Author Archives: edithmhumphrey

(Acts 11:19-30; 2 Esdras 10:21-23; Psalm 43 LXX/44 MT; Genesis 22:15-18) For you see that our sanctuary has been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple destroyed; our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put out, theContinue reading “The Diaspora: Disaster or Divine Dispensation?”

Acts 6:1-7; Ephesians 4:10-13; Ex 18:19-21; Numbers 17; Deut 34:9 We may be surprised that we are running ahead this week in Acts’ story of the early Church, when we have not yet reached Pentecost.  But it is indeed appropriate for us to be thinking of the burgeoning life of the Church at this season,Continue reading “Multiplication, Ministry, and Maturity: Third Sunday of Pascha”

Acts 1:1-8, Genesis 1-2; Genesis 30-50, Romans 8:22-25. The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presentedContinue reading “Knowing the Times and Seasons—the Paschal Epistle”

Hebrews 9:11-14, Leviticus 16, Jeremiah 31:33 In the midst of Great Lent, we are also in the midst of a people (understandably) obsessed with quarantine and disinfecting whatever we can.  Our reading from Hebrews for the fifth Sunday of Lent takes us back to the time of the Torah, when both cleansing and distancing wereContinue reading “Disinfecting the Conscience: The Fifth Sunday of Lent”

Hebrews 4:14-5:9; Leviticus 16; Genesis 14; Psalm 109 (LXX)/110 (MT) Despite the upset of Church closings and quarantine this spring, Great Lent still has great riches to offer us. We have, after all, many readings from the Old Testament during these weeks, and we also plumb the depths of the book of Hebrews, which interpretsContinue reading ““Grace to help in time of need”—The Cross, the Christ, and the Coronavirus”

Hebrews 11-12, Exodus, Judges, 1 Kings 17, Daniel Great Lent is a time when we particularly concentrate upon the Old Testament.  This makes sense, since it is a time of repentance, and St. Paul tells us to look at the Old Testament story of Israel as a way of seeing negative examples that should actContinue reading ““Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy”—the Righteous of the Old Covenant”

1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2; Amos 5, Isaiah 40 In our epistle reading for the Sunday of Meatfare, we pick up St. Paul’s train of thought after he has been answering the question of the Corinthians regarding whether it is permitted for Christians to eat food that had been previously offered to idols. It is important toContinue reading “Are we not free? Food and the Faith (Epistle for the Sunday of the Last Judgment)”

After having considered the cycles of troparia, kontakia, and theotokia, we resume our reading of the Scriptural passages for Divine Liturgy in the light of the Old Testament.  This year we will be focusing on the epistle readings, which are so often neglected in favor of the gospels, and seeking to understand them in theContinue reading “Continue in the Things That You Have Learned! The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee”

Genesis 3; Deuteronomy 30, Psalm 138 (139 MT), Hosea Finally, we complete our study of the eight resurrectional-dismissal hymns for the Theotokos.  Tone 6 is similar to tone 8, in that these two alone address Christ rather than the Theotokos herself.  We sing this hymn during our celebration of St. Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen) onContinue reading “Desiring to Recall Adam: The Resurrectional-Dismissal Theotokion in Tone 6”

Ezekiel 41:1-3; Psalm 130/131; Revelation 12; 21-22   Good things come to those who wait!  As we have been concentrating upon the resurrectional-dismissal hymns for the Theotokos in our Divine Liturgies from both Sundays and feast-days, we have waited some time for tone five come into play!  Finally, on January 18, when we remember SaintsContinue reading “Fourfold Joy! The Resurrectional Dismissal Theotokion in Tone Five for the Feast of Sts Athanasius and Cyril”