This morning at St. Stephens we prayed the service of the Hours and Gospel Reading for the final time this Holy Week. The readings and prayers during both the evening and morning services have brought us to the moment just before the Upper Room. Tomorrow the services will begin to place us there – on […]
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Holy Wednesday (Tuesday Evening) Reflection
This evening at 6:30 we prayed what will be the last Bridegroom Matins service of Holy Week at St. Stephens. Tomorrow night we will be celebrating the Service of Holy Unction at St. Stephens with our sister Parish, Holy Transfiguration – Holy Unction is a healing and anointing service. The hymns of tonight’s service contrasted […]
Holy Tuesday Reflection (Tuesday Morning)
This morning at 7am we gathered again at St. Stephens for morning prayers and reading from the Gospel. Today we read sections in Mark and Luke, and followed Our Lord’s earthly ministry from right around His healing of the Centurion’s daughter through the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and ended at the questioning of Jesus by […]
Holy Tuesday (Monday Night) Reflection
Holy Week continued this evening at 6:30 with the Bridegroom Matins for Holy Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday, even though its still Monday night – in fact, one parishioner noted that it wasn’t even dark yet! Its a curious thing how time gets turned a bit upside down during Orthodox Holy Week – if you get into […]
Holy Monday Reflection
We began Holy Monday at St. Stephens with morning prayers and Gospel readings at 7am. In the Orthodox Church, it is actually recommended that the entire Gospel (yep, all of it, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John!) be read during the first three days of Holy Week. This is not surprising, really, as the Gospel is […]
The Person of Mary in the Orthodox Tradition
A paper written for Dr. Harry Boosalis’ Soteriology Class at St. Tikhons Orthodox Theological Seminary. Presented at Wabash College on October 3rd, 2011. The Person of Mary in the Orthodox Tradition
Guatemala Reflection #3 – “We Are Your Neighbors”
GUATEMALA REFLECTION #3: We Are Your Neighbors A few years ago, as I was in the midst of my final year at St. Tikhon’s Seminary, I remember Metropolitan Jonah (the OCA Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada) made a surprise visit to our choir practice. He unassumingly entered the room, our backs […]
Guatemala Reflection #2: Chilero
I’ve often heard that it is important, especially for Americans, to travel to another country. Traveling allows one to see how people live in other parts of the world and experience the differences in culture. In the end, though, as countless memoirs will tell you, you find out that there are many more similarities among […]
Gloria a Dios Por Todo!
Day One Reflection: “Same as it ever was…” Our trip to Hogar Rafael Ayau marked the first time for this Midwestern boy to ever set foot outside of the U.S. There was the brief sojourn to Niagara Falls with my parents while I was in middle school. But save the weirdly clean streets, metric sized […]
Hello
more posts to come soon… for now… if you’re interested in songs I’ve written, they’re up for listening and downloading (free or donation) at http://www.joeldavidweir.bandcamp.com if you’re interested in Orthodox Christianity, check out http://www.oca.org, or listen to some great chant/podcasts at http://www.ancientfaith.com. if you’re near Crawfordsville and want to more about the community of St. […]
Saved Together 