From Fr. Angelo The Faith Entrusted to Us As is evident in our own church of the Annunciation, the Orthodox Church in America, over the last several years has been experiencing noticeable surge in converts. This is a profound reversal from the 2020 census of the status of Eastern Orthodox...
From Fr. Angelo THE LENTEN PRAYER OF ST EPHREM THE SYRIAN(excerpts from Fr. Schmemann’s book Great Lent – Journey to Pascha) Of all the Lenten hymns and prayers, one short prayer can be termed the Lenten Prayer. Tradition ascribes it to one of the great teachers of spiritual life –...
From Fr. Angelo Journey through Great Lent The services of Great Lent, Holy Week and Pascha is the most wonderful gift offered by the Orthodox Church. The atmosphere of the church, the hymns, and the perpetual fragrance of the incense permeate the entire Paschal period. Throughout Lent the royal gates...
From Fr. Angelo The Cost of Discipleship In today’s world, we’re flooded with two drastic images —one which is the continued turning away from God visible by an outright rejection of God and the disappearance of Scripturally grounded morality and ethics, and two, a resurgence of people seeking to return...
From Fr. Angelo The 2025-26 Liturgical New Year Begins–Our Strategy Continues After a very successful Greek Festival, I know that many of you will be returning in September after an enjoyable summer in Greece, Cyprus, Europe, or Montana. September begins the new liturgical year and the resumption of exciting programs...
From Fr. Angelo Let Pascha Become Our Way of Life As we are now fully immersed in the joy of Christ’s Resurrection as our promise of salvation it is vital for us to understand why this event, our Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection is so significant for not only us...
From Fr. Angelo While most Orthodox are familiar with some of the services of Lent and Holy Week, few know the entire collection of services that make up the entire Lenten season and this is especially important for those who have recently joined our church through Chrismation. The joyous event...
From Fr. Angelo This Christmas let’s get to know a bit better each of the participants of the event of Jesus’ birth. For Orthodox, the best place to start is with our icons. The beauty of iconography is that unlike a painting which depicts a singular event, an Orthodox icon...
From Fr. Angelo Who Will Lead Us into the Future? In my October Good News article, I discussed the need for a sound strategic (long-term) plan for our church and community. This month, I’d like to discuss a long-term plan for you personally. And I’m speaking about a long-term strategy...
From Fr. Angelo The Mystery of Mysteries–Holy Eucharist Sunday October 13 and the 20thI will once again be conducting a Teaching Liturgy where I will stop at key points during the Divine Liturgy to explain what is happening at these points and a bit of history. See the flyer in...