Orthodox Christianity

Monday, February 5/18, 2019. Fast-free Week.

No fast.

Holy Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily (251). St. Theodosius, archbishop of Chernigov (1696).

New Martyrs Matushka Agatha (Agafia) (1938), and with her schemamonk Eugene (1939) and Righteous Paramon (1941), of Belorussia.

Icon of the Mother of God “Elets-Chernigov” (1060). Icon of the Mother of God “the Rescuer of the Drowning” (1092). Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Seeking of the Lost” (17th c.).

St. Theodosius of Skopelos in Cilicia (ca. 421). St. Avitus, bishop of Vienne (Gaul) (525). St. Polyeuctus, patriarch of Constantinople (970). New Martyr Anthony of Athens, at Constantinople (1774).

Repose of Metropolitan Michael (Jovanovich) of Serbia (1897), Valeriu Gafencu of Bessarabia, Romania (1952), and Abbess Agnia of Nizhni-Novgorod (1954).

See the full calendar

Ukrainian Church Crisis

False Spirituality or True Prayer?

False Spirituality or True Prayer? Fr. James Guirguis False Spirituality or True Prayer? The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke (18:10-14) Fr. James Guirguis For some strange reason people are now too busy for the church. They are too busy to hear the word of God, the word upon which the whole of western civilization was founded.

The Publican and the Pharisee on a Commuter Train

The Publican and the Pharisee on a Commuter Train Priest Dimitry Vydumkin The Publican and the Pharisee on a Commuter Train Priest Dimitry Vydumkin A malicious looking man sitting by the window in the back of the carriages—he looked like a scientist and wore a pair of glasses—suddenly burst out screaming at the tramp, “You, scumbag! You’re panhandling, asking for money! And I don’t have enough money to feed my family.

Witnessing Christ in a “Progressive” Country

Witnessing Christ in a “Progressive” Country Met. Tikhon (Mollard) Witnessing Christ in a “Progressive” Country An interview with Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America Metropolitan Tikhon (Mollard) I would say, broadly speaking, that the biggest issue revolves around the human person: “What is a human person?”

The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

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News

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Publications

The New Martyrs as the New Witnesses to the Eternal Truth

Russian pastors on how we can take part in the experience of the New Martyrs

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 10|Votes: 6

The New Martyrs as the New Witnesses to the Eternal Truth

Russian pastors on how we can take part in the experience of the New Martyrs

What was happening in Russia 100 years ago is often called “the little apocalypse”. Yet it was then that the models of confession of the faith—the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church—were given to us. But how can modern people, who are weak and spoiled, take part in their experience of standing firm in the faith?

Venerable Brigid, Abbess of Kildare

Commemorated: February 1/14

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 10|Votes: 3

Venerable Brigid, Abbess of Kildare

Commemorated: February 1/14

The most popular woman saint of Ireland, St. Brigid is ranked as the second patron of this land after St. Patrick.

Meeting of the Lord

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,5|Votes: 20

Meeting of the Lord

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

It’s our meeting with the Lord. It’s our personal feast of the Meeting of Lord in the Temple. We might have forgotten when it happened and under what circumstances, we may have no “icon” for this meeting, but if this day was in our life, if we had this meeting, it is for a reason.

“A True Christian Always Bears Fruit”

A sermon given in the Pskov-Caves Monastery on February 5, 2019, after the Liturgy on the anniversary of Archimandrite John (Krestiankin’s) repose

Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 10|Votes: 23

“A True Christian Always Bears Fruit”

A sermon given in the Pskov-Caves Monastery on February 5, 2019, after the Liturgy on the anniversary of Archimandrite John (Krestiankin’s) repose

Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov

Whether ill or healthy, tired after many hours of receiving hundreds of people day after day, or filled with strength after a brief rest in prayer, Fr. John was transformed when he heard God’s voice telling him that he must fill people, strengthen them with the fruits of his spiritual life.

Medicine for Condemnation

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Rating: 9,9|Votes: 35

Medicine for Condemnation

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

Condemnation is a very pleasant occupation for us. However, we must pay attention to this problem, because condemnation is a manifestation of our egotism. If we mercilessly and severely judge our brothers, that means we are full of egotism, and we must undertake serious spiritual work.

Eternal Present—The Martyrdom of the Romanov Royal Martyrs

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,6|Votes: 26

Eternal Present—The Martyrdom of the Romanov Royal Martyrs

The leaders of that sanguinary and bloodthirsty era, which did come about as Dostoevsky foresaw, indeed founded a kingdom of evil and terror in absolute contrast to the Heavenly Kingdom. Their atheistic and anti-Christian kingdom saw in the person of the Tsar and his family not any possible claimants to the throne, but the epitome of the Russian Orthodox state, the living symbol of the Orthodox Faith and the main defender of Orthodoxy on a worldwide basis.

Sacred Serbia

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Churches and Monasteries

Rating: 9,4|Votes: 31

Sacred Serbia

It would be difficult to express all my impressions of this “frontier” country, so I will provide only a brief summary of my “pilgrimage”.

Sermon for the Three Hierarchs

Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 6,9|Votes: 10

Sermon for the Three Hierarchs

Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer)

These three Saints not only had a profound knowledge of the deep mysteries of God but also were granted tremendous ability to elucidate these mysteries to us with utmost clarity, teaching us by their words and their deeds.

Russian Pastors on How We Should Preach Christ in Modern Society

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Coming to Orthodoxy

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 35

Russian Pastors on How We Should Preach Christ in Modern Society

It is crystal clear that our society is infected with a shortage of love. I think that our contemporaries, choked up in the general atmosphere of enmity (because of the lack of love), above all expect love from the Church. That is why above all we should tell those on the outside that God is love.

Artist Dmitry Nechitailo. Selected Works

Dmitry Nechitaylo

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Orthodoxy Around the World

Rating: 9,6|Votes: 24

Artist Dmitry Nechitailo. Selected Works

Dmitry Nechitaylo

Dmitry Vasilievich Nechitailo is a noted artist of Russia and member of the Russian Writer’s Union.

Zacchaeus

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Rating: 8,5|Votes: 13

Zacchaeus

Christ is thus not converting him from sinner to saint, but revealing the diamond that was hidden beneath the dirt the people had dumped on him.

The Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 24

The Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)

The heroism of the holy new martyrs and confessors is a spiritual treasure to be carefully preserved and revered by our Church. We do not know what times await us ahead.

The Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Archbishop Mark (Arndt)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 20

The Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

Archbishop Mark (Arndt)

Martyrdom is the same thing as Christianity. These two words have the same meaning.

“Turn Your Home Into Heaven”

On one of St. John Chrysostom’s maxims

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,8|Votes: 45

“Turn Your Home Into Heaven”

On one of St. John Chrysostom’s maxims

That’s the task. To arrange your family life so that it is just like the life of heaven, to make your apartment be like the paradise.

The heart that is filled with anger cannot receive the Holy Spirit!

Spiritual Wisdom from Elder Proclu

Monk Proclu (Nicău)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,6|Votes: 36

The heart that is filled with anger cannot receive the Holy Spirit!

Spiritual Wisdom from Elder Proclu

Monk Proclu (Nicău)

The Holy Spirit helps when we bear no evil against anyone.

“Hear the Lamentations of the Faithful”

An Open Letter of Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol to His Holiness Catholics-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol

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Orthodoxy Today

Rating: 9,5|Votes: 44

“Hear the Lamentations of the Faithful”

An Open Letter of Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol to His Holiness Catholics-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol

The apotheosis of this lawlessness was the formation of the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on the basis of structures that had fallen away from the Mother Church, whose autocephaly the Patriarchate of Constantinople single-handedly established by issuing a tomos.

“Elder Gabriel Appeared to Me in a Dream”

A talk with Maria Pukhova, the author of the akathist hymn to St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)

Irina Akhundova, Maria Pukhova

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 10|Votes: 28

“Elder Gabriel Appeared to Me in a Dream”

A talk with Maria Pukhova, the author of the akathist hymn to St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)

Irina Akhundova, Maria Pukhova

I felt Fr. Gabriel’s help in everything, from editing and formatting to preparing the cover and layout of the book. It is the most complete edition dedicated to Elder Gabriel to date: It contains a detailed biography, instructions, prophecies, and numerous examples of the holy man’s miracles.

Comments on the Archons’ Town Hall Meeting on Ukrainian Autocephaly

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Orthodoxy Today

Rating: 8,9|Votes: 31

Comments on the Archons’ Town Hall Meeting on Ukrainian Autocephaly

The Archons are Patriarch Bartholomew’s PR arm and fundraisers and few expected anything new from this meeting—the right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to intervene in any Church situation anywhere, any time would be asserted again with little real engagement of the serious issues involved in every aspect of the current Church crisis in Ukraine and Constantinople’s role in it.

A Serene Gaze into Heaven

On the Exhibition of Paintings by the Reposed Archpriest Alexey Novikov (+2018)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 10|Votes: 27

A Serene Gaze into Heaven

On the Exhibition of Paintings by the Reposed Archpriest Alexey Novikov (+2018)

In my opinion, one of the strongest feelings aroused in the hearts of the visitors standing in front of his works is peace.

Miraculous Help From St. Xenia of St. Petersburg In Our Days

Letters from the editor’s mail at Pravoslavie.ru

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,5|Votes: 65

Miraculous Help From St. Xenia of St. Petersburg In Our Days

Letters from the editor’s mail at Pravoslavie.ru

On the eve of commemoration day of Blessed Xenia, we asked our readers to share their stories about the saint’s miraculous help.

Ten Years as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

A Photo Chronicle

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Orthodoxy Today

Rating: 8,1|Votes: 53

Ten Years as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

A Photo Chronicle

A festal Liturgy was celebrated at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral with his guests— primates and representatives from ten other Local Churches and the autonomous and self-governing bodies of the Moscow Patriarchate and a host of hierarchs from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Saints of Scotland

Monk Nicodemus (Jones)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 37

The Saints of Scotland

Monk Nicodemus (Jones)

These were men and women who deliberately went into solitude to enter into open spiritual combat with demons after many years of repentance, patience, and humility, being prepared in spirit by the grace of God for such labors.

Natalia Velikanova: “He Was the Noblest Man I Have Ever Met”

Yuri Pushchaev, Natalia Velikanova

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 9,7|Votes: 35

Natalia Velikanova: “He Was the Noblest Man I Have Ever Met”

Yuri Pushchaev, Natalia Velikanova

January 24, 2019, was the first anniversary since George Velikanov saved at the cost of his own life a homeless man from death under the wheels of a suburban train. This real podvig astonished everyone and reminded all of us what genuine Christianity is about.

“They Will Suffer a Shameful End”: How St. Laurence of Chernigov (1868-1950) Foretold the End of the Current Reign of Satan in Washington, Kiev and Istanbul

St. Laurence of Chernigov

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Orthodoxy Today

Rating: 8,5|Votes: 72

“They Will Suffer a Shameful End”: How St. Laurence of Chernigov (1868-1950) Foretold the End of the Current Reign of Satan in Washington, Kiev and Istanbul

St. Laurence of Chernigov

“To break away from the Church is the greatest and unforgiveable sin, for it is the sin against the Holy Spirit.”

The Blind Beggar Receives His Sight: Homily for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Rating: 9,9|Votes: 13

The Blind Beggar Receives His Sight: Homily for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

It’s not a time to be in a drunken stupor or to be lulled into complacency in any other way, but instead to be alert and focused so that we won’t be lulled back into the darkness.