Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. It is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of Orthodoxy. The Synaxarion has the following to say about this feast: When the most pure Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary’s forty days of purification had been fulfilled, she took her first-born Son to Jerusalem […]
On the Orthodox Liturgical Year
Recently I was asked to write on the Orthodox liturgical year. Since that post was published today, I feel free to reproduce it here on my blog. The article was oriented towards people who are not Orthodox and followed a discussion on that blog about the Western Liturgical Year. I was asked to write about […]
Quenya (Tolkien elf) Paschal greeting
Thanks to a friend, I can pass on to you what the greeting would be that Aragorn and Arwen would have exchanged on Pascha (Easter Day) had it existed back then. Yes, someone has translated the traditional greeting–Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!–into Quenya. Ortanne Laivino! Anwa ortanne Laivino! From an Orthodox website, here […]
On the transmission of disease through a common communion cup
“Bacteriological experiments have shown that the occasional transmission of micro-organisms is unaffected by the alcoholic content of the wine, the constituent material of the cup or the practice of partially rotating it, but is appreciably reduced when a cloth is used to wipe the lip of the cup between communicants. Nevertheless, transmission does not necessarily […]
Greek linguistic geekery
This is a bit of linguistic geekery. When I first went to seminary, I was taught to read and pronounce the Greek of the first century, called koine Greek. However, I later found out that the pronunciation I was taught is called Erasmian. That pronunciation does not actually come from Greece, but from Europe. Erasmus […]
St. Luke and the Prophet Joel
Every so often the liturgical calendar has a happy confluence. This weekend is such a one. Earlier today I concelebrated Orthros and Divine Liturgy for St. Luke the Evangelist. Tomorrow is the day of the Prophet Joel. And, the two are intimately linked. You see, the Prophet Joel prophesized the coming of the Holy Spirit. […]
