Light of the East

From pandemics to politics, the stressors of our times can be tough on marriage on family. A renewed look at the Byzantine marriage ceremony can actually help couples find their home base once again.

We revisit a fundamental question that is often asked and often not well understood. What exactly is meant by the different Rites of the Catholic Church? How and why are they different?

Civilization will go by the way of the family and these institutions are being attacked like never before. It is the Liturgy of the Church and the Domestic Church that will help marriage and family remain bright.

In these days of anxiety and so much darkness, the Church again comes to our rescue through two glorious feast days of our Lord and the most Holy Blessed Mother.

This week at Annunciation Byzantine Catholic parish in Homer Glen, IL under the the Light of Tabor and through the dynamism of the Liturgy we will be transfiguring from glory to glory amidst two great feasts.

We are reminded that we have no lasting home here on earth as Haiga Sophia, the mother Church of Christianity was once again claimed as a mosque

It ought to be clear to any believing person that demons are running wild in our world today. Eastern Christian Spirituality and warrior saints like the Prophet Elijah can offer calm and confidence amidst the chaos.

There is saint spelled with a small s and saint spelled with a capital S. The life of a baptized Christian is a journey toward turning the small S into a capital S

The famous song, "Old Man River," expresses a contrast between the calm integrity of nature and human chaos. The ancient traditions of the Eastern Churches are today's "Old Man River.

Ss. Peter and Paul are depicted in their icon standing together holding up a model of the Church. They were the two pillars of the early Church and many saints followed after them."

The 24th Annual Orientale Lumen Conference has been unleashed on social media. Our special guest will clue us into the exciting topics and speakers on the subject of Liturgy and icons.

Liturgy is often referred to as "smells and bells." In fact, smells, bells, sights, tastes and touches are not only essential to Liturgy but may even be good for our health

The raging of the sea, the raging of nations, fire in the sky, just some of the warnings of the end times. Are the end times really near? The answer is both yes and we don't know.

As they did in the upper room 2,000 years ago, Christians gather again to be filled with the Holy Spirit on this Feast of Pentecost, the completion of God's plan of salvation

Between the double brightness of the Resurrection of Our Lord and the event of Pentecost is the Ascension of our Lord and the illumination of the Council Fathers of Nicea--- sources of hope and light.

In the Liturgy of the Church, we are mystically transported from earth to Heaven. The Feast of our Lord's Ascension is not only His ascension but ours as well.

Sheltering at Home" and "Shut Downs" for many married couples has become more like "Fighting at Home" and "Shut Downs" in communication. We look again into the riches of Eastern Christian Spirituality.

It may be hard to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ during this pandemic. A reach into the gifts of Eastern Christian spirituality can actually help move us beyond fear, anxiety and despondency.

How can we experience the Joy of the Resurrection when we are immersed in so much sadness? The women and men who came to care for Jesus's body will provide some answers.

The Liturgy of the Church immerses us into the events of Christ's life on earth. These events become our events and are heightened in their reality by the world wide pandemic.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Together with you and Luke the Regular Guy we will share and proclaim the joy of this Day of Days, the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from the Dead.

In Eastern Churches it is the Week of the Bridegroom begins this Sunday and includes the story of the wise Virgins who were ready for the coming of the Bridegroom, a relevant theme for a time of pandemic.

Empty shelves at the grocery stores, social distancing, bars and restaurants and all places of communal gathering closed, sporting events cancelled. The Corona Pandemic has essentially turned us into good monastics.

The great spiritual master who lived on Mt. Sinai, St John Climacus, will take us higher and higher on his Ladder of Divine Ascent. The first two rungs of the ladder will be renunciation and obedience.

Every Eastern Christian church has its own ancient and indigenous chant which is sung by the faithful during liturgical services. This gives cantors a special place in Eastern Christian Liturgy

The Season of Lent, the Great Fast, is a return to our living experience of the Scriptures and to our real selves

Silence, God's Uncreated Energies, the Divine Light and coming to know God by Unknowing were taught by a 14th century saint and which are relevant for our own time, especially during Lent

The Sunday evening before Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten Season for many Eastern Catholic Churches. Worshipers take on the posture of Adam exiled from Paradise and also share in a gesture of mutual forgiveness.

There is a lot of discussion today in the Latin Rite about priestly celibacy. A monk from an Eastern Catholic monastery will share a perspective on this that the discussion to baptism and the episcopacy.

The Scripture parable of the Prodigal Son is our story - a choice for the delusion of ideology or a choice for reality, right reason and our ultimate glorious destiny.

On this glorious Feast day, as the Christ child and the Elder Simeon encounter each other through the Temple and the Law we will encounter Christ in our suffering, persecuted Christians of the Middle East

For young people seeking spirituality and the mystical, or guest Anthony Dragani, A Byzantine Deacon and Professors of religious studies will tell young people they need not look outside the Church.

In between the season of Christ's descending and His ascending, the Incarnation and the Resurrection. We turn to the great spiritual masters of the desert to serve as our guides.

From the birth of Christ through to his presentation in the Temple to his baptism, this time of epiphany of manifestation is ingeniously expressed through the prayer of the Church.

Devotional practices between the Eastern and Western lungs of the Church are often different from each other yet they arrive at the same point. These differences are not deficits but rather, complements.

The Sunday after the Birth of Christ calls us to examine and renew the relationships in our lives, beginning with Christ and those closest to us. We also turn our attention to the event and relevancy of the slaughter of the innocents.

All families have their story from sinners to saints. So it is with the family of Jesus Christ. But God still works out His divine plan which is the miracle of this season.

Get rid of it! Just get rid of it! The clutter in our closets, our souls and in our lives. God will come in the flesh on Christmas day to bring order out of the disorder of sin. Now is the time for us to do the same

LIGHTEAST 793R Are the End Times Near

When a special guest is coming to our home we prepare by getting things in order and the includes our interior disposition. Prayer, fasting and alms giving is how we get ourselves in order for the coming of Jesus Christ.

What Rite does a Rite have to be called a "Rite?" We will try to get this Rite by going Rite to the Rite sources especially in regard to the recent Amazon Synod. I think I got that Rite?

Many are concerned at the evangelizing methods surrounding the Amazon Synod. Evangelization is always a balance of culture with the Gospel and here the Eastern Churches can be very insightful.

There is something transformative and bonding that happens to us when we gather as a community in the liturgical worship of the Church. It is a mystical reality for which we have proof

The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is a mystery central to our Faith and all of life. An opportunity is available to experience that mystery physically and liturgically.

We congratulate Bishop Nicholas Samra of the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church and look at how the Eastern Catholic Churches can respond to his plan of action for real evangelization.

Among the many gifts of both lungs of the Church, east and west, we here at Light of the East have our ten favorite gifts that the Eastern Churches offer to the whole Church and the world

Are daily Mass, daily Communion, and daily Rosary part of the devotion of Eastern Catholics? If so, how? If not, why not? The answer will reveal much about east and west.

Monastic spirituality was called by St. John Paul II, "The reference point for all of the baptized." Through their holy, ascetical lives, the Eastern monastics have bequeathed a wisdom relevant and urgent for our day.

The elaborate preparation for the reception of the Sunday Eucharist begins Saturday evening in the Eastern Churches and gives ample witness to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The upcoming Amazon Synod is leaving many Latin Rite Catholics apprehensive about the possibility that Pope Francis may allow married priesthood in the Latin Rite. The Eastern Christian Churches can be very helpful in this discussion.