St John Chyrsostom on Ephesians 5 (On Marriage)

Some excerpts:
And indeed from the beginning, God appears to have made special provision for this union; and discoursing of the twain as one, He said thus, “Male and female created He them” (Gen. i. 27.) . . . For there is no relationship between man and man so close as that between man and wife, [...]

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Orthodox Prosphora: Handcrafted since Pentecost

The Ochlophobist makes two important observations which I’d never really connected before: the Orthodox are one of the few, perhaps the only ones remaining, who make their Communion bread by hand, everyone else’s is factory produced.
Our priest, commenting on our recent shortage of prosphora-bakers (since rectified), noted that if there were no prosphora, there would [...]

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St Arsenios’ Blessing Psalter

I found two extremely useful pages on Handmaid Leah’s site:
The Psalter as Book of Needs
Akathist for Holy Communion

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Chrysostom: “Behold, Thou Eatest Him!”

From Fr John’s blog, Chrysostom: “Behold, Thou Eatest Him!”:
Since the Word saith: This is my Body: let us be persuaded of the truth of his words; and let us believe, and look upon him with the eyes of our understanding. For Christ hath not given us a reality cognizable by the senses, but rather tokens of [...]

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Fear and Trembling

Grant me, who am despairing, to be a communicant now of Thy heavenly, dread, and holy Mysteries, O Christ, and of Thy Divine and Mystical Supper, O God my Saviour.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I flee for refuge under Thy compassion, O Good One, and I cry to Thee with fear: [...]

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