks, 2018. Bruce T. Morrill. Anamnesis as Dangerous Memory: Political and Liturgical Theology in Dialogue. Pueblo Books, 2000. Gordon Lathrop. Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology. Fortress, 1993.  Gordon Lathrop. Holy People: A Liturgical Ecclesiology. Fortress, 1999. Gordon Lathrop. Holy Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology. Fortress, 2003. Thomas Fisch. Liturgy and Tradition: Theological Reflections of Alexander Schmemann. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1990.

“Arius, an Alexandrian presbyter, began teaching some time before 318 that the Logos, the Word of God who became man—Jesus Christ—is not the divine Son of God….but a created being—created out of nothing, like everything else, by God the Father….Soon after Emperor Constantine took up residence in Nicomedia, the eastern capital…he was chagrined to learn of this new controversy that was troubling the whole Eastern Church….[H]e summoned the largest council of bishops ever held up to that point. It opened on May 20, 325 in the city of Nicea, near Nicomedia.” “Emperor Theodosius the Great came to the imperial throne of the eastern part of the Roman Empire in 379….In 381 he called a Church council in Constantinople which would become to be known as the Second Ecumenical Council. This council condemned all forms of Arianizing doctrines by reaffirming the doctrinal statement or creed, which had been proclaimed at the Nicene Council. It also condemned Macedonianism, and proclaimed the divinity of the Holy Spirit in a paragraph added to the Creed of Nicea. It is this Creed, the combined work of the first two Ecumenical Councils, which orthodox Christians recite at baptismal services and the Divine Liturgy.” Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 3, Church History: Revised and Expanded by David C. Ford. (Yonkers, New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981), pp. 49-50, 54-55.

St. Cyril was Pope of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He presided at the Third Ecumenical Council in Ephesus (431) which formally condemned Nestorianism. “Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople (r. 428-431), made known his refusal to honor Mary, Christ’s mother, with the traditional title of Theotokos. He claimed that the one born from Mary is not the Logos Himself, but merely the ‘man’ in whom the eternal Logos of God came to dwell. Thus, Mary could not properly be called ‘Theotokos,’ which means ‘the one who gave birth to God,’ but only either ‘Christokos,’ meaning ‘the one who gave birth to Christ,’ or ‘anthropotokos,’ meaning ‘the one who gave birth to a man—i.e., the man Jesus, to whom the Logos was joined.” Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, vol. 3, Church History: Revised and Expanded by David C. Ford. (Yonkers, New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1981), p. 59. “Towards the end of 429 he [Nestorius] invited Dorotheus of Marcianopolis to preach in the cathedral….Dorotheus had proclaimed: ‘if anyone dares to call Mary Theotokos, let him be anathema.’ Whereupon, according to Cyril, there were loud protests and a general exodus from the church. On hearing of this episode Cyril sent Nestorius his second letter, Kataphlyarousi, which the Acts of Chalcedon date to February 430.” Norman Russell, Cyril of Aexandria, (New York, NY: Routledge, 2000), p. 36. The following letter was also read at the Council of Ephesus. St. Cyril’s feast days are on June 9 and January 18th.

Get ready for the newest podcast episode! As Season 2 moves along, we welcome John Borelli to the microphone. In his conversation with Stephen Okey, Dr. Borelli talks about how being drafted into the Vietnam War set him on the path to studying comparative theology, the positive impact of ecumenical and interreligious dialogues on his own Catholic faith, and what he thinks will be important for engaging Nostra Aetate in the next fifty years.  Dr. John Borelli is the Special Assistant to the President for Interreligious Initiatives atGeorgetown University. He previously served as the associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the USCCB. He earned his BA in Philosophy fromSaint Louis University and his PhD in History of Religions and Theology from Fordham University. He is an internationally recognized expert on interreligious dialogue. He was the editor of The Quest for Unity: Orthodox and Catholics in Dialogue : Documents of the Joint International Commission and Official Dialogues in the United States, 1965-1995 (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996) and co-author (along with Michael L. Fitzgerald) ofInterfaith Dialogue: A Catholic View (Orbis, 2006). Special thanks go to Dr. Matthew Tapie of the Center for Catholic Jewish Studies at Saint Leo University, who made this conversation possible.

Prepare, O Bethlehem!: The Feast of the Nativity Illustrated for Children by Niko Chocheli (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press (2000)

Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins by Jim Forest, illustrated by Vladislav Andrejev (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (2015)

Archpriest Chad Hatfield, the chancellor of St. Vladimir's Seminary, interviews Fr. Lawrence Farley, author of the new St. Vladimir's Seminary Press book Feminism and Tradition: Quiet Reflections on Ordination and Communion, about deaconesses and the true extent of their role in Orthodox Church history. Enter discount code FT20 during checkout to receive a 20% discount on Fr. Farley's book.

Archpriest Chad Hatfield, the chancellor of St. Vladimir's Seminary, interviews Fr. Lawrence Farley, author of the new St. Vladimir's Seminary Press book Feminism and Tradition: Quiet Reflections on Ordination and Communion, about deaconesses and the true extent of their role in Orthodox Church history. Enter discount code FT20 during checkout to receive a 20% discount on Fr. Farley's book.

Bobby Maddex interviews Robin Freeman, the director of Saint Vladimir's Seminary Chorale, about the chorale's new CD Full of Grace: Great Vespers for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, available from St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Saint George and the Dragon by Jim Forest, illustrated by Vladislav Andrejev (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011).

176. The Woman and the Wheat by Jane G. Meyer (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2009).

175. The Man and the Vine by Jane G. Meyer (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press,(2006).