Watch How The Media Views the Real Saint Nick | NBC Nightly News
Watch this Christmas story from the Orthodox Christian perspective. Learn how it changed from the real story of St. Nicholas with Richard Angle and Bishop Chrysostomos. ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is a 501(c)3 and an official agency of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the United States...
The Christmas Fast
Georgios Arabatzoglou Another blessed period of fasting begins, a time of spiritual struggle and an effort to turn our mind to God, each of us with the strength and spiritual ‘nobility’ at our disposal, and, as always, in conjunction with the advice of our spiritual guide. This fast begins...
Jerusalem For Christmas
Join is Saturday November 23rd in person at Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC. OCN is LIVE with a talk by Dr. Robin Darling-Young professor of Early Christian History at Catholic University of America. Dr. Darling-Young transport you to Jerusalem when Christ was born. She will explore the...
The Spirit of Christmas
Archimandrite Iakovos Kanakis At this time of year, people often talk about the ‘spirit of Christmas’. But are we all talking about the same thing? I think not. It seems to me that if the ‘spirit of Christmas’ is only the presents, shopping in general, family meals, gatherings and...
Carols from Kastoria
What we call ‘kalanda’ (carols) are the songs of praise and goodwill which are sung on the eve of the great Christian feasts and which belong, in anthropological terms, to what we call good luck rituals. The carols for the Twelve Days of Christmas are still remembered, though those for...
Christmas can be approached only through faith
Athanasios Moustakis ‘When Abraham was called, by faith…’ As is the case every year, the Epistle reading for the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ focuses on faith. It consists of two excerpts from chapter 11 of Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews (verses 9-10 and 32-40) in which...
Waiting in Joyful Hope
As we come closer to the commemoration of the birth of Christ, we would do well to consider exactly what it is that we celebrate. By in large, the Christian world marks the birth of Jesus in the cave at Bethlehem, the “en-fleshing” of the Divine Word, “full of grace...
Christ Is Here!
The twinkling lights speak of His presence. His birth returns light to the world as He illuminates every shadow of darkness in the world and within us. Christ is here! The evergreen speaks of eternal life. The candy canes display red and white stripes of blood and purity. Christ is...
Why I Love Seasonal Employees (and Why You Should, Too)
I had a flashback tonight on my way home from the mall, where I was doing some Christmas shopping. I kept thinking about the sales clerk that rang up the multitude of hostess gifts I had to buy for all of the socials and parties that we attend this time...
The Custom of the Christmas Tree
Protopresbyter Panteleïmon Krouskos For many people with a secular outlook, decorating the Christmas tree is the essence of Christmas. In Greece, this custom was imported from abroad and was introduced by the Bavarians*. The first time a Christmas tree was decorated was in Otto’s palace and thereafter it spread...
