Rating: 10|Votes: 12

“Love Your Neighbor, and Then You will Begin to Love Christ”

For the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko)

Zinovy Chesnokov

His Holiness read the Prayer of Absolution, folded it up and gave it to me to put it in the deceased’s hand. As his thumb moved aside I put the piece of paper in his hand, and his palm closed. By itself!

Rating: 9,1|Votes: 18

Here Labored Elder Gabriel

A Conversation with Nun Gabriela (Kvastiani) About the Daily Life at Samtavro Monastery

Yuri Pushchaev, Nun Gabriela (Kvastiani)

A distinctive feature of Samtavro is, above all, that it was precisely here that Christianity became the state religion, that is, the spiritual foundation of social and political life was laid here, based on Orthodoxy.

Rating: 9,5|Votes: 32

“The Patriarch of Constantinople Has No Canonical Right to Convene Any Assembly in Ukraine”

Resolutions of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, December 7, 2018

On December 7, 2018, a session of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held in the residence of the primate of the UOC on the territory of the Holy Dormition-Kiev Caves Lavra in which the hierarchs addressed the upcoming so-called “unification council” and the Ukrainian state’s increasing interference in the life of and persecution against the Church.

Rating: 9,4|Votes: 41

The Vulnerable and Poor, Whose Hope is in God Alone

On the Successes and Difficulties of Mission Work in Africa

Angel Karadakov, Bishop Athanasius of Kisumu and Western Kenya

Kenya has a total of 1 million Orthodox Christians. That’s the smallest fraction in Kenya compared to other denominations but the biggest among the Orthodox in Africa.

Rating: 9,8|Votes: 11

Ambition

Fr. Ted Bobosh

But ambition itself is not the sin or the problem. The issue is what are we ambitious to do?

Rating: 8,4|Votes: 28

Jewish Evangelism: the Lessons of History

Fr. Lawrence Farley

Thinking about the catastrophe that befell Israel in 70 A.D. when the Temple was destroyed and the people of Judea scattered through all the world, I would like to make two points.

Rating: 10|Votes: 24

Why is St. Catherine So Beloved?

Why though, eighteen centuries later, is this radiance still felt so strongly, even in face of the Great Martyr’s missing documentation?

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 21

Loud storms surround me, but by heart is tranquil

Selected sayings of the Hieroconfessor Roman Medved

Hieromonk Athanasius (Deriugin)

After all, the whole secret of life is in that everything should be done, not according to my petty will or my pitiful little mind. The Only Wise and Good Will must reign in everything, and our job is to not prevent it from being carried out both in us, and through us.

Rating: 9,6|Votes: 22

“The Pochaev Lavra is Ruled Neither by the Ministry of Culture Nor the Museum, But by the Mother of God”

A Conversation With the Abbot of the Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra, Metropolitan Vladimir (Moroz)

Sergei Geruk, Metropolitan Vladimir (Moroz)

Not a single monk will compromise his conscience, leave the monastery, or endorse the new evil currents with the creation of the so-called United Local Church.

Rating: 7,3|Votes: 31

Ethno-phyletism and the Patriarch of Constantinople

Anna Stickles

If Constantinople decides to submit to Porshenko’s wishes and establish an Orthodox church on Ukrainian soil against the wishes of the canonical Church, is not the ecclesiological heresy of ethno-phyletism exactly what will appear? This denies the central Eucharistic mission of the Church.

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 31

Appropriate Fasting

Fr. John Whiteford reflects on the importance of fasting and Mark 2:18-22.

Archpriest John Whiteford

Fasting is an essential aspect of the Christian life, and it is one thing that, unfortunately, is becoming for the majority of Christians in the world an increasingly foreign concept.

Rating: 9,8|Votes: 16

The Nativity Fast as a Cure for Foolishness

Homily for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost and the 9th Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

In the eyes of our corrupt world, a life of conspicuous self-indulgence may make someone look like a great success. Slavery to the passions, however, is hardly a path for fulfillment for those who bear the image and likeness of God.

Rating: 9,2|Votes: 17

The Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God in the Temple

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

We may well ask ourselves then - which world do we inhabit? Do we inhabit a world of evil or a world of God? And which world therefore inhabits us? Which is our choice?

Rating: 10|Votes: 15

Ye are the Temple of God: Homily on the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov

But it is extraordinarily important to also remember that every divine feast is a reminder and renewal of God’s promises for each person who is faithful to Him, for each person who believes in Him and strives to keep His commandments, for everyone who considers himself a disciple of Christ and lives as such.

Rating: 9,6|Votes: 34

If We Lose the Purity of Faith, We Are Worthless As Christians

Metropolitan Onuphry (Berezovsky)

His Beatitude answers the questions of his flock about the fast, the Church, and the faith.

Rating: 7,5|Votes: 44

Changing times: Locking the door to church

Fr. Barnabas Powell

I just completed an announcement for my parish bulletin that I never wanted to write. It explains that I’m no longer leaving the church doors unlocked when present for my office hours.

Rating: 10|Votes: 14

Venerable Barlaam the Desert-Dweller, Ioasaph, Prince Of India, and King Abenner, His Father

November 19 / December 2

At the birth of the prince, the wisest court astrologer predicted that the prince would adopt the Christian Faith being persecuted by his father.

Rating: 9,8|Votes: 27

“May Paradise Consume You”

For the 20th Anniversary of the Repose of Elder Cleopa (Ilie, December 2, 1998)

Archimandrite Arsenie (Papacioc)

On December 2, 1998, the great Elder Cleopa (Ilie) was relocated to Heaven. For the 20th anniversary of his repose, we offer our readers recollections from those who knew him, and firstly, from his spiritual child and co-struggler Elder Arsenie (Papacioc), also a famous Romanian elder.

Rating: 9,3|Votes: 49

The Royal Children. Five Different Characters

What were the royal children like? What were they dreaming of and what did they manage to achieve in their short, but so wonderful lives?

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 41

“We Will Soon Be Dispersed, They Will Close the Monastery, and They’ll Kill Us All”

In Memory of Abbot Zosima and the New Martyrs of St. Nicholas Monastery

Nadezhda Dar

He dug a cave, cleaned the spring near the mountain and began to live and pray, imitating the ancient monastic fathers.

Rating: 10|Votes: 27

Love of Money, the Sin of Distrust in God

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

Speaking about love of money in our days is just the same as describing hot weather in summer. Everyone suffers torment from the scorching heat in July, and it seems there is no way to hide from it, though there are air conditioners, fans, shady places, and cold water. Very few people like the blazing sun, while the love of money captures our hearts and enslaves us. And this may happen even to those who have no money in their pockets…

Rating: 9,3|Votes: 26

The Nativity Fast: Why Humility is Essential

Fr. Ted Bobosh

What cleanses our heart is humility, which is the goal not only of Lent and asceticism but of the sacrament of confession as well.

Rating: 10|Votes: 17

What Rights Does the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Really Have?

In connection with the numerous speculations about the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian, the Diocese of Gorlovka and Slavyansk of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has published the documents that fix its status and freedoms, which we present here...

Rating: 10|Votes: 23

“The Fast is an Opportunity for us to Change Now, Not Later”

Priests on the Nativity Fast

In this article, priests of the Russian Orthodox Church offer their thoughts on what this time represents for us, how to worthily greet the feast of the Nativity of Christ, and what to pay attention to first of all in the spiritual life.

Rating: 9,2|Votes: 21

Christian Asceticism

Archpriest Victor Potapov

The art of freeing ourselves from all that interferes with our communion with God is called asceticism, something that is most sharply manifested in monastic podvig, spiritual struggle.