Born in Ireland around 540, he joined the great monastic movement that flowered in Ireland following the missionary work of St Patrick and his disciples. After spending some years in Irish monasteries, he made pilgrimage to Gaul with twelve other monks, planning to preach the Gospel wherever they were led. The king of Burgundy, learning of their holiness, gave them land, where in time three large monasteries were founded with St Columban as their spiritual Father. Here the Saint established the rule that became normal for many monasteries in the West: in addition to its severe penitential disciplines, it included provision for some monks to be in prayer at every hour of the day and night — laus perennis (unceasing praise), as it was called. (This practice was also adopted by the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (Akoimetoi) in Constantinople). Eventually, political strife in Gaul led to the expulsion of the Irish monks, and Columban made his way to Italy through Germany, proclaiming the Gospel, instructing his spiritual children by letter, and battling against Arianism, which flourished throughout the Germanic lands. He settled in a monastery in the Appenines, where he reposed in peace in 615.

Born in Ireland around 540, he joined the great monastic movement that flowered in Ireland following the missionary work of St Patrick and his disciples. After spending some years in Irish monasteries, he made pilgrimage to Gaul with twelve other monks, planning to preach the Gospel wherever they were led. The king of Burgundy, learning of their holiness, gave them land, where in time three large monasteries were founded with St Columban as their spiritual Father. Here the Saint established the rule that became normal for many monasteries in the West: in addition to its severe penitential disciplines, it included provision for some monks to be in prayer at every hour of the day and night — laus perennis (unceasing praise), as it was called. (This practice was also adopted by the Monastery of the Unsleeping Ones (Akoimetoi) in Constantinople). Eventually, political strife in Gaul led to the expulsion of the Irish monks, and Columban made his way to Italy through Germany, proclaiming the Gospel, instructing his spiritual children by letter, and battling against Arianism, which flourished throughout the Germanic lands. He settled in a monastery in the Appenines, where he reposed in peace in 615.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania's national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father's blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

He was a soldier in the Roman army and, according to the venerable Bede, was brought to faith in Christ by a fugitive priest to whom he gave shelter. The saint exchanged clothes with the priest, allowing him to escape and ensuring his own martyrdom. Some writers, including St Bede, place his martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (286-303).   Saint Alban's tomb was venerated as early as 429 by St Germanus of Auxerre. The town of Verulamium is either his home town or the place of his martyrdom; near it a monastery was founded, around which grew the English town of St Albans.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania's national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father's blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

He was a soldier in the Roman army and, according to the venerable Bede, was brought to faith in Christ by a fugitive priest to whom he gave shelter. The saint exchanged clothes with the priest, allowing him to escape and ensuring his own martyrdom. Some writers, including St Bede, place his martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian (286-303).   Saint Alban's tomb was venerated as early as 429 by St Germanus of Auxerre. The town of Verulamium is either his home town or the place of his martyrdom; near it a monastery was founded, around which grew the English town of St Albans.

She was the daughter of Scanderbeg, Albania's national hero. She married Stefan, Prince of Serbia, a kinsman of Scanderbeg who sought refuge in his court. Stefan, a gentle, God-fearing man, had been blinded by the Turkish Sultan. Princess Angelina, loving him despite his loss of his vision and his worldly kingdom, married him with her father's blessing. Together they had two sons, George and John. When their sons were grown, Albania was ravaged by an invasion of the Turks. Stefan, with Angelina and their sons, fled to Italy, where they lived until his repose in 1468. The widowed Angelina buried her husband in his Serbian homeland and devoted her remaining years to good works. Her elder son George gave up his princely title and entered monastic life. John married but died without children in 1503. When Angelina had outlived her two sons as well as her husband she too entered monastic life. She was buried with her sons at Krušedol monastery in northern Serbia. There her miracle-working relics are venerated to this day, and a service is held each year in her memory. She, her husband and her two sons are all glorified as saints of the Church.

On the feast of St. Alban, Fr. Andrew tells the story of his inspiring martyrdom.

Discussing the idea that the Ascension was Jesus abandoning His flock, Fr. Andrew unpacks what's really going on in the feast, what it says about Who Jesus is, about what His mission is, and about our salvation and our mission.

Fr. John uses the parable of Jesus to show us what Christian life is supposed to be.

What's a Christian look like? It's all Greek to me! In this episode, Fr Joseph gets schooled by an imagined janitor, a native Houstonian, and a real nun.

Kiss the bride ... check! Walk the aisle ... check! Enjoy the honeymoon ... check! (Then what?) Pulling an episode from the "Best Of" files, Fr. Joseph discusses the ch-ch-changes that come with love and marriage. (Just for fun, see if you can identify all of the songs used in this oldie but goodie.)

Fr Joseph confesses his gluttony and lack of wisdom—also known as his trip to Lebanon.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Ernesto Obregon (orthocuban.com) about the special challenges that come with bi-vocational ministry and the ways we can help our bi-vocational ministers thrive. Enjoy the show!

The guys take a hack at the Black Mirror’s groundbreaking choose-your-own-adventure episode, Bandersnatch! Besides being thoroughly creeped out by it, the guys discuss participatory culture, the role of freedom in the human life, and how our desire to control is born out of fear. They close with their Top 5 Breakings Though the Fourth Wall.

Responding to the call to come to the heavenly banquet requires us to leave behind those things to which we are enslaved.

In today’s gospel lesson, there were people so used to focusing on their daily routines and worldly responsibilities that they had lost the ability to recognize something new and joyful. One owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married. Even though these are commonplace conditions, they used them to justify their refusal to accept the invitation to the great party. No one forced them to do so; instead, they excused themselves. As a result, the master commanded his servant to “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” Because there was still room, the master ordered him to go out even further to “the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

In this episode, we join Fr. John Parker at a fundraising dinner for the OCMC sponsored by the DC Metro Area Pan-Orthodox Missions Council. Fr. John's keynote address was entitled, "Here I Am, Send Me: How Every Christian can Answer the Great Commission."

Fr. John Parker visited Albania in May of 2014 and while there interviewed OCMC missionaries Nathan and Gabriela Hoppe.

46. Book 1: It's Sunday Shall We Go to Church? By Elias Liamis and Penelope Moraitou (Akritas Publications, 2007). Available from St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite Publication Society, 240 Diamond St. Northampton, PA 18067. Fax: 610-440-0995. Book 2: Wise Man Artabanes and His Gifts to Christ the Saviour, by Gregorye S. Petrov (The Publishing House of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral).

El Padre Nicolás predicó sobre cómo Dios busca nuestra salvación y cómo debemos esforzarnos para alcanzarla. Father Nicholas preached on how God seeks our salvation and how we should strive to achieve it.

Listen to reflections from time at the Refuge and back in the city: gypsy moths, hydrangeas, and "keeping the water fresh."

Another story written by Brother Luke of St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto.

Sermon on the Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 14:16-24)

Father Deacon Emmanuel gives the homily on the banquet story in Luke 14.

Fr. Gregory Hallam - Sunday, December 16, 2018.

Should animals and humans have the same rights? How best should we care for animals in a humane way without confusing the value of the two?

Apple and art house film company A24 are in early development on a film about convicted crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried with a script written by Lena Dunham, Variety reported. The project will be based on the Michael Lewis book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon that many critics found overly deferential to Bankman-Fried. 

The book describes the dizzying rise and equally vertiginous fall of Bankman-Fried and his FTX crypto exchange and Alameda hedge fund. However, it paints the FTX founder as a benevolent prodigy and glosses over the fact that he embezzled billions of dollars from customers and spent it on things like celebrity endorsements, political donations and high-end real-estate purchases.  

FTX was worth billions at its peak, but the exchange eventually collapsed and Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Most FTX customers will get their original investments back, plus interest, but that's based on a bitcoin price of around $17,000 — and the current price is nearly five times that.

Basing the film on Lewis's fawning hagiography isn't a promising start. Hopefully, Dunham or other writers will also draw on far better books (like Numbers Go Up by Zeke Faux) that show the dark, scammy side of crypto promoters like Bankman-Fried and the entire industry in general.

Apple Original Films and A24 have announced other collaborations recently, including the Spike Lee and Denzel Washington film High and Low. Other scripted FTX projects are also in the works, including a limited Amazon Prime series from the Russo brothers based on the 2022 FTX collapse. 

Amal Morcos of International Orthodox Christian Charities reports on the work of IOCC in the troubled areas of Lebanon.

AFR talks with Dr. Maria Khoury about what it is like to live as a Christian within the barricaded walls of the West Bank of Israel. Visit the web site of her parish - St. George Greek Orthodox Church of Taybeh.

Bobby Maddex interviews Teresa Duro, an OCMC missionary to Albania who needs your support.

Foreign interference in this year's election is said to be far more sophisticated, and far more difficult to track. / The New York Times [+]

China is considering approving $1.4 trillion in extra debt to revive its economy. / Reuters

Related: If "Xi Jinping Thought" is not a vision for a genuine socialist movement driving toward a communist utopia, what is it? / China Books Review

An explainer for why forecasts continue to miss the pace and persistence of falling birth rates. / The Financial Times [+]

The United States' Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) is a group of volunteers who have high-level security clearances. / NPR

Personal assistants for billionaires earn around $250,000 a year—and the job is a logistics nightmare. / The Cut

Related: "Private rail cars were, and still are, very much a high-end luxury." / Why is this interesting?

Regarding yesterday's news about the art market, Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian—a banana fixed to a wall with duct tape—is estimated to sell for $1.5 million. / Artsy

A brief video about the tumbleweed's 19th-century arrival in America. / YouTube

A short film about two brothers traveling alone from Boston to the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal by pony cart. / The New York Times [+]

Britain's cheese world suffers the loss of over £300,000 worth of clothbound Cheddar. / NPR


How do different species respond to death? "In ways that are learned rather than instinctive, not rigidly responsive to specific stimuli, and highly variable." / The New Yorker

European scientists develop an algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds. / Reuters

Examples of people who cultivate "divine discontent." "The tendency to revise, in particular, seems especially common." / Personal Canon

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