Tag: John Chryssavgis
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An Orthodox Christian Standing with Ukraine
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Few, if any, would go so far as to claim that Patriarch Kirill, as head of the Orthodox Church in Russia (or “the Russias,” as he likes to say), could be charged with crimes against humanity or war crimes […]
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The Value of Nothing: Lessons from COVID-19 on Silence and Stillness
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis | ελληνικά | ру́сский I’ve always admired the early monks and nuns of the desert literature. Not because they discovered ways of escaping the reality of paying taxes. Not only because their words were inspirational and their prayer transformative. And not primarily because they withstood the power of the empire […]
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Men, Monks, and Making Saints
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis On his recent visit to Mt. Athos in October, 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced the imminent inclusion of five Athonite elders among the saints: Ieronymos of Simonopetra, Daniel of Katounakia, Joseph the Hesychast, Ephraim of Katounakia, and Sophrony of Essex. There is a phrase in the Sayings of Abba Macarius […]
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An American Guilt Trip
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis John Steinbeck once wrote: “There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation . . . There is a failure that topples all our success.” In an effort to witness first-hand the financial, social and personal impact of “black diamonds”—the benefits of which we all enjoy, but the cost of which […]
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A Renewed Diaconate Completes the Church
by Rev. Archdeacon John Chryssavgis | ελληνικά | ру́сский In recent centuries, the diaconate has only enjoyed a symbolical or transitional role in the church. Parish clergy are ordained to the priesthood after serving only briefly as deacons. It is as if they are expected to “move on!” or “move up!” The diaconate has been reduced to […]
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The President’s Men and the Emperor’s Clothes
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis The UN Climate Change Conference taking place this week in Bonn, Germany, is once again revealing how unrestrained exceptionalism is digging our country only deeper into global isolationism. As an American citizen, I am often confronted with the U.S. announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement at the COP21 meeting […]
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For God’s Sake, Hands Off!
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis In fourth-century Constantinople, an archbishop named Gregory contemplated why God was so silent before the immorality and corruption in politics. Why, he wondered, did God resemble a sleeping lion? But of course a sleeping lion can be awakened and antagonized. We have waited and watched as presidential executive orders and […]
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Politics by Candlelight: Contemplating Political Catharsis and Illumination
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis “Democracy is coming to the USA.” (Leonard Cohen) Americans don’t like talking openly about politics across party lines; they prefer to talk in their own silos and not to each other. American Christians – at least, this is my experience among Orthodox Christians in America – would almost identify political […]
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The Paradox of Unanimity: The Holy and Great Council
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, with Gayle Woloschak We are on the eve of the Holy and Great Council, a topic that has weighed heavily in discussions on this blog in recent months. One major issue that has continually come up for discussion is the fact that the decisions of the Council are to be […]
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The Synaxis of Primates: A Prelude to Conciliarity and Unity
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, with Rev Dr. Alexander Rentel Amid a great storm of words and clouds of recriminations, first His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and then the other venerable presidents of the autocephalous Churches, landed at airports in Crete and stepped off their planes to clear and sunny days typical of this Greek […]