Resources & Articles

Bless This Home
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The blessing of a home is an ancient Christian practice that helps us remember that our Christian life of faith and love is lived not only in Church on Sundays but also in the home daily. The Orthodox tradition (Western and Eastern) is to bless homes in the days and weeks after Epiphany. The connection to Epiphany is important. At the first Epiphany, the Magi entered the home of the Holy Family to present their gifts. Blessing the home opens our eyes to see that Christ already lives in our... Read more...
Joining the Magi
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Let us take to heart that the Light of the World, the Light to lighten the Gentiles, the Light and glory of the Lord, the One who is the Light of all men—let us marvel in godly wonder that He was found by Magi who followed a bright shining star through darkness. For darkness covered the earth—and not just the earth; for the souls of the Lord’s own people were shrouded in darkness; Herod was governed by dark desires; and thick darkness covered hearts and minds of the chief priests and... Read more...
The Best Thing about Christmas
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To understand what Christmas is really about, let’s imagine something. Imagine that Adam and Eve had never sinned. Imagine that nothing bad ever happened. Imagine that no one fell for temptations. Imagine there is no evil. Imagine there are no wars, no disasters, no tragedies. Imagine that there is no death. But subtracting all the bad does not yet add up to the best. Making all the negativity disappear does not mean that goodness appears. Because life is not about avoiding sin, and living the best you can. Life is... Read more...
What does "Prepare the Way of the Lord" look like?
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St John Baptist's entire life was a preparation for Our Lord's advent. In the same way, St John urged us to use our entire life to prepare the way of the Lord. We do that by bearing fruits worthy of repentance. These fruits are not merely avoiding sin, but replacing our misdeeds with the opposite. For example, it is not enough to avoid hurtful words; fruits worthy of repentance include speaking kind and helpful words at precisely that time when we want to be sarcastic or snarky. Or, it is... Read more...
Advent Retreat
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The Society of St Benedict, a ministry of St Michael's Church, will hold its annual Advent Retreat on Saturday, December 10. Download Retreat Flyer The meditations for this year's retreat will be offered by the Very Reverend Edward Hughes, Pastor of St George Orthodox Church in Lawrence, Mass., and Vicar General for the Western Rite Vicariate. The retreat will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. It will include praying select offices from the Benedictine Breviary, Mass, and quiet time for reading, prayer, confession and reflection. During the course of... Read more...
No One Should Suffer Alone
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One of the challenges of being American is that we have been marinated in the pungent spices of individualism. We sing that we can go our own way. We declare that we will do it our way. We value making our own choices. We talk about taking ownership. We won’t believe the verdict of a jury until we’ve seen the evidence for ourselves and made up our own mind. This way of talking and thinking and feeling is so ingrained, that to challenge it sounds repugnant and offensive. And so,... Read more...
Elections & Christ the King
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It is felicitous that every year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday in October. For commonly, at this time every two years, national elections are in our minds, on our lips, and in our prayers. And those elections may produce in many us either hope or trepidation for the future of our nation. The purpose of this feast, however, is to remind that we are sojourners on earth, and that our true citizenship is in heaven; that we are partakers, with the Saints, in... Read more...
St Michael's Ministry To Our Parish
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Patronal Feast of St Michael Orthodox Christian Church Children don't really choose their parents. Parishioners don't really choose their priests. And parishes don't really choose their patrons. Instead, a patron is gifted to a parish, and the parish learns to love and pray to him; and to see that he truly is a gift from God. St Michael the Archangel is truly a gift to this parish. Like all the holy angels, obedient to God, he humbly ministers to us. And why would he do that? Why would St Michael, who... Read more...
Humility & Thanksgiving
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God's almighty power is not shown chiefly in terrifying displays (like the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, wiping out the Egyptian army, or the flood). God's almighty power is shown chiefly in mercy and pity -- when He raises the dead, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, or forgives the sinner. Our pride gets in the way of God's almighty mercy. Example: when we refuse to go to private confession because we think we've done nothing wrong, or because we don't think we need the priest to forgive us, or... Read more...