Orthodox Christianity

Sunday, September 14/27, 2020. 16th Sunday after Pentecost. Strict fast.

Wine and oil allowed.

The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross.

Repose of St. John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople (407).

Uncovering of the relics (2000) of Sts. Alexandra (1789), Martha (1829), and Helen (1832), of Diveyevo.

Lesna Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (1683).

Martyr Papas of Lycaonia (305). St. Placilla the Empress, wife of St. Theodosius the Great (400). St. Maria of Tarsus (607). New Martyr Macarius of Thessalonica (Mt. Athos), disciple of St. Niphon, patriarch of Constantinople (1527). Holy Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681).

Repose of Bishop Arsenius (Zhadanovsky) of Serpukhov, Archpriest Sergius Siderov of Kiev, and Priest Michael Shik of Moscow (1937).

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Ukrainian Church Crisis

Why Do People Look Sad in Church?

Why Do People Look Sad in Church? Why Do People Look Sad in Church? Igumen Nektary (Morozov) “When you endlessly rebuke someone for his imperfections and keep the focus entirely on his sins, a man quits growing as a Christian.”

“The Miracles Never Cease”

“The Miracles Never Cease” Miracles of the Godenovo Cross “The Miracles Never Cease” Abbess Evstolia of the Pereslavl-St. Nicholas Monastery on the Godenovo Cross and Its Miracles Tamara Evenko Humility—this is how you could define the Godenovo Cross, which appeared in Russia in the fifteenth century and is now located at the dependency of the Pereslavl-St. Nicholas Convent in Godenovo. It’s appearance in Russia can be compared to the appearance of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God on Mt. Athos.

Stories from the Ghetto

Stories from the Ghetto Dejan Baljosevic Stories from the Ghetto Dejan Baljosevic “The Ghetto”—that’s what, with a touch of sad humor, the people of Orahovac in Kosovo and Metohija call their town. Divided into two parts—the Serbian and the Albanian—the town really gives no cause for joy. Nevertheless, the Serbs who live there not only keep calm but also keep hope and faith in Christ, without which, as they say, life is meaningless.

Exaltation of the Cross

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St. John Chrysostom

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News

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Publications

Crosswalk

Valery Parkhomovich

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Orthodoxy Around the World

Crosswalk

Valery Parkhomovich

He had knocked a man down and fled the scene. Fled! Could anyone have imagined an hour earlier that he was capable of that? How would he go on?

“The Purity of His Soul Was Like a Beautiful Pearl”

For the twentieth anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St. Nicholas (Mogilevsky; 1877—1955), Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan

Hieromonk Yakov (Vorontsov)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

“The Purity of His Soul Was Like a Beautiful Pearl”

For the twentieth anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St. Nicholas (Mogilevsky; 1877—1955), Metropolitan of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan

Hieromonk Yakov (Vorontsov)

For all of us, becoming acquainted with the New Confessor Nicholas (Mogilevsky) is like finding treasure.

How an Old Man Drove Napoleon from Karizha to Paris, and Other Stories of Our Beloved Monastery

Nun Elizabeth (Vorobieva)

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Churches and Monasteries

How an Old Man Drove Napoleon from Karizha to Paris, and Other Stories of Our Beloved Monastery

Nun Elizabeth (Vorobieva)

After the battle, a few French prisoners told about how some special elder with a fiery sword in his hands, who was invincible, was fighting in the first ranks of the Russians.

Being a Christian: No Greater Love

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Church History

Being a Christian: No Greater Love

Perhaps I can illustrate this from a story taken from the late history of the Russian Church. I think it shows what I am trying to say about being a Christian.

The Things Which Are Impossible with Men Are Possible with God (Lk. 18:27), or Diana Dzhishiashvili’s Amazing Life Story

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Orthodoxy Today

The Things Which Are Impossible with Men Are Possible with God (Lk. 18:27), or Diana Dzhishiashvili’s Amazing Life Story

There are people who challenge the generally accepted stereotypes and prove by their entire lives that nothing is impossible for human beings.

God Chooses the Weak Not the Mighty

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

God Chooses the Weak Not the Mighty

Power and wealth are often too tempting to people of faith who even begin to believe the sign of God’s favor is that we have power and wealth.

A Gift for the Mother of God

A sermon on the Nativity of the Theotokos

Hieromonk Nikon (Parimanchuk)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

A Gift for the Mother of God

A sermon on the Nativity of the Theotokos

Hieromonk Nikon (Parimanchuk)

There is a tradition of giving presents to a person on his birthday. We can give presents to the Mother of God as well.

Orthodox Christian Homily on the Greatest Commandments: Love of God and Neighbor

Fr. Philip LeMasters

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Orthodox Christian Homily on the Greatest Commandments: Love of God and Neighbor

Fr. Philip LeMasters

Though we may not yet have the eyes to see it, our entire life in the Church—and every bit of our life in the world as Christians—presents an opportunity to grow in holiness through the love of God and neighbor.

“Hey, Ioan, Come Closer!”

On my meeting with Elder Dionisie (Ignat)

Priest Ioan Valentin Istrati

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

“Hey, Ioan, Come Closer!”

On my meeting with Elder Dionisie (Ignat)

Priest Ioan Valentin Istrati

The blind elder knew my name! I sat down next to him, and Fr. Dionisie took my hand in his and began to speak. Nobody had ever known so much about me!

“The Priesthood is the Most Terrible Thing on Earth”

Elder Teofil (Bădoi) and His Sayings

Protosinghel Vissarion (Sorescu)

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

“The Priesthood is the Most Terrible Thing on Earth”

Elder Teofil (Bădoi) and His Sayings

Protosinghel Vissarion (Sorescu)

Even if I had graduated from all the schools of this world, even the highest schools, not a single one of them would have been as useful for me as the school of sufferings.

One Family in Christ. Scenes from Boston

Elena Zoubareva

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Churches and Monasteries

One Family in Christ. Scenes from Boston

Elena Zoubareva

I recalled everybody—both the living and the departed, those from Boston, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Samara… All of us--both on the earth and in eternity, those who are visible and invisible—we are together in the same Church and make one family in Christ.

A Fine Line Between Rebellion and Apostasy

Priest Dimitry Shishkin

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Church and State

A Fine Line Between Rebellion and Apostasy

Priest Dimitry Shishkin

One can’t help but think that Satan himself incites quick-tempered and radically inclined people to rise up and rebel against injustices, some of which are quite real, so that the movement against such injustices is discredited as “obscurantism”.

If You Forget How to Rejoice, Your Monastic Life Will End

A Conversation with Nun Kassiana (Kupalenko)

Nun Kassiana (Kupalenko)

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Churches and Monasteries

If You Forget How to Rejoice, Your Monastic Life Will End

A Conversation with Nun Kassiana (Kupalenko)

Nun Kassiana (Kupalenko)

We must go to the light, and it will expel the darkness from our souls; but to plunge into darkness in order to see the light—that doesn’t happen.

On the Freedom of the Ukrainian Church

Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk)

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Orthodoxy Today

On the Freedom of the Ukrainian Church

Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk)

In this interview, Fr. Markell discusses freedom in general and the freedom of the Church in particular, how spiritual freedom and political freedom are related, whether a Christian can be free when the Church of Christ is politically oppressed, and what relations are like between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian state today.

Sts. Peter and Febronia of Murom

On the day of the Translation of their Relics

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Sts. Peter and Febronia of Murom

On the day of the Translation of their Relics

The “Tale of Peter and Febronia of Murom” was written by Monk Ermolai-Erasm (Ermolai Pregreshny), and the work immediately became a favorite read among the literate folk; it spread around in a huge number of handwritten copies, and was passed along in oral tradition.

Arnaud Gouillon, Enfante Terrible of a Forgetful Europe

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Suffering Church

Arnaud Gouillon, Enfante Terrible of a Forgetful Europe

It all began with a scandal. At the time when the progressives of mankind fought in a unified front against the dictator Milosevic and the “cursed Serbs,” one impudent French teenager dared to insist that France and Serbia share a long-standing relationship in the cultural sphere and as allies. And that all the Serbs had ever wanted was to protect their motherland and its people from disintegration.

The Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Theotokos

Photo Report from Sretensky Monastery

Anatoly Goryanov, Vladimir Khodakov, S. Apenko

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Theotokos

Photo Report from Sretensky Monastery

Anatoly Goryanov, Vladimir Khodakov, S. Apenko

This is the first time Fr. John has celebrated the monastery’s patronal feast in his official capacity as abbot.

Homily on the Beheading of the Holy Forerunner of the Lord, John

St. Nikolai (Velimirovic)

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Homily on the Beheading of the Holy Forerunner of the Lord, John

St. Nikolai (Velimirovic)

Once Jerusalem and all Judea were astir with the news that a new prophet had appeared, never before seen, and frightening. This man called out to the crowd around him, “Repent!”

The Church of Christ the Savior of Chora Monastery (Kahriye Cami) Has Become a Mosque Again. Why Is It Important to All Christians?

Oksana Golovko, Alexei Lidov

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Churches and Monasteries

The Church of Christ the Savior of Chora Monastery (Kahriye Cami) Has Become a Mosque Again. Why Is It Important to All Christians?

Oksana Golovko, Alexei Lidov

Half a century after the invasion of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 Chora Monastery with the Church of Christ the Savior was converted into a mosque (Kahryie Cami). Some of its frescos and mosaics were whitewashed over and some smashed.

On Andreas Konanos’s Abandonment of the Priesthood

Priest Valery Dukhanin

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Orthodoxy Today

On Andreas Konanos’s Abandonment of the Priesthood

Priest Valery Dukhanin

Any loss causes grief. The abandonment of a wife by her husband, of children by their father, of friends by their friend—not to mention the abandonment of the ministry by a pastor—above all causes pain and sorrow. You can’t be happy when a tragedy occurs. Likewise, the fact that the preacher of “joyful Christianity”, who taught us how to get over various crises and overcome conflicts, has given up his pastoral ministry so easily shouldn’t be a cause for happiness.

On St. Joseph the Hesychast, a Church Dedicated to Him, and Noetic Prayer

A Conversation with Archpriest Theodore Gignadze

David Tavartkiladze, Archpriest Theodore Gignadze

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

On St. Joseph the Hesychast, a Church Dedicated to Him, and Noetic Prayer

A Conversation with Archpriest Theodore Gignadze

David Tavartkiladze, Archpriest Theodore Gignadze

“There are many wonderful elders from the twentieth century. St. Joseph stands out among them by his productivity, if I can express it that way. I often say that he is the most productive saint of the twentieth century from the point of view of his fruits.”

Spiritual Housekeeping

The Reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (16:13-24)

Fr. James Guirguis

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Spiritual Housekeeping

The Reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (16:13-24)

Fr. James Guirguis

What does St. Paul mean when he says “Be watchful”? We can often study other parts of Holy Scripture in order to illumine the meaning of hard to grasp phrases. In particular we should hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the gospel according to Matthew the Lord Jesus says “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Do All Religions Share Faith in One God?

Professor Alexei Osipov

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Orthodoxy Today

Do All Religions Share Faith in One God?

Professor Alexei Osipov

Some terrible virus has stormed into the world and crippled it! It brings to mind the Biblical tree of knowledge of good and evil and its fruit, which God forbade the first humans to eat so that they wouldn’t die. Many commentators consider the idea of the tree as nothing other than the erosion in the mind of man of the distinction between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, truth and lies.

Russky Island and Its Inhabitants

A Talk with the Abbot of St. Seraphim’s Monastery

Abbot Clement (Krivonosov)

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Orthodoxy Today

Russky Island and Its Inhabitants

A Talk with the Abbot of St. Seraphim’s Monastery

Abbot Clement (Krivonosov)

Igumen Clement (Krivonosov), the abbot of St. Seraphim’s Monastery on Russky island in the Sea of Japan, shares with us his thoughts on neophytes with a quarter of a century of experience, the border between individuality and selfhood, modern monks and Patericons, and many other interesting and important things.

Venerable Ebba, Abbess of Coldingham

Commemorated August 25/September 7 (repose) and November 2/15 (translation of relics)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Venerable Ebba, Abbess of Coldingham

Commemorated August 25/September 7 (repose) and November 2/15 (translation of relics)

It is regrettable that only a few facts about the life of this great abbess who was venerated all over Scotland and northern England and esteemed by the Venerable Bede are known. Now that the interest in this holy woman is increasing among the Orthodox, let us recall her biography.