Lenten Reflections: Celebrating Lent and Pascha Together . . . Apart
Today is Orthodox Easter, which we call Pascha. Christ is risen! Today’s guest bloggers are my Orthodox friends David and Roseanna Commini, who have spent this Lent/Pascha apart as David is overseas. David: My name is David, I am married to a wonderful woman and father to a very beautiful girl. I am currently deployed [...]
Bridegroom Matins
Bridegroom Matins is an Orthodox prayer service that occurs the first three days of Orthodox Holy Week. Though each day has a particular focus, all three days relate to the parable of the ten virgins. As the virgins wait for the bridegroom who comes in the middle of the night, Orthodox Christians ready themselves for [...]
Lenten Reflections: Excruciating Joy
Today’s guest blogger is my mom, Jean Roberts Knox. It’s hard to write a “bio” for her since she raised me, but I’ll try! Mom has taught piano, been a file clerk, been a missionary, and currently is an administrative assistant/office administrator at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. She rocks at [...]
Lenten Reflections: Lentgitimate
Today’s guest blogger is Samantha McElfresh, who was a student at a high school I taught at a few years ago. She is now a junior at the University of Tennessee studying English and secondary education with the goal of becoming an English teacher. She will be running her first half-marathon today! We wish her good [...]
Lenten Reflections: The Familiar, Central Park, and Fasting, Oh My!
Today’s guest blogger is my bestie from college, Amanda Marshall. She is an ordained minister and currently serves as a children’s pastor at Salem Fields Community Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She has worked in children’s ministry for a long time, and she’s also been a missionary in the Middle East. She is very creative, likes [...]
Lenten Reflections: Celebrating Lent in Japan
This guest post is written by my friend Melissa Reed, who was in my MFA program. She currently lives in Japan, and you can read about her adventures there at her blog, There and Back Again. Here’s her bio: I’m twenty-five years old and from Paducah, Kentucky. I graduated from Murray State University with a [...]
Lenten Reflections: Icons
Today is the first day of my Lenten Reflections series, which will occur every Sunday until Orthodox Pascha (Easter) on April 15. I have a few guest bloggers lined up (still have some spots open!) but no one was ready yet, so today I’m going to share a few quotes regarding icons in the [...]
Calling Guest Bloggers: A Lenten Reflection
I have been reading the book Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner. The book is about the author’s conversion from Reformed Judaism to Orthodox Judaism to Christianity. Very interesting read! In the book, Lauren talks about being a voracious reader with thousands of books in her personal library. Then her Episcopal priest asks her to [...]
Preparing to Prepare
Ash Wednesday has come and gone, but Eastern Orthodox Lent doesn’t begin until Monday. Well, technically this evening. Orthodox Christians don’t begin the Lenten season in a penitent, ashes-on-your-forehead manner. The first day of Lent is called Clean Monday, and in fact that first week is called Clean Week. We open ourselves to the brightness [...]
