No Other Foundation

The Prayer of St. Ephraim

As as we journey through Great Lent, Fr. Lawrence Farley looks at the Prayer of St. Ephraim.

Western Hat

Commentary on the Divine Liturgy: The Anaphora

Fr. Lawrence Farley comments on the Anaphora, which is a Greek word meaning “offering.”

Who Goes to Hell?

Fr. Lawrence Farley speaks at Daniel Chapel at Furman University on February 6, 2018. Fr. Farley explores the nature and end of humankind from an Eastern Orthodox Christian perspective.

A Song in the Furnace

Fr. Lawrence Farley talks about his new book A Song in the Furnace, the message of the book of Daniel.

A Presence Not Theirs

Divine Liturgy Commentary - the Peace and the Creed

Praying for the Dead

Scriptural Teaching On Predestination

The Father is Greater Than I

Old Testament Feasts

Herod and the True Meaning of Christmas

King Herod and the True Meaning of Christmas

Fr. Lawrence Farley is convinced that his culture knows absolutely nothing about the true meaning of Christmas.

A Brief Word About Eternal Punishment

How the concept of punishment in the world to come was understood at the time of Christ.

Waters of Marah

North American popular culture, as brought into your home and heart by the North American media, is a very powerful force, and it seems that we too easily underestimate its transforming power.

Allegory and the Old Testament

Fr. Lawrence says it is safe to say that the allegorical method has fallen upon hard times in the scholarly world.

Why We Need a God of Wrath

Do the words “God is love” mean God could never be wrathful?

Not Like Religion – Sacred Space

We Christians share certain external similarities with the religions, but these external similarities can mask the inner meanings of the things we seem to share. In reality, everything in Christianity is different from the religions.

Not Like Religion – Clean vs. Unclean

Fr. Lawrence continues his series and examines the correlation in the Scriptures between that which is clean and that which is unclean.

The Feast of Byzantium

The Feast of the Elevation of the Cross could also be called The Feast of Byzantium.

Not Like Religion – the Christian Clergy

It is easy to misinterpret Christianity as a religion like any other but Fr. Lawrence maintains it is unique.

Three Liturgical Questions

I sometimes cannot help asking myself three liturgical questions whenever I visit churches which serve the Liturgy in the “classic” pattern I learned in seminary—all of those questions quite rhetorical.

Commentary on the Divine Liturgy: the Gospel

In the Gospel reading Christ even now stands in our midst to speak to our hearts.

Commentary on the Divine Liturgy: the Epistle

We regard it as “Scripture”, a holy text, and of course it is. But it is also a personal letter addressed and written to people other than ourselves.

The Trisagion Hymn

In the original usage, the Trisagion was sung as a refrain to Psalm 80. The cantor would chant verses of the psalm as all walked in procession and the people sung the Trisagion hymn as its refrain after every verse.

Appreciating Anathemas

The decrees and canons of the Provincial and Ecumenical Councils today often sound odd in our modern ears.

The Antiphons

Fr. Lawrence continues his commentary on the Divine Liturgy with a focus on the Antiphons.

The Great Litany

Fr. Lawrence offers commentary on the Divine Liturgy with a focus today on the Great Litany.

Holy Fire

The so-called “Holy Fire” is the name given to the fire that appears on ends of the candles of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and others every Holy Saturday.

Of Gay Sex and Leaven

What does the Orthodox Church think about gay sex? The official answer is not hard to find.