Let us who love their words gather together And honor with hymns the three great torch-bearers of the triune Godhead: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. These men have enlightened the world with the rays of their divine doctrines. They are sweetly-flowing rivers of wisdom filling all creation with springs of heavenly knowledge. Ceaselessly they intercede for us before the Holy Trinity! - Troparion to the Three Holy Hierarchs
Dr. James Tour earned his PhD from Purdue University and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is also Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, and Professor of Computer Science at Rice University in Houston, TX. He is also an ardent opponent of Darwinism.
"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Mark 10:14
Brethren, the very hairs of your head are all numbered--even more so are the days of your life! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will die before your appointed time, or yet hope that you will somehow be able to extend your life for one day beyond the will of Him Who counts and measures. Let this knowledge teach you meekness and fear of God.
The very hairs of your head are all numbered--even more so are your sufferings on earth! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will suffer beyond measure. Fear even less that your sufferings will remain forgotten and unaccounted for by Him Who sees all. This knowledge will teach you patience and confidence toward your Creator and Provider. The very hairs of your head are all numbered--even more so are your friends and enemies on earth! Do not be afraid, therefore, that you will have either too many friends or too many enemies. Neither be afraid that your enemies will overcome you, nor be assured that your friends will defend you. Concern yourself only that you have God for a friend, and do not be afraid of anything. Behold, He Who loves you unalterably is your only friend.
O Good Lord, Wise Provider, Who knows the number, measure and time of all, banish from us every fear--except the fear of Thee--that through fear of Thee, we may arrive at the pure and holy love for Thee, our Creator and Benefactor.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
There is no greater honor or greater calling on earth than to be a Christian. When the judge-torturer Sevirus asked the young Peter Apselamus [suffered for the Christian Faith in 311 A.D.,]: "Of what lineage are you?" Peter replied: "I am a Christian." The judge further inquired of him: "What rank are you?" To this, Peter responded: "There is no greater or better rank than that of a Christian." Father John Kronstadt writes: "The whole world is but a cobweb in comparison to the human soul of a Christian." The Christian is an earthen vessel into which is poured divine power and light. Whether this vessel is placed on a golden royal throne or whether it is lowered into a dark hut of a beggar, its value will be neither magnified nor diminished. Does not gold have the same value whether it is wrapped in a silk handkerchief or in a cabbage leaf?
From the Prologue of Ohrid
How can life come from non-life? It takes great FAITH to BELIEVE we evolved from rocks that were created from nothing by nothing!
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O Holy Lord, holy in creating:
All that Thou makest by Thy Word, Thou doest consecrate by the Spirit.
O Mighty Lord, mighty in suffering:
For the sake of the world Thou goest to Thy death; for the sake of the world Thou dost resurrect.
O Immortal Lord, with our voices we hymn Thee:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit--God, have mercy on us!
The Father, Who appeared over Jordan as a Voice;
The Spirit, Who hovered as a milk-white Dove;
The Son, Who by the Prophet John was baptized:
Three rays of Light, one Light shone.
O Trinity manifested, with our voices we hymn Thee:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit--God, have mercy on us!
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
The memory of the just is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord's testimony is sufficient for thee, O Forerunner; for thou hast proved to be truly even more venerable than the Prophets, since thou was granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed. Wherefore, having contested for the truth, thou didst rejoice to announce the good tidings even to those in Hades: that God hath appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us great mercy. (Apolytikion of the Synaxis of John the Holy Glorious Prophet, Baptist, & Forerunner)
When our Lord reached thirty years from His physical birth, He began His teaching and salvific work. He Himself signified this "beginning of the beginning" by His baptism in the Jordan River. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says: "The beginning of the world is water; the beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan." At the time of the Baptism of the Lord in water, the mystery was declared to the world--the mystery that was prophesied in the Old Testament; the mystery that was known only in fables in ancient Egypt and India--the mystery of the Divine Holy Trinity. The Father was revealed to the sense of hearing, the Spirit was revealed to the sense of sight, and the Son was revealed to the sense of touch. The Father uttered His witness about the Son, the Son was baptized in the water, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovered above the water. When John the Baptist bore witness to Christ, saying: Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and when John immersed and baptized the Lord in the Jordan, the mission of Christ in the world and the path of our salvation were shown. That is to say, the Lord took upon Himself the sins of mankind and died under them (immersion) and rose again (the coming out of the water); and we must die to the old sinful man and rise again as cleansed, renewed and regenerated. This is the Savior and this is the path of salvation. The Feast of the Theophany is also called the Feast of Illumination. The event in the Jordan River illuminates us by manifesting God to us as Trinity, consubstantial and undivided. That is one way that we are illumined. And the second way is that every one of us through baptism in water is illumined, in that we become adopted by the Father of Lights through the merits of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
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"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14
