Elissa discusses Orthodox marriage and parenting, focusing particularly on how both involve dying to self.

The four Gospels offer different perspectives and even different stories on our Lord. Elissa uses this situation as the basis for a family retreat during Great and Holy Friday.

Fr. Michael shares his reflections from Abbess Thaisia: An Autobiography. Visit his blog.

When we celebrate the Cross, we are not so much remembering the Crucifixion of Christ, as much as we are remembering the salvation that Christ’s Crucifixion has brought us and all the ways that we too are crucified with Christ. You see Christ did not suffer so that we would not have to suffer. Rather, Christ suffered on the Cross to be with us in our suffering, to lead us to the Resurrection through our suffering.

The girls watched Netflix’s Original Series The Crown. They discuss portrayals of marriage, the need for leaders to be held to higher standards, and questions of what it means to be authentically oneself. The end with their Top 5 British-isms.

To believe in the power of Christ's Cross is to bet our lives on His sacrificial offering.

To be Christ's disciple requires taking up a cross, denying oneself, and losing one's life in the world.

Fr. Philip encourages us at this midpoint of Great Lent to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

Are we participating in the new creation that Christ offers to us through his life, death and resurrection?

Is the cross a symbol of death or life, victory or defeat? This Lent we are called once again to take up our cross and follow our Savior, setting us free from the fear of death.

Jesus calls all to take up our cross and follow him for our entire life.

Fr. Philip LeMasters explains why Orthodox Christians adore the cross of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Philip LeMasters calls us to take up our cross and walk the way of the cross of Christ.

Fr. Philip LeMasters explains how we can become fully alive through taking up our cross and following Christ.

Fr. Philip LeMasters speaks about the importance of the Cross.

Regardless of the particulars of our life circumstances, let us use the challenges posed by the global pandemic as reminders of the folly of making life in this world our false god.

We do not have to burn incense on the altar of a Roman god in order to show that we are ashamed of the Savior. All that we must do is to refuse to take up our crosses as we serve the false gods of this world. It does not take much spiritual insight to see that worshiping idols is quite common and easily done in our time and place.

Let us become transfigured in holiness as we pray, fast, repent, and give generously to our neighbors as we become living icons of the Savior’s fulfillment of the human person in the likeness of God.

Our songs, processions, and prostrations before our Lord’s Cross are the beginning, not the end, of our discipleship.

It is only by dying to the old ways of death that we may live as His “new creation.”

We do not adore the Holy Cross today because it is useful for serving any personal, cultural, or political agenda. We do so because the Savior has brought eternal life to the world through His victory over the corrupting power of sin and death.

As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, we reap the blessings of the faithful obedience of Joachim and Anna and of their daughter the Theotokos. We must now use our freedom to take up our own crosses so that we may unite ourselves evermore fully to Christ in His great Self-Offering for the salvation of the world.

Only we can unite ourselves to Christ in His Great Self-Offering for the salvation of the world.

If we refuse to deny ourselves even in small ways this Lent, then we will become even more accustomed to serving ourselves instead of God and neighbor.

Like St. Mary of Egypt, let us refuse to let anything keep us from confronting our personal brokenness with brutal honesty as we take up our own crosses in faithfulness to the Savior Who offered up Himself on the Cross for the salvation of the world. He alone is our hope and the Victor over death.

In order to take up our crosses, we must choose to embrace the struggle of dying to our vain illusions about ourselves and our world. Our hope is not in spiritual or moral perfection acquired merely by our own willpower, but in the gracious mercy of the One Who offered up Himself for our salvation purely out of love.

We do not have to look very closely at dominant trends in our culture today for signs that many people are offering their lives for the service of false gods, regardless of how they identify themselves religiously. The evidence of their idolatry is not primarily in where they congregate to worship, but in how they seek first the things of this world, such as possessions, power, and pleasure, and in how they hate and condemn those whom they perceive to stand in the way of their acquiring them.

As we continue to celebrate the Elevation of the Holy Cross, we must remain on guard against the temptation of viewing our Lord’s Cross as merely a religious symbol that requires nothing of us. Through His Self-Offering on the Cross, Christ has conquered death and brought salvation to the world. But in order for us to share personally in His eternal life, we must take up our own crosses, deny ourselves, and follow Him. If we refuse to do that, then we will show that we are ashamed of our Lord and want no part in Him or His Kingdom. We will show that we prefer to continue in the old way of death rather than to enter by His grace into the heavenly reign.

Fr. John Parker speaks about the life of Fr. Thomas Hopko, this being the liturgical anniversary of his repose, and his reflections on the Cross. Listen to Fr. Tom's reflections here: *Part 1*Part 2*Part 3*Part 4

As we approach the Sunday of the Adoration of the Cross during Great Lent, Dr. Humphrey reviews the scriptural passages which will be read and reflects on the obedience of Christ and our own obedience.

Let’s look to the deep words of God’s yearning found in the prophet Ezekiel in order to understand the compassion of the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, and the actions of our father St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, an appointed shepherd of God’s people.

Today we read Galatians 2:16-20 and Mark 8:34-9:1 in the light of King David’s humiliation in 1 Samuel (Kingdoms) 21 and Psalm 33/34. Coming to terms with our fear of shame, our possible embarrassment concerning the faith, and the shame that Jesus our Lord bore helps us to take up our own crosses, and so share in Christ’s glory.

This week’s troparion (apolytikion) and kontakion in tone five range from the foundational to the ineffable, as they focus on the nature of the God-Man. We are helped in understanding them by considering Psalm 117 LXX (118 Hebrew) and the consequences of the fall in Genesis 3.

On this Sunday of the Cross, we unpack Hebrews 4:14-5:9, plus a few extra verses, with the help of St. John Chrysostom, Leviticus 16, Genesis 14 and Psalm 109/110. Special encouragement is found here for this difficult time of isolation and waiting.

This week we consider how God humbly uses objects, especially the live-giving Cross, for our healing and transformation. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; Galatians 6:11-18, Colossians 1:19-20; Numbers 21:4-9, Exodus 15:22-26; Proverbs 3:11-18)

This week we consider Jesus’ strengthening words to Philadelphia in Rev 3:7-13, seeking to understand the meaning of the crown, the pillars, and the name of New Jerusalem by reference to various passages in the New Testament and the fathers, and by looking back to Ex 19:6, 1 Kings 7:21, Zec 4, Hos. 2:24 and Is 44:5.

This week we read Revelation 10, by which we are taught both how God has revealed Himself clearly in Jesus, and also how there remain mysteries that we cannot fathom. We read this chapter in the light of Ezekiel 3:1-3 and Daniel 9-12, learning that the new covenant brings us a new intimacy with God, but also calls for patience as we await God’s completion of His work.

Greedy the Crow by Mother Melania, illustrated by Cayce Grace Kruse.   Available from Holy Assumption Monastery 1519 Washington St., Calistoga, CA 94515 Email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)/**/ Tel: 707-942-6244

The Legend of the Cross by Chrissi Hart, illustrated by Niko Chocheli (Xist Publishing, 2014).

The Legend of the Cross by Chrissi Hart, illustrated by Niko Chocheli (Xist Publishing, 2014).

18. Book 1: The Dormition of the Theotokos from the series The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elayne, now Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2004) Book 2: Snuggles: The Bunny who Helped Me Find God by Myra T. Johnson (Conciliar Press, 2007) Book 3: To Plant a Cross: The Story of Saint Kosmas Aitolos Who Fought a War with Words by Angeline Eliakopoulos, part one (Destro Publishers, 2004: 773 561 2332)

19. Book 1: Silent as a Stone: Mother Maria of Paris and the Trash Can Rescue by Jim Forest (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2007) Book 2: To Plant a Cross: The Story of Saint Kosmas Aitolos Who Fought a War with Words by Angeline Eliakopoulos, part two, chapter 4 (Destro Publishers, Chicago, Illinois, 2004, (773) 561 2332)

20. Book 1: Daniel and the Lion by Claire Brandenburg (Conciliar Press, 2002) Book 2: To Plant a Cross: The Story of Saint Kosmas Aitolos Who Fought a War with Words by Angeline Eliakopoulos, part three, chapters 5-7 (Destro Publishers, Chicago, Illinois, 2004 773-561-2332).

21. Book 1: The Nativity of the Theotokos from the series The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elayne, now Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2003) Book 2: My Orthodox Counting Book: A Multi Cultural Way to Stimulate Curiosity About Faith by Maria Khoury (CDK Publications) Book 3: To Plant a Cross: The Story of Saint Kosmas Aitolos who Fought a War with Words by Angeline Eliakopoulos, part four and final installment, chapters 8-9 (Destro Publishers, Chicago, Illinois , 2004 - 773-561-2332)

22. Book 1: The Exaltation of the Cross from the series The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elayne, now Mother Melania (Conciliar Press, 2005) Book 2: The Wonderful Life of Russia's Saint Sergius of Radonezh told by Alvin Alexsi Currier (Conciliar Press, 2001)

113. The Exaltation of the Cross from The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Sister Elaine (Conciliar Press, 2003)

Fr. Ted reminds us that the sign of the cross is a prayer, yes, but it is also a statement of faith.

Fr. Ted reminds us that struggle is an essential component of Christianity.

Fr. Ted explains the theology of the Cross and the place it should hold within our own hearts and within our spirituality as Orthodox Christians.

Fr. Ted explains that the cross teaches us humility and how our relationship with God is supposed to be.