Monthly Archives: March 2019

“Christ came into the world to look for the lost sheep, and he found it in the Virgin’s womb”

Posted on 30 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Finding something we have lost gives us a fresh joy, and we are happier at having found the lost object than we should have been had we never lost it. This parable, however, is concerned more with divine tenderness and … Continue reading →

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Archimandrite Maximos Constas on the Spiritual Life

Posted on 28 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Originally posted on Eclectic Orthodoxy:
I enthusiastically commend to you this six-part series on the spiritual life by Fr Maximos (Constans). I read these talks last year and found them very helpful, and then listened to the audio recordings during…

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“And there is no limit to the outpouring of the Father’s love: man becomes identical with God”

Posted on 28 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

In our earthly existence, before we ‘taste of death’ [Matt. 16:28], our closest contact with the Divine occurs through the shining on us of the Uncreated Light. When this Light comes ‘in strength’ we cannot help recognising that it is … Continue reading →

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Meeting the Consuming Fire of God

Posted on 27 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

It is a fantastic fantasy, I know. Family and friends will confirm that I often entertain fantastic, even ridiculous, fantasies. Yet nonetheless I dream: if every Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant pastor were to read the Unspoken Sermons of George MacDonald, the … Continue reading →

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“God in the flesh of a human being, which flesh now becomes his dwelling place in the midst of creation”

Posted on 25 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Let us begin with the angel’s greeting to Mary. For Luke, this is the primordial cell of Mariology that God himself wished to present to us through his messenger, the Archangel Gabriel. Translated literally, the greeting reads thus: “Rejoice, full … Continue reading →

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“Having settled within the womb of the Virgin, He clothed Himself in my fate, and within this womb He perfected a miraculous change”

Posted on 25 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Our present gathering in honor of the Most Holy Virgin inspires me, brethren, to say of Her a word of praise, of benefit also for those come unto this churchly solemnity. It comprises a praise of women, a glorying of … Continue reading →

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“For we confess that the faithful receive the very body and blood of Christ, according to the voice of God Himself”

Posted on 24 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“We grant,” the heretics say, “that Christ may be represented, but only according to the holy words which we have received from God Himself; for He said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me,’ obviously implying that He cannot be represented … Continue reading →

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“The observance of the commandments is not the source but rather the gauge and touchstone of our love”

Posted on 23 March 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“It is my Father’s glory,” Christ said, “that you should bear abundant fruit and become my disciples.” But even when we have glorified the Father by bearing much fruit and becoming Christ’s disciples, we still have no right to claim … Continue reading →

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