N.B.: This is the under-construction revised second edition of my July 2008 post: "Filioque: Fathers, Popes, & Councils." 1. The Eastern Orthodox differ from Catholics in that the former deny that the υπόστασις [hypostasis] of the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son; at most, they will gr...

I was reading Unholy Alliance tonight and the author relayed the tale of Ante Pavelic and the Yugoslavian holocaust of the Croatians in conjunction with Nazis and the Catholic Church. There was a large concentration camp called Jasenovac that, while certainly populated by the Nazis' favourite pariah...

The Jesus Prayer (see previous posts 1 | 2) is an example of an “arrow prayer”: a short, easily-remembered prayer that can be “fired up to heaven” like an arrow. Another example of arrow prayers in the Eastern Orthodox tradition is this series of 24 prayers traditionally attr...

It is striking how the Jesus Prayer (see previous post) is able to pack so much content into so short a form: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Per-Olof Sjögren describes the prayer as “a summary of the whole gospel”, of “the whole content of ...

A move away from politics now, with a couple of posts on one of my favourite prayers: the Jesus Prayer, described by the Swedish Lutheran pastor Per-Olof Sjögren (in his book The Jesus Prayer ) as: …one of the simplest in form but richest in content of all the prayers in the long history of C...

Christ Himself teaches that divorce is forbidden, and the Lord even said in the Old Testament that He hates divorce [Mal 2:16]. This means that the bond of a consummated sacramental marriage is not dissoluble except by the death of the spouse. The " porneia " exception clause does not mean one of th...

Through Western Eyes, Eastern Orthodoxy: A Reformed Perspective,by Robert Letham, Mentor/Christian Focus, 2007, 320pp Eastern Orthodoxy looks a somewhat strange version of the Christianity faith when viewed through the eyes of Reformed Evangelicals. I mean, all those hairy priests wafting plumes inc...

1. The issue of Eastern Orthodox miracles is an issue that, based upon my extensive research, is rarely mentioned or addressed by us Catholic apologists. Therefore, having spoken to James Likoudis (God bless you and yours Jim and keep up the outstanding apologetical work and ecumenism!!!), I will of...

Dan Valenti, "World Mercy Congress 'Catches Fire'. Is hell the weigh station to heaven?" (Examiner.com, April 5, 2008): ROME, April 5, 2008 /PRNewswire/. In a stunning ecumenical moment at the Catholic Church's first-ever World Congress on Divine Mercy, Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, bish...

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power and idle talk. But give me rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to my servant. Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother. For you are blessed u...