I had a fond idea of using the opportunity of the CD to provide a little education about the eight tones. But I got the education myself, and found out that the tones weren’t as I expected them to be. I think there’s some info that might be worth the read. But first, let’s catch […]

Hooray! The CDs my choir made as a fundraiser got finished up earlier than I had said. So here’s another one of the tracks to celebrate. This is probably the shortest number on there, but it’s Greg’s favorite one, so that’s good enough for me. Plus, I kind of like that I managed to get […]

We all live in a kind of seductive darkness of the heart and intellect, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our enlightenment. The saints always see us by the grace of God, because they are in God, and God is in them. They are one spirit with the Lord, and the Lord sees everything, hears […]

Like a lot of churches, our church is always looking for a fundraiser. So we’ve put together a CD of some favorite Orthodox hymns, and I’m shamelessly hawking it on my blog. Yes, I am exploiting the hallowed spaces of the Ortho-blogosphere to sell wares, and I promise to feel really bad about that at […]

We’ve got a new car to replace the one that got crunched two weeks ago. And though our new car is just someone else’s old car, we made out pretty well in the deal. It’s the exact same make and model, but two years and 100,000 miles newer — so what’s not to love?
Well, maybe […]

Coming into church this morning, my mind was already awash in details to sort out. It’s rare that a major feast falls on Sunday, but when it does, things get more complicated. So I was being a good lead chanter and reflecting on all things Theophany-related when one of the chanters who’s a recent convert […]

Anam Cara pointed out something regarding that last post that had bothered me as well. I’m listing Adherents‘ stats for how many Christians there are worldwide, but Adherents counts a lot of the culties as Christian: Mormons, Christian Scientists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. etc. It doesn’t seem right to include them in a worldwide Christian tally.
So, […]

You know you’re Orthodox when the rest of the whole WORLD is saying “Happy New Year” to each other and you’re saying “Blessed Feast of the Circumcision!”
I bet we’ll never get our own Hallmark card either. So sad.
(Happy you-know-what and Blessed you-know-what, everyone.)

Via Drudge Report, some news you’re not likely to read in the Old Media (who still doesn’t get religion):
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Iraqis Crowd Churches for Christmas Mass
BAGHDAD (AP) - Thousands of Iraqi Christians made their way to church through checkpoints and streets lined with blast walls, many drawing hope from a lull in violence to celebrate Christmas […]

I had a need to go through a folder of occasional prayers that I keep on the computer, and I saw one called “Advent.” I really don’t know where it came from, but it seemed a very good thought for us all on Christmas Eve:
Let not our souls be busy inns that have no room […]