African Saints (from the Prolouge of Ohrid) Basil the Great (Jan. 1) 330-379 AD, Although not an African, this Cappedocian is listed among the Sayings of the Desert Fathers as he spent time in Egypt. He patterned his life after the monastics and was known for his generosity as well as his theological contributions … More Dispatch From The Desert: December 30th, 2019 to January 5th, 2020
The Brotherhood of St. Moses in Virginia met on July 24th at St. Basil Orthodox Church in Hampton to pray the Canon of Racial Reconciliation and a small Compline. For a reflection of early African Christianity, I pointed to Carthage. For those who forgot, or paid no attention in high school world history; Carthage was … More July Meeting: Carthage and the Faith of Outsiders
(The following is a rough manuscript of my presentation at St. Basil the Great (Antiochian) Orthodox Church in Hampton on Saturday, June 24th. Somewhere in mid speech, I attempted to make some changes off the cuff. Those who heard my talk say it was great. Of course, I am my own worst critic. A link to … More The Need to Know
In his autobiography, Malcolm X stated that the Desert Fathers were the founders of Christian Church structure (1). He also briefly mentioned St. Augustine as a defender of Church doctrine against heresy (2). While Malcolm said these things specifically in is critique of white racism in Christianity, he does make an incidental point that should … More The Desert Fathers: A Beacon for Evangelism
OBSERVING THE FEAST DAYS OF THE AFRICAN SAINTS Why observe the African Saints? Every Christian community and nation celebrates its ancient heroes of the faith. St. Patrick among the Irish, St. Vladimir of the Russians, even the Alaskan Native St. Peter the Aleutian; all of these peoples embrace their ancient fathers and mothers of the … More African Saints & Feast Days
A Blessed Nativity Feast to all who observe the new calendar date. Martin Luther King Day is supposed to be a day off for me as a state employee (Ranger at York River State Park). But, I couldn’t help but to notice that workplaces and schools tend to be more integrated than most worship services. … More Step into the New Year
The 22nd Annual Ancient Faith Afro-American (St. Moses the Black) Conference has come and gone. I thank God for my good friend and mother in the faith, Sarah, for saving me from making the trip by Greyhound as I did two years ago. We had blessed conversations on the road and gained a greater understanding … More A Reflection from the 22nd Annual Ancient Faith Afro-American Conference: Go Into The Deep
The goal of our profession is the kingdom of God. Its immediate purpose, however, is purity of heart, for without this we cannot reach our goal. We should therefore always have this purpose in mind … St. Moses from St. John Cassian’s On the Holy Fathers of Sketis (Philokalia vol. I) For anyone that thinks … More St. Moses: The Immediate Purpose of the Christian
I just started reading “On the Prayer of Jesus” by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. I got hooked on the work of this 19th century bishop after reading “The Arena” during Great Lent. Aside from his wise instruction to monastics which are applicable to us in the regular world, Brianchaninov frequently referred back to several African fathers … More The Jesus Prayer: A Blood-bond
Many thanks again to the St. Andrews Orthodox Church in Ashland for their warm hospitality. Thanks also to the members of the Trinity Baptist Church in West Point (my former congregation) for their attendance. It is my prayer that we will continue to continue to dialogue with one another and evangelize based on our holy … More A Day of Bridge Building
Desert Fathers Dispatch 