Orthodox Christianity

Wednesday, July 2/15, 2026. 7th Week after Pentecost. Fast Day.

Wine and oil allowed.

The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae (5th c.).

St. Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem (ca. 458). St. Photius, metropolitan of Kiev (1431).

Uncovering of the relics of New Hieromartyr Sergius Florinsky, priest of Rakvere, Estonia (2003).

Icon of the Mother of God of Theodotiev (1487). Icon of the Mother of God of Pozhai (XVII). Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of Akhtyra” (1739) and “The Root of Jesse”.

Martyrs Paul, Bilonus, Theonas, and Heron, at Thessalonica (3rd-4th c.). St. Monegunde of Chartres (Gaul) (530). St. Swithun, bishop and wonderworker of Winchester (862). St. Basil, patriarch of Jerusalem (836 or 838). Right-believing King Stephen the Great, of Moldavia (1504). Hieromartyr Juvenaly of Alaska, protomartyr of America (1796). New Martyr Lampros of Makri in Thrace (1835).

Repose of Archimandrite Lawrence of the Iveron-Valdai Monastery (1876) and Elder Zachariah, schema-archimandrite of St. Sergius Lavra (1936).

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Ukrainian Church Crisis

The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God at Blachernae

The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God at Blachernae Commemorated on July 2/15 The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God at Blachernae Commemorated on July 2/15 After serving an all-night Vigil, and taking it out from the Blachernae church, the sacred Robe of the Mother of God was carried in a procession around the city walls. Its edge was dipped into the waters of the Bosphorus, and it was then carried to the center of Constantinople to the church of Hagia Sophia. The Mother of God protected the city and turned back the Russian warriors. An honorable truce was concluded, and the siege of Constantinople was lifted.

The “Nice Jesus”: How “Flower Children” Searched for Paradise and Found The True Faith

The “Nice Jesus”: How “Flower Children” Searched for Paradise and Found The True Faith Alexander Kuznetsov The “Nice Jesus”: How “Flower Children” Searched for Paradise and Found The True Faith Alexander Kuznetsov Surprisingly, the path of Soviet hippies to the Church often began with the image of the “nice Jesus” brought from the West through records, samizdat magazines, and rare books.

AI and the Defence of Inner Spaces

AI and the Defence of Inner Spaces Rev. Dr. Oliver Subotic AI and the Defence of Inner Spaces Rev. Dr. Oliver Subotic Should contemporary humanity suffer defeat on these three fronts—those directed towards attention, emotions, and identity—the way would be opened for a mental capitulation, ultimately embodied in the acceptance of the ideology of transhumanism.

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Publications

The Experience of Spiritual Life of St. Paisios the Hagiorite. Part 2.

Archpriest Sergei Tishkun

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Experience of Spiritual Life of St. Paisios the Hagiorite. Part 2.

Archpriest Sergei Tishkun

The saint would often come to Bedouins’ homes at night, quietly leaving provisions and clothes at their doors. He was a St. Nicholas not only for Bedouins, but also for those living close to him.

From the Apostles of the Time of Christ to the Apostles of the Twenty-First Century

Sermon on the feast of the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

Hieromonk Agafangel (Davlatov)

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

From the Apostles of the Time of Christ to the Apostles of the Twenty-First Century

Sermon on the feast of the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

Hieromonk Agafangel (Davlatov)

So as not to feel so ashamed when looking at the icon of the apostles and to have hope and confidence of being shown mercy at the Last Judgment, we need to meet God within us in the same way as the apostles met Him.

Take Heart!

Fr. James Guirguis

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Take Heart!

Fr. James Guirguis

In God’s truth we see who we are and what we are.

The Apostles of Faith

Sermon on the feast of the Chief Apostles Peter and Paul

Hieromonk Sebastian (Kuznetsov)

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Apostles of Faith

Sermon on the feast of the Chief Apostles Peter and Paul

Hieromonk Sebastian (Kuznetsov)

In our deceitful times, let us keep the faith pure, as the Apostles Peter and Paul and other disciples of Christ preached it to us.

The Experience of Spiritual Life of St. Paisios the Hagiorite. Part 1

Archpriest Sergei Tishkun

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Experience of Spiritual Life of St. Paisios the Hagiorite. Part 1

Archpriest Sergei Tishkun

At the age of fifteen, Arsenios was vouchsafed a miraculous appearance of the Savior. After that event, Arsenios began to struggle even more zealously. Whenever someone wanted to marry him off to some lady, he strongly objected: “No, I will be a monk! I am not for this world.”

“Once you leave, everything feels fake.” An Orthodox Blogger in the Donbas

Part 3 of an interview with Conrad Franz

Churches and Monasteries

“Once you leave, everything feels fake.” An Orthodox Blogger in the Donbas

Part 3 of an interview with Conrad Franz

Orthodox blogger Conrad Franz tells us about his trip to the Donbas—what he saw with his own eyes and heard with his own ears.

Inconvenient People

A Sermon on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov)

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Inconvenient People

A Sermon on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov)

People are telling the truth, and they are persecuted for it. But when they die, after a while, people start saying that they are holy people

The Convent of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in the Village of Borisovka

Churches and Monasteries

The Convent of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in the Village of Borisovka

Returning from Poltava after the victory, Peter the Great en route called in on his associate and friend at the Borisovka estate in the Kursk province and stayed there for six weeks. There Sheremetev revealed to the Emperor his heart’s desire to build a convent.

We Haven’t Been Orphaned…

Memories of His Holiness Patriarch Ilia II

Konstantin Tsertsvadze

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

We Haven’t Been Orphaned…

Memories of His Holiness Patriarch Ilia II

Konstantin Tsertsvadze

This was the answer! A living, instantaneous answer to my prayers from His Holiness. All my life I had dreamed of simply being near him, to at least catch a glimpse of him… And now he left me a guardian at his tomb!

On Finding Your Other Half

Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Rating: 8.4|Votes: 25

On Finding Your Other Half

Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov

In order not to fall for stereotypes and not lose that one and only person, one must not be carried away, as King Solomon teaches us, by external good looks, elegant facial features and figure, and not walk on the leash of the lust of the eyes. Goats, mules, and rams are distinguished by this not so clever art. The ability to see the personality itself, the traits and qualities of the soul is a rare capability amongst the young, who are more inclined to get carried away than older people made wise by experience.

A General Cleaning of The Universe, or How Natalia Cleansed Her Karma

Priest Leonid Bartkov

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

A General Cleaning of The Universe, or How Natalia Cleansed Her Karma

Priest Leonid Bartkov

“What is it that you’d like to confess?” - “Well, I think I need to cleanse my karma. Lately my financial flow has been blocked, and my love life has completely stagnated. Could you perform an exorcism?”

Sermon on the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Hieromonk Philofei (Makharramov)

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Sermon on the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Hieromonk Philofei (Makharramov)

His life was very hard and even brutal. He wore clothing woven from camel’s hair, which was very rough and uncomfortable, ate locusts and wild honey, lived in the wilderness, and died a martyr’s death, suffering for the truth—the holy Forerunner was beheaded.

St. Elizabeth Convent, Minsk

A Walk Through the Belarusian Capital

Dmitry Kiryukhin

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Churches and Monasteries

St. Elizabeth Convent, Minsk

A Walk Through the Belarusian Capital

Dmitry Kiryukhin

St. Elizabeth Convent in Minsk was founded in 1999 on a site where no churches had previously stood. It is dedicated to the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess St. Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Is Demonic Possession Real?

Fr. James Guirguis

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Is Demonic Possession Real?

Fr. James Guirguis

It is sometimes glamorized in horror movies as well as in pop culture but possession is a serious and very real phenomenon and nothing to take lightly.

How Men Become the Living Dead

Homily on the fifth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gadarene Demonaic—Matthew 8:28-9:1

Hieromonk Paul (Shcherbachev)

0 3

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Rating: 9.5|Votes: 36

How Men Become the Living Dead

Homily on the fifth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gadarene Demonaic—Matthew 8:28-9:1

Hieromonk Paul (Shcherbachev)

Elder Kirill said to her, “My dear, let’s have a look at what’s in the envelope.” “No!” she said. “Under no circumstances! That healer told me that as soon as I open the envelope I’ll die.”

A Candle in Church: Memory, Prayer or Magic?

Priest Leonid Bartkov

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

A Candle in Church: Memory, Prayer or Magic?

Priest Leonid Bartkov

A candle is not a “payment” for the fulfillment of a wish. It is a visible sign of the invisible movement of the soul.

Cherishing the Bond: Why Are Family Crises Only Resolved within the Family?

Priest Leonid Bartkov

Marriage and Family

Cherishing the Bond: Why Are Family Crises Only Resolved within the Family?

Priest Leonid Bartkov

A family crisis is not a broken machine that needs to be repaired by a neighbor. It is a surgical procedure that God performs on your souls

The First Russian Saints: Inna, Pinna and Rimma

Nikolai Solntsev

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The First Russian Saints: Inna, Pinna and Rimma

Nikolai Solntsev

To glorify the first national saints and pray to them is our duty and honor.

A Righteous Man of the Twentieth Century

Reminiscences of St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco

Archpriest Valery Lukianov

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

A Righteous Man of the Twentieth Century

Reminiscences of St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco

Archpriest Valery Lukianov

There he stands—a righteous man of our own times, a true non-possessor, seeking no glory in the dignity of the episcopate, aspiring neither to honors nor to splendid vestments; a good shepherd, ever the first to set an example of loving care for his neighbor; an intercessor before God for mankind, through whom many received healing and the fulfillment of their hopes.

“We Children Felt Light and Joyful with Vladyka”

Remembrances of one of St. John’s (Maximovitch’s) orphans

Tatiana Kennedy (Urusova)

Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

“We Children Felt Light and Joyful with Vladyka”

Remembrances of one of St. John’s (Maximovitch’s) orphans

Tatiana Kennedy (Urusova)

Although he could be strict with us, we were drawn to Vladyka, and whenever we saw him walking through the city, we ran to him to receive his blessing.

The Slavery That Sets Us Free

Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko)

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

The Slavery That Sets Us Free

Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko)

Finally, never forget whose you are. We have been purchased at a great price—the Blood of the Crucified God.

How God Saved Us

Diary of a Prisoner of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Viktor Grigoryevich Bichikov

Church History

How God Saved Us

Diary of a Prisoner of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Viktor Grigoryevich Bichikov

We planted our own garden; we tied ropes to the plow, and mostly women pulled it instead of horses, while we children planted the potatoes.

Anaphylactic Shock

The Lord Heard My Prayer

Alexandra Gripas

Coming to Orthodoxy

Anaphylactic Shock

The Lord Heard My Prayer

Alexandra Gripas

It turned out that Sonya had found and disturbed a wasps’ nest. Several wasps immediately stung her in the head and arm. That it was very painful was only half of the trouble. What was worse that my daughter began to swell right before my eyes, and her arms, legs, and face grew enormously big.

Indelible Seal: Why God Remembers Us Even When We Forget About Him

Priest Leonid Bartkov

Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Indelible Seal: Why God Remembers Us Even When We Forget About Him

Priest Leonid Bartkov

Heaven bowed before us that day. God breathed eternity into your soul and called you by name. And this love has no statute of limitations.

Kosovo and Ukraine: Co-Martyrs for Canonical Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy Today

Kosovo and Ukraine: Co-Martyrs for Canonical Orthodoxy

A deep analysis of the current situation, the legal initiatives of the Kosovo government, and the international reaction demonstrates that the threats to the existence of the Serbian Church and Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija have acquired a systemic character.