Light Of The East

Fasting and Penance is the way to prepare for any great Feast day. This includes Confession which is similar yet different to the form practiced in the Latin Rite.

January 1st and New Year's Resolutions. January 1st and the Feast of the Circumcision, one a holiday and the other a Holy Day. Circumcision of Providence?

The great act of love and humiliation that our Lord took on by being born in a cave in Bethlehem will continue with submission to circumcision on the eighth day.

All families have their story from sinners to saints. So it is with the family of Jesus Christ. But God still works out His divine plan which is the miracle of this season.

As plans are being made for family get-togethers, the Byzantine Liturgical calendar calls together the spiritual family and the ancestors of Jesus Christ during the two Sundays before the Birth of Christ.

The complexity and richness of the Eastern Christian Churches is part of their charism and genius. At the same time things can get confusing and divisive in these Churches which can even have geo-political implications.

Enroute to our Lord's Nativity we pass by the Feast of St. Nicholas and the Feast of the Conception of the Mother Of God in the womb of St. Anne, also known as the Immaculate Conception.

LIGHTEAST 739 We Remember Fr. Robert Taft and St. Josephat

Water is marvelous and mysterious. It give life and takes life. It is central to civilization and to the life of the Church. Strange how for some suffering Christians the mystery of water remains scarce.

Like little families, many of the Churches of the East each have their own Father or Patriarch together with his spiritual children. The problem is in trying to keep all of the families together, talking with each other.

Every Eastern Christian church has its own ancient and indigenous chant which is sung by the faithful during liturgical services. This gives cantors a special place in Eastern Christian Liturgy.

Among the many gifts of both lungs of the Church, east and west, we here at Light of the East have our ten favorite gifts that the Eastern Churches offer to the whole Church and the world.

Of all of the virtues that belonged to the desert spiritual masters of the Christian East, one virtue in particular is the most characteristic and far too scarce in our modern age - humility.

Times of crises in the Church are a call to the Church to rediscover, in new ways, its original mission and charism. The spirituality of the Eastern Churches does have certain gifts to offer a Church in Crisis.

At the very heart of the genius of the Church and of our Faith is the Incarnational reality where invisible realities are made visible through architecture, art, liturgy and even the medium of film.

The intimate union of religion, nation and culture gives an Eastern Catholic a deep sense of responsibility for the Church. This is often reflected in the active participation by the men of Eastern Catholic parishes.

Light is a recurring theme in Eastern Christian spirituality. This light is manifested most brightly in human persons who remain Faithful and hopeful even in the darkest hours if the Church.

"We bow to Your Cross O Lord, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection." A profound mystery of salvation and every aspect of life on earth is captured in this one brief prayer of the Byzantine Church.

Teenagers and young adults often arrive at certain critical junctures in their spiritual journey. Knowing the great "WHY" behind their Faith and the Church can be a helpful signpost along the journey.

It's a new liturgical year in many Eastern Churches. A great New Year's resolution would be to pray more often and better. For that we will get some help from an old friend of ours at Light of the East.