Part of the Women Scholars of Orthodox Christianity Series
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Church History, Women in the Church
Celebrating Early Christian Women at Prayer
by V.K. McCarty “We have heard as they were read aloud those words,so shining and luminescent, we have taken in by ear,we have considered in our mindsand honored in our belief.” It is wonderful to be able to share with you how grateful I am for all the encouragement and support from the team at…
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Christian Practice, Theology
What Is Prayer?
“Heartful thanksgiving should have first place in our book of prayer. Next should be confession and genuine contrition of soul. After that should come our request to the universal King.” So writes St John Climacus, seventh-century abbot of Mount Sinai, in his classic work The Ladder of Divine Ascent. I do not think that he intended…
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Christian Practice
Transfigurating Practices
On the day of our Lord’s Transfiguration, whose feast day is celebrated on August 6th, Jesus took with him three disciples, Peter, John and James (Mt 17:1-9; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36). They are at the ‘high’ mountain, which is often a place of revelation in the Bible, and at this mountain Jesus is transfigured. St….
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Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Liturgical Life
On Ecumenoclasm: Let Us Pray?
Orthodox opponents to ecumenism are highly critical of Orthodox participation in prayer and other services in common with non-Orthodox Christians. This opposition is usually based on ancient canons forbidding prayer with “heretics and schismatics.” Among frequently cited canons are Apostolic Canons 10, 11, 45, 65 and 71. Apostolic Canon 10, for example, reads: “If one…
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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University