I: The Preparation for Great Lent The word “lent” comes from a root which means “discipline”, so that “Lent” is the Season of Self-Discipline. Its imagery is marked, above all, […]
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Category: Sermons
At the Book Launch
This is my speech at the book launch for An Introduction to the Maronite Faith, Parliament House, NSW, 13 February 2018. It took place in the decorous Jubilee Room (pictured). The […]
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Knowing of God
The Issues How do we know of God? By God, I mean the creator of the universe and all which is in it, including ourselves. What do we know of […]
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The Practice of Unceasing Prayer
Introduction In an earlier posting, I mentioned that, in 1954, Kadloubovsky and Palmer had published a second volume of extracts from the Philokalia. Its full title is Early Fathers from […]
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The Feast of the Shoonoyo (Assumption)
In the Maronite tradition, which is a Syriac tradition, we celebrate on 15 August each year, what in that language is called 3eedo shoonoyo. This is known in English as […]
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St Shmuni and her Seven Sons
On 1 August, our Maronite Church celebrates the feast of St Shmuni and her seven sons. Their story is told in the Second Book of Maccabees, which I extract in […]
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St Assya (27 July)
The feast of St Assya, also known as St Pantaleon, is celebrated on 27 July. I set out, in three parts, the account of his life, and then some reflections […]
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Nicephorus the Solitary on the Prayer of the Heart
The last post considered the Prayer of the Heart and the shorter version of it known as the Jesus Prayer. I said that, as I saw it, there were nine […]
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The Wordless Echo of the Jesus Prayer
The roots of the “Jesus Prayer” reach back, of course, to Our Lord Himself. The usual words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,” are […]
Read moreThe Virgin Mary in Ancient Christian Tradition
An essay of mine, “The Virgin Mary in Ancient Christian Tradition,” has been published in the book Mariology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium. The book, edited by Kevin […]
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