In this episode, Rita shares a story from a monk that explains what is needed to cook. Whether you currently do not cook and know you need to start or are an avid cook, the wisdom in this story will provide you with a way to look at cooking as a component of our spiritual life. 

When a fast is just around the corner, the fridge gets stocked with non-dairy creamer and margarine. Rita explains how these foods sabotage the very essence of fasting and are detrimental to health.

Rita offers tips and encouragement to assist listeners in their fasting journey.

Many of us have to eat away from home as a result of our work situation. Others are going to be eating away from home for extended periods of time due to vacationing. Whatever the scenario might be, how do we practice eating on the road with watchful attention? Rita offers several strategies.

For a variety of reasons, many of us have to eat alone. Rita presents strategies for eating alone in a healthful and satisfying manner. She also provides strategies for helping those who have to deal with the struggle of eating alone.

Family dinnertime goes beyond a balanced meal. This is when we sit together and are nourished both spiritually and physically. Rita shares things to do in everyday life to increase physical activity and improve stress management throughout a child's day.

Rita discusses additional ways to help children develop a healthy relationship with food.

Fasting should not be legalistic, and it involves way more than just food. Rita explains the various ways in which we can help our children understand and practice all the aspects of a fasting period.

Rita discusses ways to show brotherly love through feeding the sick.

Stress that is not managed affects our health and increases our appetite. Rita discusses ways to handle stressors during this time of year.

Eastern Orthodox Christians eat in a very specific way. With all the discussions about the various diets out there, is this traditional way of eating a way to share the faith? Rita answers in the affirmative and explains why.

Did you overdo it during the fast-free period of the Holy Nativity? Are you frustrated with how you ate and that lack of attention you paid to your body? Do you struggle with overindulgence on foods and beverage? Rita discusses how and why we must forgive ourselves and move forward.

Around the tenth century, we hear the venerable St. Simeon the New Theologian explaining that many illnesses are caused by a disorderly and irregular diet. Does a saint speaking to us one thousand years ago have answers for our food choices today in the world of egg beaters, diet sodas, and fat-free foods?

Rita encourages us to enter into the true spirit of the fast as we begin Great Lent.

Supporting each other with our health efforts can be an act of love. Rita discusses the importance of taking advantage of the buddy system.

This will be the last podcast for quite some time as Rita takes a break to focus on conducting food and faith workshops. Here she reminds us of the importance of allowing the traditions of our church to be the basis for our health management.

Many times we eat outside the home—be it at work, at a friend’s home, or at a restaurant. This podcast will provide strategies on how to eat in a spiritually minded manner in the work environment.

Rita Madden shares the latest research regarding the way fasting helps our bodies to function properly, even as we keep our focus on prayer during Great Lent.

Rita encourages us to deepen our Advent Fast by simplifying our choices of what and where to eat, so that we can spend more time attending services, praying and serving others who are in need. She also introduces a new program called My Beautiful Advent which can be found at http://www.mybeautifuladvent.com.

Rita reflects on the journey of Great Lent, and encourages those of us who feel we have lost our way. Setting realistic goals can help us to keep our focus on the rest of the journey towards Pascha.

Following the feasts and fasts of the Church cannot only help us care for our own health, but it can also benefit the environment and God's creation.

Rita reflects on how physical objects can help us attain food for our soul, and how we can use physical objects to help us in prayer.

Rita Madden encourages us to continue the fast with words from St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain.

Rita Madden shares St. Gregory of Nyssa's writing on The Lord's Prayer, and provides insight on stress management and how to eat.

As we continue to move through the fast, it is quite beautiful to see how the physical end of our fasting tradition aids us in the spiritual hunger we all feel.

Rita Madden shares some wisdom from Abba Pambo to aid us in keeping the correct spirit for the Great Fast.

Rita Madden reminds us of the blessing of working together in all facets of our lives, especially as we struggle to change some aspect of our life.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah invite us to enter into the healing work of the ultimate Wounded Healer, Jesus Christ, in our own lives even as we seek to be present with those around us who are hurting.

Chaplain Sarah interviews Chaplain Elizabeth Hawkins, Pediatric Palliative Care Chaplain, on the power of loving silence and the respect of the mystery of God.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah begin a conversation about the challenge of applying the joy of the resurrection of Christ in the context of suffering that we see and experience as caregivers.

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian discuss the painful reality of grief during the holidays, and ways to carry that grief into the feast of the Nativity of Christ.

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian reflect upon the significance of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15) for those who are keeping vigil for a loved one. You can watch Chaplain Sarah deliver her sermon on the "Icon of the Dormition" at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts by clicking here.

Dr. Adrian Budica, ThM, ACPE, BCC, Director of Field Education, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood NY, and Sara Byrne-Martelli, MDiv, DMin candidate, BCC, Chaplain, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Video presentation available here.

Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martelli interviews St. Vladimir's Seminarian Dan Bein about his experience in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).

Fr. Andrew speaks at Bucknell University on February 3, 2010. We have broken the talk into two parts, with part 1 on today's episode and part 2 on March 22.

Fr. Andrew speaks at Bucknell University on February 3, 2010. We have broken the talk into two parts and this is part 2.

Today Fr. Andrew begins a series on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith. It is a four-part series but we will divide into smaller pieces for the podcast. So here is part 1 in the series with Fr. Andrew beginning his talk on the Mystery of Christ.

Fr. Andrew continues part 1 in a series on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith. It is a four-part series but we will divide into smaller pieces for the podcast. So here is Fr. Andrew concluding his first talk on the Mystery of Christ.

Today Fr. Andrew begins part two of his Foundations series with a talk on Scripture and Tradition. This is part one of that talk.

In his continuing series on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith, Fr. Andrew presents the second half of his second talk regarding Scripture and Tradition.

In his continuing series on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith, Fr. Andrew talks about the Worship of God. We've divided part one of this talk into two halves.

Today we present the second half of Fr. Andrew's lecture on the Worship of God.

Today Fr. Andrew begins part four of his four-part talk on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith. We bring you the first half of that talk in this episode.

This is the conclusion of Fr. Andrew's last talk in the four-part series - Foundations of the Orthodox Faith.

Fr. Andrew talks about the instruction of St. Ignatius on Church unity and Bishops.

What did St. Ignatius have to say about the role of the Bishop in the Church. Listen to the first half of Fr. Andrew's fourth talk in this series.

St. Ignatius emphasized the importance of obedience to the Bishop.

Over and over again in the writings of St. Ignatius, he emphasizes the importance of the physical aspect of Christ's first coming to earth. Fr. Andrew reviews these references and their implications.

In this final episode in the Voice from Antioch series, Fr. Andrew concludes his talk on the views of St. Ignatius about the Eucharist and the physical nature of Christianity.

In this new series from Fr. Andrew, he explores the impact of taking the Gospel into our times and our places. This first lecture challenges us to examine the real and tangible aspects of Christianity as opposed to viewing God as a "product."