9/4/2012
Priest Dimitry Shishkin
This story makes me think over and again about our general carelessness in regard to spiritual and Church life.
The Lord says that it is not sorrows themselves that are terrible for a person, but the harm that they can cause to a relaxed and careless soul.
I want people to understand for whom they are fasting. The Dormition of the Mother of God is the Pascha of the Theotokos, and the fast is preparation for this Theotokion Pascha.
The week of the Prodigal Son is a good opportunity to talk about the difficulties faced by parents’ communication with teenagers.
But what happened after that not only defies description, but even ordinary human reason. Organized in the Crimea in 1920-21 was real, bloody slaughter.
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”.
The triumph of delirium—that’s what we are witnessing around the world now! This is a mockery of God’s creation—man! It is extremely important for us not to succumb to this mass delusion, especially given that we have been through it before.
Two extremes of the capitalist system switch sides and the oppressed become the oppressors or vice versa. That’s about it if speaking of “justice.” It is nothing but a devilish mockery of man and mankind.
Unlike laypeople, who can abstain from Communion if they are feeling insulted, a priest celebrating alone does not have that option—he has to celebrate the Liturgy anyway. Therefore, we asked some Orthodox pastors to tell us how we can eliminate the feeling of resentment as soon as possible.
What is Holy Rus’? Is it some historical/geographical concept that belongs to past eras or an ideal we are expected to strive for? Does Holy Rus’ exist today?
Perhaps our greatest tragedy is not in the absence of strong politicians but in the lack of saints, whose example could serve as a powerful reviving stimulus.
For a long time I doubted whether I should share this story or not. But our general negligence, coupled with a desire to lead a sinful and at the same time joyous and carefree life, prompted me to bring up the subject of the reality of the invisible, spiritual life and the need for a right attitude towards it, for the umpteenth time.
“My joy!”—thus St. Seraphim of Sarov tenderly greeted everyone who came to him.
Rating: 8.1|Votes: 20
Although the author of this article lives in a country that celebrates “International Women’s Day” in March, it is also apropos to the American tradition of Mother’s Day, celebrated in May. This year the Sunday of the Myrrbearers coincides with Mother’s Day, and we wish our readers who are mothers a happy one.
Rating: 9.7|Votes: 40
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.
Yuri Pushchaev
Rating: 8.4|Votes: 20
So should priests marry all who ask for it only because the engaged couple wants it? How can we bring home to newlyweds the importance and greatness of this holy sacrament?
Rating: 9.8|Votes: 36
I was walking and praying for that Tatar, imploring God to bring him to the true faith. And, amazed by his spiritual generosity and sensitivity, I was upset and distressed about many of my fellow-Russians’ indifference towards their own faith.
Rating: 9.4|Votes: 19
Lent is a time of conscious effort, which helps us acquire another view on the world—that which the Lord calls the Kingdom of God within us.
Rating: 10|Votes: 7
On the ledge over our balcony by the kitchen, a pair of pigeons has been living for a year now. That is, they appear there periodically, feeding from our household, and for them this has become a just as natural and inalienable part of their lives as flying, warbling, and making nests in the spring.
Rating: 10|Votes: 11
It is just the right time to have a rest. But do many people enjoy their vacations without any harm for their bodies and souls?
Priest Valery Dukhanin, Priest Dimitry Shishkin, Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov
Rating: 9|Votes: 7
The holy, right-believing Prince-Passion-bearers Boris and Gleb were the first saints to be canonized in Rus’. Despite this, many Christians, and especially in our time, do not understand the meaning of their podvig. And really, where is the virtue in being meekly killed? Deacon Valery Dukhanin, Fr. Dimitry Shishkin, and Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov speak about the meaning and importance of the podvig of the holy princes and the last Russian tsar.
Rating: 9.9|Votes: 36
What Christians should do in order not to “drown” in this sea of words which have become worthless?
Anna Erakhtina
Rating: 7.6|Votes: 14
In our time, many laypeople ask the question: Why should people of the twenty-first century act according to rules written by monks and for monks in deep antiquity? Why should they read monastic books in which there isn’t even a remote mention of the problems that we face today?
Rating: 6.8|Votes: 11
It is impossible to imagine a meaningful Christian life without a daily prayer rule. But what should this prayer rule be? How long or short, and consisting of which prayers? How can we prevent our daily prayer rule from becoming purely a formality? What should we pay particular attention to, and what mistakes should we avoid? And what is the most important thing in a prayer rule?
Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov, Priest Dimitry Shishkin
Rating: 9.8|Votes: 4
In the life of the Church there is much that is visible, yet mysterious, and completely inexplicable, because the ways of the Lord are unsearchable.
Rating: 10|Votes: 8
The main joy of the fast, strange as it sounds, consists in the possibility for our change and transformation. It is in the possibility to become something different.
In nearly every person’s biography—internal or external—there is something shameful, something terrible and torturous to remember, but which inevitably comes back to his memory and feelings him from time to time, poisoning his entire existence. Even if there be a person who self-contentedly announces that there never has been anything like that in his life, then most likely the memory of any shameful deeds and desires are simply eclipsed in him by his self-assurance, which cannot endure to admit his spiritual bankruptcy. But here is the question: Does the presence of dark moments in a person’s life mean that we can evaluate him through the prism of these facts, that we can view him as worthless?
Rating: 10|Votes: 4
We can’t say that our path is ideal; there has been much that is bitter and hard, and many mistakes were made. But there is nothing in this world that is ideal. The main thing about this path is that it is a search not only for the earthly, but for the heavenly. This is a very serious and important point. And it must be allowed that we are capable of making a deep analysis of our mistakes in order to avoid repeating them in the future.
