Saints of Healing: Orthodox Services in the Houston Area

For the healing of soul, mind, and body...

In society today, there are many blessed people who work in fields that offer services of healing for the soul, mind, and body. We have physicians, therapists, psychiatrists, massage therapists, physical therapists, psychologists, and counselors. Men and women who offer help/assistance to those struggling with ailments of their soul, mind, and body.

In the Life of the Church, throughout the Church year we commemorate many saints refered to as "holy unmercenaries." They lived pious lives offering great service to their fellow man through prayer and healing without payment. Saints such as Cosmos & Damian, Cyrus & John, Sampson the Hospitable, Panteleimon, Tryphon, Vlassios (Blaise), Luke the Apostle, Spyridon, Artemios, and numerous others.

While many people in society suffer in a variety of ways, it is a great comfort to witness the miraculous abilities of professionals who work diligently to heal and ease those who suffer. Whether one works in a hospital or private practice, examines charts or perscribes medication, listens and offers words of encouragement through counseling and therapy, all can use the great examples of those who have lived a life worthy of Christ the Great Physician.

Christ - the Great Physician

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With these great healing saints in mind, liturgical services will be held throughout the year on their feastdays. Our hope is that those in such professions as listed above will participate in services supplicating prayful intercessions from these examples of those who help the healing of soul, mind, and body.

Kontakion of the Holy Unmercenaries (Tone 2):
You have received the grace of remedies, spread strength over those in need, glorious, wonderworking Physicians; but by your visitation, cast down the insolence of enemies, healing the world by wonders.

Our first batch of special services begins over the next few weeks:

Tuesday, July 26th @ 7:30p, Akathist to St Panteilemon
Tuesday, August 2nd @ 6:00p, Paraklesis to the Theotokos during the Dormition Fast
Thursday, August 4th @ 6:00p, Paraklesis to the Theotokos
Tuesday, August 9th @ 6:00p, Paraklesis to the Theotokos
Thursday, August 11th @ 6:00p, Paraklesis to the Theotokos

Hope you can join us!

Please check the St. George Houston, TX calendar for the schedule of services throughout the year and join us in worship to our loving and merciful God through the supplications of these "saints of healing."

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

Vehicle of Choice, a Fiery Chariot?

This was the chosen mode of transportation for the Holy Prophet Elijah (Elias), as he was taken up into the heavens. In commemoration of this great Old Testamental prophet, on his feastday (July 20th) in the Life of the Church, Orthodox Christians receive a special blessing of their own modes of transportations - vehicles, bicycles, airplanes, boats, etc.

Prophet Elijah taken to Heaven in a Fiery Chariot

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Prophet Elijah

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The Life of the Holy Prophet Elijah can be found HERE. He preached the "good news" of One True God among his people, the Israelites, who had fallen away from their Covenant with God and began to worship pagan idols. The life of the holy Prophet Elijah is recorded in the Old Testament books (3 Kings; 4 Kings; Sirach/Ecclesiastes 48:1-15; 1 Maccabees 2:58). At the time of the Transfiguration, the Prophet Elijah conversed with the Savior upon Mount Tabor (Mt. 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke. 9:30).

As a side note, enjoy this article with photos about a Russian Orthodox priest blessing the crew and spacecraft (Russian Soyuz TMA-17) HERE.

Enjoy some pictures of parish gatherings for the Orthodox blessing of transportation on the feastday of St Elijah:

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May Christ our True God, who didst will to travel into Egypt as a new-born babe, through the intercessions of the holy and glorious Prophet Elijah, bless our vehicles and other modes of transportation and travel with us, all the days of our lives!

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

Trouble in Paradise: Adam, Eve, and Me

Orthodoxy sees Adam and Eve as being created by God with a certain vocation: to gradually become one with God increasing in their ability to share in His divine life (deification). To embrace their God-given vocation would bring life, to reject it would bring death. Their vocation is the vocation of all humanity. Their failure to obey the commandment of God is our own failure to obey. The freedom to obey or reject God belonged to our first parents; for God made man free and sovereign. Adam and Eve were overcome with the same temptation that afflicts all of humanity: to go their own way, to try and realize the fullness of existence without God.

The result of this affliction is death. This is the curse of humanity - to die. Thus to be re-created, Christ the Savior took on our humanity in order to destroy this affliction. As the great Orthodox hymn of Pascha tells us: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!" His death and resurrection is our opportunity towards salvation - sharing in His divine life. However, it is not forced upon us, to accept God's grace and love. 

Resurrection of Christ/Descent into Hades
Christ reaching out His hands to Adam & Eve

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Love is at the heart of all Orthodox theology. The love from God freely given to all is Christ's voluntary death upon the Cross (Tree). The ancestral curse (or original sin) that came into existence through the failure of the First Adam is destroyed by the Second Adam (Christ our Savior). We still live in a fallen world, and our acceptance of the God's grace and love is a process to be sure. But the opportunity to regain our vocation has been given through the Incarnation (God becoming Man), His death and resurrection.

For Western Christianity, original sin as described by Augustine is an inherit guilt felt by all of humanity due to the fact that we are all descendents of Adam. Because Adam, our first father sinned, I am also guilty in his turning away from God. Original sin becomes a legal, jurisdictional delimma for all of humanity.

This approach to the Fall from Paradise is foreign to early Christianity, which Orthodoxy continues to practice and believe. To be sure, our fallen nature is sinful. There is no man who lives and sins not; but my sins are my own choice. I choose whether to draw closer to God or further from Him.

In Orthodox thought, the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise was not punishment done out of anger because of their sin, rather due to compassion. The expulsion from Paradise and from the Tree of Life was an act of love and mercy so that humanity would not become immortal in sin.

Expulsion from Paradise

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In simple terms, Orthodox approach to sin is therapeutic, viewing sin as an illness, while the Western Church tends towards a juridicial model seeing sin as moral failure. Orthodoxy focuses on the process and goal more than the sin. Salvation is a process that requires prayer, fasting, charity, and keeping vigil. A young monk was once asked what they do all day in a monastery, responding, "we fall and rise, fall and rise."

My parish priest/spiritual father once said, "if you're not struggling towards salvation, you're not doing it right!" This approach is crucial to our understanding of pastoral care; we need guidance and encouragement, hence the Sacrament of Confession is a face to face discussion. Humility is not an easy lesson to learn, real transformation is not instantaneous and we are in need of God's help.

Death has caused a change in the way we relate to God, to one another, and to the world. However, the choice offered to Adam and Eve remains our choice: to ascend to life or descend into corruption.

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease: The Life of John the Baptist

In the Life of the Church, we celebrate the Nativity of John the Baptist on June 24th. Born to righteous parents, Ss Elizabeth & Zachariah in their elder age, John's mission in life was to proclaim and announce the coming of the Messiah.

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"He must increase, but I must decrease"; this verse taken from the Gospel according to St John the Theologian (3:30) quoting St John the Forerunner and Baptist of our Lord is a beautifully stated and essential reminder for all Christians. He is explaining to his followers the fulfillment of his ministry in proclaiming the good news of the coming of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ into the world.

St John calls himself the "friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  "Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled" (John 3:29).  What a remarkable example of the love of God and understanding of one's purpose in life!

Our Lord says of John, "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28).

I recently read an amazing book reflecting on the life and purpose of St John the Baptist entitled The Friend of the Bridegroom: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Forerunner by Sergius Bulgakov.  I strongly encourage you to read it as well.

Through the prayers of the Forerunner, O Lord our God, have mercy upon us!

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

The Bearded Orthodox Man

Many Orthodox men wear a beard (or some form of facial hair), especially among its clergy. The beards vary among the Orthodox faithful men, but there is definitely a significance behind the scruff.

"Orthodox Christian piety begins in the Holy Tradition of the Old Testament. Our relationship to the Lord God, holiness, worship, and morality was formed in the ancient times of the Bible. At the time of the foundation of the priesthood the Lord gave the following commandments to the priests during periods of mourning, And ye shall not shave your head for the dead [a pagan practice] with a baldness on the top; and they shall not shave their beard... (Lev. 21:5), and to all men in general, Ye shall not make a round cutting of the hair of your head, nor disfigure your beard (Lev. 19:27). The significance of these commandments is to illustrate that the clergy are to devote themselves completely to serving the Lord. Laymen as well are called to a similar service though without the priestly functions."

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A great article written over at http://www.orthodoxhistory.org/ entitled: "To shave or not to shave?," gives an account from an early 20th century priest in America and his encounter about his own beard (the story even reached local newspaper outlets!). Enjoy it HERE.

Now, I'd love to claim such piety when it comes to such practice, but sadly this isn't the case for me. Those who see me on a regular basis will notice that I go days without shaving for periods of time; and sometimes, I do enjoy keeping a small goatee with a cool 'stach to accompany it. To be honest, I simply hate shaving.

As a child, I fondly remember watching my dad in the morning shaving before work. My baba would help me lather my face up with shaving cream (even though I was baby-faced), and let me use the bottom end of a toothpaste tube to scrape away the cream and invisible facial hair. I'm sure most young boys have this same memory as a child; a very fond one for me!

I remember growing up, anxious for some stubble to really shave away...I wasn't a patient child. I'd constantly complain that I couldn't wait to shave, to which my dad would kindly respond, "hold off as long as possible, once you start, you won't be able to stop."

As with most things, I hate to admit it, but of course he was right! I dread having to shave, hence the days-long scruff that adorns my face. So, while most Orthodox men "sport" a beard out of piety, sadly its usually laziness that gets the best of me.

But, that's just our lil' secret, right?! I welcome some "beard" stories of your own!

Enjoy some "sporty" looking beards below:

Greek Orthodox priest

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Russian Orthodox priest

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St Raphael Hawaweeny

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Ss Onuphrius & Paphnutius

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St Maximus the Greek

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Bulgarian Orthodox bishops

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St John Maximovitch

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Our Lord, God & Savior, Jesus Christ

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- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

Kentucky Derby Party in Houston, TX

On the "first Saturday in May" is the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, KY (my hometown). The "Run for the Roses" is a horserace thats known as the "greatest two minutes in sports!"

This past Saturday, May 7th I hosted a Kentucky Derby/Birthday Party with friends and family - to give them a little slice of Kentucky fun! It was an awesome affair in the Houston area with plenty of Kentucky favorites: Derby decor (thanks to Mama Fuller who mailed me plenty of decorations), Kentucky Derby Pies, lunch from Kentucky Fried Chicken, and plenty of Kentucky bourbon for specialty mint julips.

Enjoy some pictures from the festivities below:

Conducting my own "Happy Birthday" rendition

Pretty ladies in fancy hats

 

Haddad & Araj Families

 

Stratos Unidos & Shining Star

The other Birthday boy - George

Sobchak Family

Kh. Valerie & my cousin Joe

Betty Draper in the kitchen

A dessert fight broke out...

It was a heated exchange...

The aftermath!

Dolled-up Stratos

Michael and his hands

Thanks to all my friends who came out to celebrate my birthday and enjoy a "day at the races!"

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director

Christ Has Ascended in Glory!

In the Life of the Church, we celebrate one of the 12 major feasts (The Ascension of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ) on the 40th day following the Feast of Feasts - our Lord's Resurrection. Therefore, this year the great feast of the Ascension is celebrated on Thursday, June 2nd in the Life of the Church!

This great event, with which Jesus' life on earth concludes, is briefly mentioned in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, with a much fuller account in the Acts of the Apostles. Gathering His disciples, Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem , but to await what had been promised by the Father, that is the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Then, He went with His disciples to Bethany and stopped on the Mount of Olives. "While they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, 'Ye men of Galilee , why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven'" (Acts 1:9-11).

Ascension of our Lord

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According to the account given in Luke's gospel: "And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now, it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy..." (Luke 24:50-53).

Jesus, their Master, leaves them, yet His disciples are filled with great joy. Its an odd reality to grasp; the comfort of being in the presence of their Lord, especially witnessing His Resurrection and being "filled with great joy" at His departure from them. But the reason for such a feeling among the Disciples is the promise given to them: Jesus tells them that He must go to the Father, but He will send the Holy Spirit upon them.

We celebrate this feastday soon (in 10 days) on the Great Feast of Pentecost (the descent of the Holy Spirit). Christ's Ascension is a glorious occasion; "the crowning achievement of His earthly mission."

Troparion of the Feast of the Ascension (Tone 4): “Thou hast ascended in glory, O Christ our God, and gladdened thy Disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit, having become confident of the blessing. Verily, thou art the Son of God, and Deliverer of the world.”

Wishing you and your family a blessed great feast of the Ascension!

- A Day in the Life of the Youth Director