Thursday, September 8/21, 2023. 16th Week after Pentecost.
No fast.

Совершается служба великому праздникуThe Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

Sts. Ioane (Maisuradze), archimandrite (1957), and Giorgi- Ioane (Mkheidze), schema-archimandrite (1962), confessors, of Georgia. St. Serapion, monk of Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov) (1481). St. Lucian, abbot, of Alexandrov (1654).

New Martyr Alexander Jacobson, at Solovki (1930).

Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos: Syamsk (1524), Glinsk (16th c.), Lukianov (16th c.), and Isaakov (1659). Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos: “Kursk Root” (1295), Pochaev (1559), Domnitsk (1696), Kholmsk (1st c.), and Lesna (1696).

St. Ina, King of Wessex, and his wife Queen Ethelburga (8th c.). New Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonica (1774). St. Sophronius of Achtalea in Georgia, bishop (1803).

Repose of Archbishop Dionysius of Ufa (1896), Elder Daniel of Katounakia, Mt. Athos (1929), and Priest Dimitrie Bejan of Romania (1995).

See the full calendar
Media Review
Photogalleries
  • The Kiev Caves Lavra, the Monastery of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius
  • A Week Filled With Prayer and Grace
  • Summer in Diveyevo
  • The “Royal Days” Cross Procession in Ekaterinburg
  • Photogallery: The Church that encompasses the whole world encompasses also this and every place
  • Forgotten Russian Architecture in Drawings by Vladimir Orlov
  • Monastic Tonsures at the Kiev Caves Lavra
  • Springtime Rus’
  • Heavenly Peace—a Photo-Poem of Valaam Island
  • Christmas in Sofia. The Church of St. Sophia

The Nativity of the Mother of God

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To Save a Baby for Eternity. A Real Story

Priest Valery Dukhanin

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Marriage and Family

To Save a Baby for Eternity. A Real Story

Priest Valery Dukhanin

God calls parents to become like the guardian-angels of their children—that is, to protect them from sin and nourish them with the life-giving dew of the Holy Spirit. Let’s think seriously about how much is entrusted to us. So much that it is terrifying.

Ascetic of the Russian North

Anastasia Vysotenko

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Ascetic of the Russian North

Anastasia Vysotenko

In August 1937, the ascetic was denounced, arrested, and charged with “active counter-revolutionary activity and spreading rumors about the imminent collapse of the collective farm system and Soviet power.”

Nikolai Grigoryevich Grigoriev

Alina Sergeichuk

587 0
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Nikolai Grigoryevich Grigoriev

Alina Sergeichuk

The authorities did not kill Nikolai Grigorievich, who by then was already seventy-five years old. But the fate prepared for him was even harder than quick death.

On the Greatest Commandment

Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov

551 0
Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

On the Greatest Commandment

Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov

The Lord appeals to everyone because everyone is endowed with freedom, and with God’s help can do anything.

Prophet and God-Seer Moses: Love and Responsibility

Priest Roman Savchuk

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Prophet and God-Seer Moses: Love and Responsibility

Priest Roman Savchuk

The Lord appears in the thunderous brilliance of His glory, but He appears in order to hear the voice of a man, in order to answer him.

Two New Saints

1 557 1
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Two New Saints

The faithful have passed down the stories of these two priests and they remain alive in the memory of Antioch because "their blood has attested that the Holy Spirit is in them and because though love they have transcended the barrier of the earthly body and become figures of light."

Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac. Part 2, Metropolitan Petar of Dabar-Bosnia

432 1
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac. Part 2, Metropolitan Petar of Dabar-Bosnia

On April 27, 1941, a German patrol of six officers and soldiers broke into the metropolitan’s office. One of the Nazis asked the martyr, “Are you the metropolitan who called for war against Germany? You deserve to die.”

Elder Justin (Pârvu) on the Spiritual Life in Our Days

Archimandrite Justin (Parvu)

1 864 0
Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Elder Justin (Pârvu) on the Spiritual Life in Our Days

Archimandrite Justin (Parvu)

Unlike other times, God will allow the enemy to touch the soul; it will be more of a psychological torture and you won’t be able to hide even in the crevices of the earth.

Church New Year

Commemorated on September 1

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Rating: 4.3|Votes: 3

Church New Year

Commemorated on September 1

The first day of the Church New Year is also called the beginning of the Indiction. The term Indiction comes from a Latin word meaning, “to impose.”

The Kiev Caves Lavra, the Monastery of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius

PHOTO GALLERY

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Churches and Monasteries

The Kiev Caves Lavra, the Monastery of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius

PHOTO GALLERY

On the right bank of the Dnieper River, the unsurpassed Kiev-Pechersk Lavra shines from afar, in the Pechersk district of Kiev, which is the oldest district of the capital.

Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac

Commemoration: August 31/September 13

701 1
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Jasenovac

Commemoration: August 31/September 13

Looking at his tormentor peacefully, the blessed martyr said quietly but distinctly: “Do your job, child.”

The Placing of the Honorable Cincture of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Chalcopratian Church

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Placing of the Honorable Cincture of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Chalcopratian Church

The holy relic exudes a sweet fragrance, and numerous miracles are wrought from it.

The Birthplace of St. Silouan the Athonite: The Parish of the Nativity of Christ in the Village of Shovskoye Today

Priest Andrei Zadorozhny

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Birthplace of St. Silouan the Athonite: The Parish of the Nativity of Christ in the Village of Shovskoye Today

Priest Andrei Zadorozhny

By word of mouth the villagers passed on stories of how, when they were children, they ran to a kind monk who used to tell them about God.

In Times of Tribulation, He Will Be Our Only Protection If Only We Remain Faithful to Him

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

In Times of Tribulation, He Will Be Our Only Protection If Only We Remain Faithful to Him

Nothing happens in this world without God, and we must acknowledge this before all else.

Living by Truth

The Beheading of the Prophet John the Forerunner

Bishop Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky)

396 1
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Living by Truth

The Beheading of the Prophet John the Forerunner

Bishop Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky)

The great righteous one reminds us that love for God is inseparable from standing in the truth.

Means of Achieving the Virtues

On the Importance of the Virtues for Attaining Salvation, Part 2

Priest Alexei Veretelnikov

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Means of Achieving the Virtues

On the Importance of the Virtues for Attaining Salvation, Part 2

Priest Alexei Veretelnikov

In his works, St. Stephan attaches great significance to the importance and necessity of prayer in the work of the salvation of the soul. The labor of prayer is necessary for freeing oneself from the authority of the devil and reaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Prayer is the core and breath of the spiritual life.

Sermon on the Fourteenth Week After Pentecost, On the Wedding Feast

Archpriest Maxim Kozlov

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Sermon on the Fourteenth Week After Pentecost, On the Wedding Feast

Archpriest Maxim Kozlov

Today’s Gospel is a reminder of the possibility for everyone through a response to enter the Kingdom of God, the beginning of which here on Earth is the Church. It is a reminder that no matter what riffraff you belong to or what has accumulated in your life, you are still invited. There is only one condition—to see yourself inwardly as you truly are, disagree with this state, and turn to God with supplication in order to rise and walk towards Heaven.

How the Royal Martyrs Brought a Future Priest to Reason

Archpriest Gennady Shkil

718 2
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

How the Royal Martyrs Brought a Future Priest to Reason

Archpriest Gennady Shkil

So the Royal Family gave us an example, that we must always be with the Lord—no matter what may happen, no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in. And we must always be ready to suffer not only for Christ’s sake, but also for the sake of our neighbor.

On the Importance of the Virtues for Attaining Salvation, Part 1

Priest Alexei Veretelnikov

945 2
Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

On the Importance of the Virtues for Attaining Salvation, Part 1

Priest Alexei Veretelnikov

The general Patristic approach to battling with specific sinful passions includes not only the desire to cut off the occasions for a passion to emerge, but also forcing oneself to plant the opposing virtue in his soul.

The Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

26 August 26/September 8

403 1
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

26 August 26/September 8

In the summer of 1395, there was an event that left a profound impression on the spiritual and historical life of the Russian people, and which became forever an example of faith and hope in God’s Providence and in the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Review: On The Reception of the Heterodox into the Orthodox Church: The Patristic Consensus and Criteria

Archpriest John Whiteford

1 723 6
Orthodoxy Today

Review: On The Reception of the Heterodox into the Orthodox Church: The Patristic Consensus and Criteria

Archpriest John Whiteford

The book makes a compelling case for why the reception of converts by baptism should be the norm, especially in our time, and given that few non-Orthodox Christians baptize by a triple immersion.

Instructions for Salvation

Metropolitan Luke’s Wartime Notes

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol

711 0
Orthodoxy Today

Instructions for Salvation

Metropolitan Luke’s Wartime Notes

Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye and Melitopol

No matter what lofty gifts a person may have been worthy of, no matter what heights of theology he has reached, no matter what ascetical labors he has performed, if all of this has not brought him to love, then all his labors were in vain.

The Christian Duty of Serving the Fatherland. The Christian View of War

Moral Theology, Chapter 24

Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

1 129 13
Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

The Christian Duty of Serving the Fatherland. The Christian View of War

Moral Theology, Chapter 24

Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

Of course, war in and of itself is an unconditional evil, an extremely and deeply antithetical to the very basis of Christianity. It is not necessary to mention how comforting it would be if people stopped fighting each other and if peace would become established on earth. But sad reality says something completely different.

A Day in the Life of a Valaam Tour Guide

Anna Vlasova

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Churches and Monasteries

A Day in the Life of a Valaam Tour Guide

Anna Vlasova

Quickly! Up the stone staircase to the heavens, to the bells! Filling the vast spaces of Valaam with the joyful ringing, the tour guides were in no hurry to descend, but wrapped in their jackets and hoods they happily smiled, standing under the bells in the cold, penetrating wind.

By the Path of Humility

Archimandrite Job (Gumerov)

895 0
Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

By the Path of Humility

Archimandrite Job (Gumerov)

Humility is a state of mind freed from passions. It manifests itself in relation to God, people and yourself. Neither the world with its temptations, nor the flesh, nor the love of glory, nor jealousy, nor envy make a humble person a captive.

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