I was emailing with someone who wants to take up the Jesus Prayer, and I thought it might help to picture how the Prayer has gone, for me. Here is what I said: +++ I can tell you more about what the aim of the Prayer is, what condition…
It’s the very last day of Christmas today, and I wanted to observe it by looking at the mystery and marvel of Christ’s Incarnation just one more time. As I continue to read The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos (Holy Apostles Convent, 1989), I get to read so…
January 2, 2026 This life of the saint comes from St. Juliana of Lazarevo Orthodox Church, in Santa Fe, NM. It was translated from the Russian by Isaac Lambertsen, and I have corrected some formatting errors. -FMG THE LIFE OF THE HOLY & RIGHTEOUS JULIANA OF LAZAREVO Whose Memory the…
(2025-7-11 – Substack) A few weeks ago I was invited to speak at an evangelical church, on the topic of the Atonement. If you don’t know the term, it refers to the theological explanation of how Jesus’ death on the Cross saves us. It’s a how-does-it-work question. We Orthodox have…
Here’s a 5-minute video about forgiveness, supplying a part that is too often omitted. Everyone knows that you have to forgive, or you will not be forgiven by God; but not everyone knows that it is possible to forgive without reconciling. Forgiveness is for something in the past, and reconciliation…
My address will change from www.Frederica.com to www.FredericaMG.com–adding an “MG” to the end of my name. I have had Frederica.com since 1998, thanks to friends who kept insisting I needed a website even though I couldn’t see any point in it. Well, after almost 30 years, someone would like to…
This 1st-2nd century story was extremely popular in the Christian East from the earliest centuries. Originally an folk story told orally and passed from one community to the next, 140 texts have been found in 8 different languages. The story was rejected in the West, though, so it was unknown…
Some years ago, a Catholic friend was preparing to enter the Orthodox Church and, not long before his chrismation, he sent me an email saying, “But would I be wrong to separate myself from Peter?” Exasperated, I wrote back, “We have Peter too!” He is a saint in both churches!…
Tommy My husband, Fr. Gregory, had been planning a short trip to our home town, Charleston SC, to visit his mother, Mary (almost 100 years old), and brother, Tommy, who was battling cancer. Everything was arranged for him to drive down there Monday and return Thursday, but then he came…
An emailer wrote saying he felt he wasn’t good at intercessory prayer. My reply: I’m with you about intercessory prayer. I think I don’t know how to do it very well. I have a long list of names I bring before God every night, and a shorter list when I…
