This is a sectional essay presented on January 17, 2018 at the Fort Wayne Seminary Theological Symposia....

Please see this beautiful commentary by St. John Chrysostom (347 - 407 A.D.), one of the greatest fathers of the church. It isn't for nothing that he is called Chrysostom: "golden-mouthed." "When the Deacon prays, 'Let us beseech for them yet more earnestly that God would deliver [the catechumens] from every evil and disordered thing,' we ask for them that they ma...

A commentary on the Gospel for Lent 1 St. Mark 1:9-15 by: Hippolytus of Rome 170 A.D. to 235 A.D. Do you see, beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost if the Lord had yielded to the exhortation of John and declined baptism? For the heavens had been shut before this. The region above was inaccessible. We might descend to the lower parts, but not ascend ...

Sunday's Collect, while beautiful and apropos, seems to omit something important. The divine logic of this event, it's raison d'etre. It reads: "O God, in the glorious transfiguration of your beloved son you confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from the bright cloud you wonderfully foreshadowed our adoption by g...

In his outstanding sermon, Subdue, Rev. Peter Mills writes: Pastor Mills: [In] Last Sunday['s gospel reading] a demoniac suddenly and brazenly interrupted Jesus' Sabbath sermon in the synagogue of Capernaum. Modernly we tend not to give credence to demon possession. In first world countries our complacency is no doubt the result of Christianity's missionary success and hi...

Note: when discussing liturgics the word "cult" (from the Latin for "worship") has no negative connotations, but simply denotes a system of religious worship....