Rating: 8|Votes: 1
Closer to home, an analysis of the 2008 British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey by David Voas of the University of Manchester reveals that the historical correlation between being educated and being "non-religious" has not only weakened but reversed.
We see the denial of this natural rhythm increasingly more frequently in our society. Instead of quiet preparation of prayer and fasting, we engage in a whirlwind of activities. Our schedules are filled with Christmas concerts and Christmas parties. People even began decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween.
Father Hotovitsky has an interesting historical connection to the Seacoast of New Hampshire. On Sept. 5, 1905, in the jubilant aftermath of the signing in Portsmouth of the peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, eight Russian Orthodox priests representing several U.S. cities had come to Portsmouth to participate in a service honoring the signing of the treaty. The group was led by Father Hotovitsky, the 33-year-old archpriest of St. Nicholas Church in New York.
After the Divine Liturgy on December 5, 2010, at the church of the Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow-in-Ordynka, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, conducted a commemoration service for His Holiness Patriarch Alexey II who died on this day two years ago.
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
Indeed, spiritual progress can only be made through the Cross, through sacrifice. Wherever there is no sacrifice, there the Church becomes a mere institution, a ritual, an empty form. But where there is sacrifice, martyrdom, the Cross, there is spiritual life.
