A Primer on Prayer
Fr. Thomas Hopko
Prayer is a specific activity that must be a part of a person’s life. It is, as the catechism says, “a lifting of the mind and heart to God.” It is a talking with God, and a listening to Him. It is communion with God in the most direct, experiential way. Christians must pray. We cannot substitute anything in the place of prayer. We cannot think that prayer is “anything good that we do” in the sense of replacing the actual act of prayer about which Christ spoke when He said: “When you pray, go into your room and close the door, and pray in secret…” Although everything good done by man glorifies God, the specific activity of prayer must be retained and perfected. [Read more...]
Preparing for Holy communion
By: Metropolitan Saba (Esber)
Forty years ago, the predominate custom was for the faithful to go forward to partake of mystery of the Eucharist infrequently, since the predominate understanding said that one should only partake of the Eucharist a few times each year, such as on major feasts… In my childhood, I would hear the grown-ups say that the maximum permissible number of times that the faithful could partake of the holy things was once every forty days, while following a number of requirements. They based this on man’s being unworthy of this dreadful mystery. Without a doubt, for them this conviction stemmed from great honor given to the divine mystery and a realization of their own sins… [Read more...]
Welcome to St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church!
We hope that through this website you will become better acquainted with our Church, with its worship, its ministries, its educational programs, and its social activities. If you are from the Genesee/Livingston county area and yet do not have a spiritual home or if you have just moved to the area and are looking for a Church, we invite you to join us in our worship.
Our St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church espouses the following values:
1) We believe that every person born into this world has been endowed with the image and likeness of God and is therefore capable of eternal life in Christ. As such, our parish exists for NO OTHER PURPOSE than the gaining of eternal life. “And this is eternal life, that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou has sent.” (John 17:3). For this reason, we hold that the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church is “what comes first,” and that all other activities, programs, dinners, festivals, etc., in the parish are auxiliary to the above.
2) We believe that every member of the parish, young and old, must be a full participant in all aspects of the Church’s life: worship, sacraments, education, and service, and that each member has an invaluable talent to offer the Body of Christ, no matter how simple, ordinary, or mundane. For after the “litourgia” (worship) comes the “diakonia,” (service) and the “diakonia” of the Church is the work of Christ by which the Church is built-up and edified.
3) We believe that no one can grow in the faith without being continually educated in the faith. Subsequently, it is not only our children and teenagers who are taught about Orthodoxy in our parish, but also adults. We believe the most influential persons in a child’s life of faith are his mother and father: parents “model” the spiritual life for their children, and parents are the ones who are responsible, ultimately, for the spiritual formation of their sons and daughters.
4) We believe that Christian Orthodoxy is vitally relevant to the lives of those who live in this day and age. Orthodoxy in America is not a “religious-cultural museum,” but the fullness of the Apostolic Faith (with its teachings and traditions) handed down from one generation to the next – “without addition, without diminution.” For this reason, we seek at all times and in every way, to evangelize Christian Orthodoxy to all those whom we come into contact with, family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.
We invite you to “come and see.”
Fr. Paul Jannakos, Rector
St. Mary Magdalene Church
