On December 31, our Mother, the Holy Chuch, celebrates the Commemoration of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, one of the seven archangels who stand before the Throne of God. He is the archangel who announced the Incarnation of the Son of God to the Most Holy Theotokos Mary and all of mankind. He also appeared to Zacharias to announce the birth of the Holy Forerunner, John the Baptist. Of himself, Gabriel said, “I am Gabriel, that …

As part of our preparation for the Glorious Nativity of our Savior, our Mother, the Holy Church, nourished us today on the third Sunday of Koiak with the account of the visit of the Holy Theotokos Mary to her cousin, the Holy Elizabeth.In Luke 1:41, we read what happened when the Holy Theotokos greeted her: “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was …

On 18 Kiahk, our Mother, the Holy Church, celebrates the Feast of the Relocation of the Relics of the Holy Apostle Titus from Crete to Constantinople.The Holy Apostle Titus was a Gentile, a pagan, and was well educated in Greek philosophy and literature. Tradition relates that he visited Jerusalem and there heard Christ preach, an experience that changed his life. Later, he was baptised by the Holy Apostle Paul and assisted him during his missionary …

Today, the world celebrates the birth of our Savior in the Gregorian calendar. How wonderful it is for one to be around children on this Feast, because Christ’s birth sanctified and blessed the birth of every human child. I am certain this is why children feel a sense of wonder during Christmas. It’s not simply about presents and parties. Instead, children feel an intimate connection with the Child Who was born in a cave in …

Today, with great joy, we celebrate the Glorious Ascension of our Savior into the heavens. The Ascension was the last step of our salvation: in the OT, the sacrifice was not considered complete until the High Priest entered the sanctuary with the sacrificial victim. Today, our Savior, the true High Priest, enters the Sanctuary of Sanctuaries — Heaven itself — offering Himself as the sacrificial Victim, thereby completing His life giving work for us. As …

Today, we celebrate motherhood, remembering and thanking our mothers for their loving self-sacrifice. We also remember the motherhood of the Holy Church, which is our home and the source of our nourishment. Finally, we remember the motherhood of the Most Holy Theotokos, who by her acceptance of God’s will and obedience, became the mother of all living. We thank God for this mystery of motherhood in every facet of our lives and pray that we …

Today, with great joy, we continue to celebrate our Saviour’s Resurrection and the commemoration of His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos St. Mary.In the context of the Resurrection, we remember that it was St. Mary’s consent and acceptance to the will of God in her life that led to the Resurrection and everything else in the Gospel. Without human consent, there is no salvation. Without her response to the angel, we would still be in …

As we conclude our celebration of the Saturday of Light or Bright Saturday, commemorating our Savior’s entombment and descent into Hell, we recall that His tomb was only a short distance away from His Cross. As He hung on the Cross, He must have gazed on the tomb and remembered the words of the Righteous Job, “My spirit is wasted, my days are shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me” (Job 17:1).However, our Lord …

Today, we celebrate the Raising of Lazarus as a precursor to our celebration of our Savior’s victory over death next Saturday and His Resurrection next Sunday.We remember in these celebrations that the power of the Resurrection is not a separate power of God, but rather, it is the power of God’s love for mankind. God is Love and Love is Life. When Christ weeps at Lazarus’ grave, He weeps in His love for us as …