This is the recording of the class: Orthodoxy 101 – Orthodoxy Alive of October 5, 2022. It is an unedited video of the ZOOM recording of the class. It is a class of the Adult Religious Education Classes of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Austin, Texas. For the best view, please start at 10:00 minutes into the recording. God Bless ….FrG
Orthodoxy 101: Orthodoxy Alive Foundations of the Faith Fall 2022 Class 3 September 28, 2022
This is the recording of the class: Orthodoxy 101 – Orthodoxy Alive of September 28, 2022. It is an unedited video of the ZOOM recording of the class. It is a class of the Adult Religious Education Classes of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Austin, Texas. For the best view, please start at 11.00 minutes into the recording. God Bless ….FrG
Orthodoxy 101: Orthodoxy Alive Fall 2022 Class 1/2 September 21, 2022
This is the recording of the class: Orthodoxy 101 – Orthodoxy Alive of September 21, 2022. It is an unedited video of the ZOOM recording of the class. It is a class of the Adult Religious Education classes of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Austin, Texas. For the best view, please start at 12:00 minutes into the recording. God Bless ….Frg
The Foundations of the Church: A Study of the Ecumenical Councils (Part 3)
The Triumph of Orthodoxy
The Foundations of the Church is a short study of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. The classes are recorded from the Adult Education Series of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church – Austin, Texas. This class is Part 3 of the series recorded on June 15, 2022. This recording explores the 6th. and 7th. Ecumenical Councils and their impact on the orthodoxy and theology of the Church. The video recordings are unedited transcriptions of the Zoom presentation of the class. Please forgive the lack of polish of the recording. For a better viewing of this segment, please begin at 3:00 min. into the recording. The presenter is Fr. George P. Bithos The link to the video is below. God Bless.. FrG
The Foundations of the Church: A Study of the Ecumenical Councils (Part 2)
The Foundations of the Church is a short study of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. The classes are recorded from the Adult Education Series of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church – Austin, Texas. This class is Part 2 of the series recorded on June 8, 2022. This recording explores the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Ecumenical Councils and their impact on the orthodoxy and theology of the Church. The video recordings are unedited transcriptions of the Zoom presentation of the class. Please forgive the lack of polish of the recording. The presenter is Fr. George P. Bithos The link to the video is below. God Bless..FrG
The Foundations of the Church: A Study of the Ecumenical Councils (Part 1)
The Foundations of the Church is a short study of the first seven Ecumenical Councils. The classes are being recorded from the Adult Education Series of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox – Austin, Texas June 1, 8 and 15, 2022. This is the first of the series from June 1, 2022. The video recordings are unedited transcriptions of the Zoom presentation of the class. The presenter is Fr. George P Bithos. The link to the video is below. God Bless…FrG https://youtu.be/8dnD_Ac1yS8
St Cuthbert the Wonderworker, Bishop of Lindisfarne
As many of you know, I read for my Ph.D. in England at the University of Durham. During this time I gained a great appreciation for the early Orthodox saints of Great Britain. One of these saints is St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, whose holy relics are buried in the Great Cathedral of Durham on the university campus. Last Saturday, our Holy Church commemorated St. Cuthbert.. This short film from Trisagion Films tells his story. I pray you find it inspirational and begin to appreciate the rich heritage of the Celtic saints of the Church. God Bless….Fr. G.
The Journey
Before I answer the question below, I want to point out the great loss of our heritage. The above icon is from the Exo-narthex of the Great Church of Chora in Constantinople now turned into a mosque by the Turkish government. May Our Lord, the Saviour, protect His Church in Chora and keep it safe.
When Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, how long would the trip have taken?
A. The distance “as the crow flies” from Nazareth to Bethlehem is about 70 miles. Under normal circumstances, without too many winding roads or rough spots to traverse, people might well have been able to travel (on foot or by donkey) about 20 miles a day, for a total one-way trip of perhaps four days. However, we must keep in mind several factors that might have made this particular journey last longer.
First, the land of Samaria lay along the most direct route between Nazareth and Bethlehem, and in Jesus’ day, there was considerable hostility between Jews and Samaritans. Even if, as I think we can assume, Our Lady and St. Joseph bore no animosity toward Samaritans, it would have been difficult and even dangerous for them to travel through that country. They might have been harassed and would almost certainly have been refused lodging, just as Jesus and His disciples were treated some years later (see Luke 9:51-56).
Surely St. Joseph would have sought to protect his wife, and the Child she carried, from such a threat. So, as was common among the Jews of the day, the holy couple would probably have journeyed far off the “direct” route to avoid Samaria, taking a detour from Galilee across the Jordan River and then back again into Judea farther south. That would have added many miles, and several days, to the journey.
Second, remember that Mary was close to the end of her pregnancy. No doubt they had to travel much more slowly than normal to avoid excessive discomfort for her and risks to the health of both mother and Child.
Given these factors, the one-way trip may have taken a week or ten days, and perhaps much longer.
Second, remember that Mary was close to the end of her pregnancy. No doubt they had to travel much more slowly than normal to avoid excessive discomfort for her and risks to the health of both mother and Child.
Given these factors, my guess is that the one-way trip took at least a week or ten days, and perhaps much longer.
The Whole Package
St. Katherine the Great Martyr
Today when we admire someone who is beautiful, witty and bright we might say, she’s the whole package. This is a perfect description of St. Katherine the Great Martyr. Katherine lived in the early 4th century in the city of Alexandria. Highly educated, beautiful, articulate and of royal blood, Katherine confronted the Emperor Maxentius and professed her faith in Christ. The emperor summoned fifty pagan philosophers to debate Katherine on matters of faith. Catherine(another spelling) refuted their arguments so convincingly that many of her learned opponents accepted Christ. Maxentius was infuriated and ordered Katherine tortured and many of the new converts put to death.
Tortured and imprisoned her courage and deep faith influenced over 200 additional souls to embrace faith in Christ including the emperor’s wife Valeria Maximilla. They too were also martyred. Maxentius tried to entice Katherine by an offer of marriage, but the princes would have none of it. She face even more terrible tortures. The Emperor sentenced Katherine to be tortured on a spoked wheel, which broke in pieces when Katherine touched it. Many icons of the great saint depict her standing next to a wheel. Katherine was finally beheaded at the young age of 18. With her faith and dedication to Christ she earned the grace of the Holy Spirit and the crown of a Great Martyr of the Church. Throughout the centuries many miracles have been accomplished through the intercessions of St. Katherine. She has appeared to many faithful to comfort them in times of distress. The Emperor Justinian named the Monastery on Mt. Sinai in her honour and it is one of the primary pilgrim destinations in the Orthodox world. Holy Martyr of God, Katherine, pray for us.
The Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (21 November 2020)
This Saturday we celebrated the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple. What we know about this event in the life of the Theotokos can be found in two ancient sources. The Protoevagelium of James and The Gospel of the Birth of Mary. These are materials that were not placed in the canonical sources. Some non-Orthodox “experts” have called these writings the “lost books” or “new sources” They were never lost nor are they new. Orthodox monastics and theologians have always used these sources to expand our understanding of the lives of the saints and events in salvation history. The hymnographers, iconographers and poets of the Church have drawn on these writings to enrich our liturgical and faith experience. These writings give the early events of the life of the Theotokos. The Protoevagelium Jacobi (aka The Infancy Gospel of James) presents the more detailed story of the events of her parental heritage, conception, birth and early life. As we know in the canonical Gospel of Luke, St. Luke begins his narrative with the story of St. John the Baptist and then relates the events of the Annunciation to the Theotokos. So these other sources are valuable as they present some of the rest of the Theotokos’ story.
The Protoevagelium relates that Joachim and Anna, the Theotokos’ parents, were so grateful to God for His gift of the conception of Mary; they promised to dedicate Mary to God by presenting her to the Temple. The miracle of their having this blessed child erased the reproval of their community because of their inability to bear children. The thinking of that culture was that a childless couple could not participate in the possibility of being heirs to the promise of the future messiah. When Mary reached the age of three, they fulfilled their pledge and escorted her accompanied by 10 virgins with lit lamps to the Temple. This was prophesied in Psalm 44 LXXII [45]. They were met by the High Priest Zacharias, who guided the child Mary into the Holy of Holies. We hear in the Protoevagelium, “Now Mary was in the Temple of the Lord like a dove being fed and she received food from the hand of an angel.” This was the Archangel Gabriel (notice the top left corner of the icon). What happened from age three until the mid-teenage years when we know that the Annunciation took place is not completely detailed. But we know the Virgin piously stayed in the Temple and found favour with God until her betrothal to Joseph.
The material concerning these years can be found in these ancient writings, As we commemorate these events perhaps reading some of these books could expand your understanding. We must know that the Church has not endorsed these writings as canonical, but looks on them as resources to expand and enhance our faith journey. God Bless and Have a Blessed Thanksgiving