Month: April 2019

Theology in Color: Truths Proclaimed in the Icon of the Resurrection

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Christ is risen! Truly He is risen! As we exchange this joyous greeting through Pentecost, celebrating Jesus’ triumph over death, let’s take a fresh look at the icon of the Resurrection.   This beloved icon, also known as “Christ’s Descent into Hades” or “Anastasis,” is a wonderful example of “theology in color” because of the depth of instruction it contains. As writer Jeremiah explains in his blog Orthodox Road: Rediscovering the Beauty…

Holy Week for Weary Pilgrims

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Great and Holy Week has begun. During these seven days we attend services as we are able, offering back in worship and love a small portion of God’s bountiful gifts to us. From Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday) through the Resurrectional Canon and Divine Liturgy at midnight on Pascha, the Church provides seventeen services to attend—at least two per day.

The Hidden Advent of Spring

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Spring arrives late at mile-high altitude in metro Denver. I notice its earliest stirrings not with my eyes, which see only bare limbs, brown grass, and frozen mud, or on my skin, which is still swathed in sweaters and jackets.   My ears hear the first signal in the reappearance of birdsong in March, or even in late February. The finches, sparrows, and chickadees, tucked away in the tops of the trees,…

Five Lessons the Orthodox Church Taught Me about Fasting

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Great Lent has begun. (Cue the scary violins from Psycho.)I tend to view the Mother of All Fasts with both anticipation and dread: Anticipation of the sweetness of walking this journey with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and Dread because… Well, dang, Lent just goes on and on.