St. Mary Orthodox Church

Every moment is filled with grace. He who is in all places and fills all things has issued an open invitation to all of us to rest in Him. It is an invitation to real life, to the kingdom within you. The door is wide open; but our eyes unfortunately are not. Read more »

 

Healing is a complicated matter. It involves every aspect of the human person. The body cannot be well if the mind is sick. Mind, body, and spirit are so interconnected that one affects the other directly. It is significant that Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed. If we do not want to be healed, then we will never experience healing even if it comes. Read more »

 

The liturgical year is drawing to a close. For my family and I, it is our thirteenth year in Cambridge. It has been the happiest time of our lives. From the moment we arrived, we knew that God was with us and that He sent us to this place. That knowledge has been confirmed time and time again. Read more »

 

Several times Jesus compares faith to a mustard seed, the tiniest of seeds. With faith as small as that one can move mountains. He spoke in this way because the people who were listening would understand. Read more »

 

Since we are in the season of the Elevation of the Cross and we hear the words of Christ, deny yourselves, we need to consider what the self is that we need to deny. Although it goes against the grain of our usual way of thinking, we must come to acknowledge that the self is not solid and unchanging/ Read more »

 

Every member of the church is a part of the Body of Christ. When we gather together we are not always aware of that truth. We need to make ourselves aware. We need to remember. The purpose of all the preparatory work we are supposed to do before we receive the Eucharist is largely to awaken our mindfulness of the Body of Christ and our very real place in it. Perhaps this is what St. Paul meant when he told the Corinthians that many of them were sick because they didn't receive the Eucharist mindfully. Read more »

 

Would you like to make the Christmas Season holy? Attend to your soul. Fast and pray. Cultivate watchfulness, love, kindness, patience, peace and the love of silence in your hearts and Christmas will be holy. Read more »

 

I have been deeply moved by the stories Fr. Timothy Ferguson brought back from his trip to the Holy Land. The terrible plight of the Palestinian people comes alive when he speaks. Of course, the American media does not report the systematic injustices they suffer day in and day out. Read more »

 

One traditional approach to the Orthodox Christian life says that there are three stages: catharsis, enlightenment, and theosis (deification). The first stage is where the necessary purification of heart and mind are accomplished. Read more »

 

It is easy to drift into lethargy. Trying to stay spiritually alert takes energy and effort. Just a little goes a long way, as they say, but conscious and sustained effort each day makes a huge difference. What are the first two things we need to begin? Read more »

 

We have come to our fourteenth year together. My family and I arrived in July of 1993. It has been a wonderful and eventful time together. The parish has grown and prospered. We have watched both our sons grow and mature and, as of September, our youngest will join his brother at UMASS Amherst. In one way, our "nest" will be empty. In another, we know it never will be. The community has become our family. Read more »

 

When I read this beautiful poem from the great Sufi mystic it moved me deeply. The imagery is unabashedly passionate, even erotic, but for Orthodox Christians this is not at all shocking. We believe that the love between God and his creation is most intimate. The works of Orthodox mystics often reads like love poetry. Read more »

 

The world often appears to be filled with darkness, but what is its source? It is evident that there is much suffering in the world and that evil is alive and well in the land. There are some who rail against the darkness, organize religio/political movements to combat immorality, raise armies and start wars to advance peace through bloodshed and create legislation meant to curb the evil intent of the so-called 'godless'. But all of these are vain because they do not recognize the source of the darkness itself. Read more »

 

The laying down of burdens is what Great Lent is all about. We lay aside the earthly cares of sin and self-indulgence that lead to suffering. We need not see Lent as a time of sacrifice, but rather as a time of letting go of the things that do us harm. That, my friends, is not sacrifice. That is sanity. Read more »

 

The entire ethos of Holy Orthodoxy tends towards light and joy. The Resurrection pervades everything we do and think. Every Sunday is a Paschal celebration. The great mystic and saint of Russia, Seraphim of Sarov would greet every person with either Christ is Risen or calling by them My joy. Read more »

 

This beautiful world is filled with people who have not experienced it as beautiful. Whether it is from childhood trauma, or war, or disease the result is the same: people who are in distress often for reasons they do not understand. Read more »

 

The summer seems to have flown. Already it is August, the Feast of the Dormition is approaching. By the time you get this I probably will have returned from the Symposium and my annual two weeks at the Antiochian Village. Before you know it school will be in session again and college students will be returning to Liturgy. Time marches on and we are powerless to stop it. Read more »

 

I look forward to the beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year (September 1) with joy. Fall is my favorite time of year for a variety of reasons, but one of the most important to me is the return of our parishioners from vacation and the many college students that call St. Mary’s home. September marks a time of new birth every year. Read more »

 

October 2008 is going to be historic for St. Mary's and for the Diocese of Worcester and New England as we prepare to participate in two blessed events. This month we celebrate a milestone in the life of our beloved parish, her 80th Anniversary. We will soon welcome His Beatitude Patriarch IGNATIUS IV of Antioch to our Diocese. Read more »

 

We are about to enter into a period of preparation called Advent. It is the forty day time of fasting and prayer that leads us to the celebration of the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ. Fasting, if done properly, should not lead to despair and a heavy heart, but rather to a greater desire to enter into communion with God. Therefore, we should be careful how we enter into the fast. Read more »