Traditional spiritual writers sometimes speak of "holy fear", a feeling of great awe for God's sovereign power that motivates us--not so much from fear of hell as from a sense of reverence--to avoid sin and live virtuous lives. This post, alas, does not rise to such heights but wallows in the neurotic fears diagnosed by the shrink class as phobias. Specifically, they are religious phobias. The firs...

Today the Episcopal Church honors Ephrem the Syrian, also known as Ephrem of Edessa (his feast is observed by the Orthodox on January 28). Ephrem was born in Nisibis in the year 306 and is thought to have died in 373 (or maybe 379). He was ordained a deacon and also appointed a teacher. He founded the School of Nisibis, which survived him by several centuries. He is often described as a monk, thoug...

The phrase "I'm spiritual but not religious" has become one of the iconic hip expressions in 21st century America. It can be found in the mouths of a wide spectrum of folks, including but not limited to so-called bookstore Buddhists, Episcopalian Unitarians in drag, and de facto atheists/agnostics who are simply too pooped to get out of bed on Sunday morning. Abbot Andrew is the leader of St Gregor...

Thanks to Alice Linsley of Just Genesis (well worth checking out on a regular basis) for this reference to The Blog Readability Test (http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx) You bring up the webpage, type in the URL of your blog (or any other site you want to check), and the site gets an instant rating ranging from Elementary School to Genius. I have no idea of how the thing works. Frankl...

I was born in 1949 and baptized a Roman Catholic, which means that I grew up with the Latin Mass. I became an acolyte exactly 50 years ago this month, and I've been doing it--in both the Roman and Anglican communions--ever since.The Latin Mass is currently experiencing a resurgence in Catholicism. This is part of a worldwide trend towards the recovery of tradition that can be seen in all Christian...