Yesterday we had a potluck at one of our members’ home. It had been scheduled from before the storms as an end of Bright Week, Pascha celebration. And, we did do that, but we also spoke about our experiences with the storm. No, we did not do it in an organized way. It was not […]
Archives for April 2011
Alabama tornadoes and small heroes
After a tragic day like yesterday, the tendency of the news media is to concentrate on tragedy, survivors, and big heroes. And it is well that they get news of the tragedy out so that aid can come in. Big heroes need to be celebrated because they remind us of those moments of shining light […]
Tornado follow-up, Alabama 2011
As you know now, over 190 people died in Alabama alone yesterday. I suspect the count will go up slightly as some of the wreckage is dug out. The first three-quarters of the clip above is about Alabama, and it will give you an idea of what happened in the large swath hit by the […]
Tornados in Alabama, April 2011
I am coming off of hiatus long enough to ask for prayer for those injured in our area. Above, you will see the video of a tornado roaring through the center of Tuscaloosa. It was measured at one mile wide. The main hospital in Tuscaloosa is mildly damaged, but continuing to function as I write. […]
Hiatus
We are at the end of Holy Week. Everyone’s schedule will get very busy. But, as I have been thinking about it, and talking to a fellow priest, this seems like a good time to take a hiatus. I will not be publishing anything for a bit, at least through Holy Week and Bright Week, […]
Gov. Brewer and “full faith and credit”
Father Orthoduck would like to applaud Gov. Brewer of Arizona for vetoing the bill out of Arizona which would have required every Presidential candidate to personally file multiple proofs of natural-born citizenship with the State of Arizona. In vetoing this “birther” bill, she commented that this was a “bridge too far.” And it was, but […]
Darkness and the Bridegroom Services
The first three services of Holy Week in the Orthodox Church are the Bridegroom Services. They began Palm Sunday night and are celebrated on Palm Sunday night, Holy Monday Night, and Holy Tuesday Night. They are actually Matin services, which normally are the morning services of the Church, but on Holy Week the services go topsy turvy, […]
Holy Week penitents
Before you become worried, the image at the right has nothing to do with the latest Ku Klux Klan meeting. It is actually from a Lenten tradition found in several parts of the non-Orthodox world. The people you see pictured there are penitents, and their practice dates from several hundred years before the presence of […]
Weird Lenten musings
On Friday, after the Liturgy, our parish had a Lenten supper to commemorate the end of Lent, and the beginning of Holy Week the next day with the celebration of Lazarus Saturday. The service and the dinner was actually poorly attended because the tornadoes that rolled through the South that day chose to go very […]
The results of fasting — St. John Chrysostom
Yesterday finished the last service of Lent. Today begins the first service of Holy Week. Lazarus Saturday liturgy is not celebrated in purple, but in gold. It is an anticipation of the Paschal service of next week. We need the strength of Lazarus Saturday to remind us that the end is coming, for we are […]
