You’ve prepared yourself to pray: you’ve focused your attention, you’re standing in front of your icon corner, but now there’s a problem: what do you say? How do you speak to the Lord of the Universe? Fortunately, the Church gives us a great deal of guidance on how to pray to God. PRAYER BOOKS Perhaps [...]
If you’re like me, you’ve often decided that you need to pray more—so, for a few days you faithfully pray several times each day, and then it’s once every other day, and then…pretty soon, you’re again thinking, “I really need to pray more!” Successfully developing a full prayer life requires more than simply wanting one—it [...]
We know that prayer is important—we’re even told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)—and yet we Christians tend to have a dark secret: we don’t actually pray. For example, a recent study found that, while 90 percent of North Americans say they pray, only 37 percent do so at least once each day, and [...]
Can you think of something of which you want more? Perhaps you want more money, a nice car, better grades, or more vacation time—most of us would like more of something. But have you ever thought you would like to pray more? Lorenzo Scupoli tells us we should value prayer more than any of these [...]
What is holy? I do not mean simply what is holiness—although that topic is deep enough—but rather, who and what in the world around us is holy? We certainly think of the saints whose icons hang around us, reminding us of their holy lives. We might also think of church property as ”holy ground”—the Theotokos [...]
In celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, I recorded this special episode of re/CALL last year; it is just as relevant today. I’m taking a one-episode break from our series to talk a little with you about the tremendous blessing of Great and Holy Pascha. If you’re an Orthodox Christian you’ve just gone through [...]
What gives you joy? What makes your heart dance? Perhaps you completely lose track of time as you enjoy the moments you spend with your family or friends, or you excitedly leap out of bed each morning eager to go to school…or…perhaps what you feel is the opposite of this, and each moment seems like [...]
If there is one thing on which almost everyone agrees, it’s that the world needs peace. The news is filled with stories of hate, violence and destruction, and still—for all the talk of peace—people seem no closer to achieving it. As Christians, however, we know Christ gives us true peace (John 14:27); Elder Macarius of [...]
You can also download a free, full-color study guide from the Worship & You website. Here’s a thought you might find a little strange: is it possible to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord every time you worship during the Divine Liturgy? Not only can you do this, but there is a specific moment during [...]
It is impossible to talk about true, transforming worship—in other words, about Orthodox worship—without talking about the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is far more than simply our “Sunday morning (and feast day) service;” it is true life in the full, as Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou says, “The Divine Liturgy is worship; there is prayer and [...]
