Orthodox Christianity

Saturday, February 21/March 6, 2021. Commemoration of the Dead.

No fast.

St. Timothy of Symbola on Mt. Olympus in Bithynia (795). St. Eustathius, archbishop of Antioch (337).

St. George, bishop of Amastris (802-811). St. Macarius, hieroschemamonk of Glinsk Hermitage (1864).

New Hieromartyr Constantine Pyatikrestovsky, archpriest, of Dmitrov (1938).

“Kozelshchanskaya” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (1881).

Hieromartyr Severian, bishop of Scythopolis (452). St. John the Scholastic, patriarch of Constantinople (577). St. Zachariah, patriarch of Jerusalem (633).

Repose of Blessed Simon (Todorsky), bishop of Pskov (1754).

See the full calendar

Ukrainian Church Crisis

“The Most Important Thing is to Maintain Warmth in Your Communication with Teenagers”

“The Most Important Thing is to Maintain Warmth in Your Communication with Teenagers” A talk with Priest Dimitry Shishkin “The Most Important Thing is to Maintain Warmth in Your Communication with Teenagers” A talk with Priest Dimitry Shishkin Priest Dimitry Shishkin The week of the Prodigal Son is a good opportunity to talk about the difficulties faced by parents’ communication with teenagers.

Public Opinion, and How the Father Ran Out to Meet a Chinese Official

Public Opinion, and How the Father Ran Out to Meet a Chinese Official Met. Tikhon (Shevkunov) Public Opinion, and How the Father Ran Out to Meet a Chinese Official Sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, February 28, 2021, Sretensky Monastery Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Pskov and Porkhov The translator phones me from the gates. Now, how long does it take to walk from the gates to the abbot’s quarters? Perhaps about five minutes. Five minutes went by and they had not arrived, then ten, then fifty. What happened? Then our Russian Zhenia and the Chinese man appeared with eyes wide open, absolutely astounded.

Entering Great Lent

Entering Great Lent Archpriest Victor Potapov Entering Great Lent Archpriest Victor Potapov Why do we call the time of Great Lent a time of bright sorrow?

Saturday of the Commemoration of the Dead

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Find Restoration as a Beloved Child of God This Lent : Homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Find Restoration as a Beloved Child of God This Lent : Homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

As we prepare for Lent, we must remember that our life in Christ is never about getting what we deserve, but concerns entering by grace into the joy of the Savior’s victory over sin and death through His glorious resurrection.

By the Rivers of Babylon: Commentary on Psalm 136

Professor Larisa Marsheva, Peter Gramatik

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Education

By the Rivers of Babylon: Commentary on Psalm 136

Professor Larisa Marsheva, Peter Gramatik

From its very first verses, the hymn “By the Rivers of Babylon” reveals the whole meaning of Great Lent. We are in captivity to sin—“by the rivers of Babylon.” Like the Jews, we have to lay mirth aside and reflect upon our sins and remember Zion—the Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Jerusalem.

A Miracle on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Priest Dionisy Kamenshchikov

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Coming to Orthodoxy

A Miracle on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Priest Dionisy Kamenshchikov

This is the story of how, on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, the Lord gathered this family together in His church: a happy mother, whose child was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. The younger daughter, who returned to her father’s house from a far country, and the older sister, who realized the ugliness of her behavior.

The Prodigal Son on the Path to Great Lent

Sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Priest Ioannis Fortomas

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

The Prodigal Son on the Path to Great Lent

Sermon on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Priest Ioannis Fortomas

We seem to repeatedly flow from one pattern into the other. These are the passions—they nag at us, they work within us, they pull us in a certain direction; and we must not think that repentance is a magical aﬀair. Of course, the Father accepts us into the former glory, but does this preclude our return to that far oﬀ country of sin and death?

On True Christian Freedom

St. Mardarije (Uskoković)

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Church History

On True Christian Freedom

St. Mardarije (Uskoković)

The Russian people, like all of humanity, have long craved freedom and don’t want to understand that no freedom is possible without the discipline of love, when out of love for goodness and your fellow man, in the light of this holy love for goodness, you don’t want to do evil and are even able to enjoy unlimited freedom without abusing it.

A Saint in a Beerhouse

New reminiscences of Venerable Elder Gabriel (Urgebadze)

Constantine Tsertsvadze

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

A Saint in a Beerhouse

New reminiscences of Venerable Elder Gabriel (Urgebadze)

Constantine Tsertsvadze

At some point he drew close to me, looked right into my eyes and said: “Revaz, burn what you have here, in your pocket!” And what I had in my pocket was a suicide note, written a few hours before, in which I said good-bye to my family.

The Price of an Embrace

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

The Price of an Embrace

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

There they are—the “Father’s embrace”. Hands pierced with nails, fixed to the Cross, Blood streaming to the ground. Arms ready to embrace the whole world, and embracing the whole world.

How Do Christians Explain That Baptism Is Vital?

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

How Do Christians Explain That Baptism Is Vital?

Baptism is the first Church sacrament that a person who comes to believe in Christ encounters. A baptized person becomes a Church member and gets the opportunity to be in contact with God and receive His grace. But why is all of this possible only on condition of Baptism?

Why Don't Miracles Happen to Everybody?

Metropolitan Nektarios (Antonopoulos)

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Why Don't Miracles Happen to Everybody?

Metropolitan Nektarios (Antonopoulos)

How many sick people and their relatives entreat God and the saints with faith for healing! But we don’t always see miracles happening to them! Why is that?

“Visit me at my grave, and I will help you”

Miracles of Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

“Visit me at my grave, and I will help you”

Miracles of Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev)

The Bulgarians know of “Grandpa Vladyka Seraphim” not as a theologian, but more as an ascetic of piety and saint whom God bestowed with the abundant grace of performing miracles.

Homily on the Day of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God

Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Homily on the Day of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God

Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky)

How wondrous was the appearance of the Iveron icon of the Mother of God, and how it reminds us of her wondrous protection of the human race!

We Need a Humble Lent in These Troubled Times: Homily for the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

We Need a Humble Lent in These Troubled Times: Homily for the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican in the Orthodox Church

Fr. Philip LeMasters

The disruptions of what we think of as normal life in our society in the last year should open our eyes to the reality of what it means to be human persons in the world as we know it.

How to remain a Christian in the era of global digitalization

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Orthodoxy Today

How to remain a Christian in the era of global digitalization

Not only people’s private life, but their religious, cultural, familial, political, and social values are going under surveillance.

Hellenism in the Context of Christian History

Priest Ioannis Fortomas

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Church History

Hellenism in the Context of Christian History

Priest Ioannis Fortomas

The word “Hellenism” conveyed different concepts at different times throughout Christian history.

Elder Gabriel’s Test and Streaming Myrrh

A Pilgrimage Across Holy Rus’ Together with Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim. Part 2

Constantine Tsertsvadze

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Elder Gabriel’s Test and Streaming Myrrh

A Pilgrimage Across Holy Rus’ Together with Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim. Part 2

Constantine Tsertsvadze

It was not easy to drive through five borders, to endure many trials, to walk on foot between borders at the Three Sisters checkpoint at night… But we felt that Batiushka Gabriel was with us. He helped us and humbled us just as he did while he was yet alive.

Monk Gabriel’s Boys

A Pilgrimage Across Holy Rus’ Together with Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim. Part 1

Constantine Tsertsvadze

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

Monk Gabriel’s Boys

A Pilgrimage Across Holy Rus’ Together with Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim. Part 1

Constantine Tsertsvadze

And when they opened the trunk, one of the cops with a Caucasian accent said: “Brothers, you’re Monk Gabriel’s boys!” Immediately automatically answering, “Yes,” we blushed and were amazed at the same time. How could this cop know Elder Gabriel?

A Miracle of St. Simeon the God-Receiver

Nun Mariam (Yurchuk)

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

A Miracle of St. Simeon the God-Receiver

Nun Mariam (Yurchuk)

Rebecca was a diligent student, carefully studying the Old Testament books, Jewish traditions and way of life. One day, while interpreting Isaiah chapter 53, she had her first argument with a rabbi.

Two Roads Before Us

Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

St. Alexei Mechev

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

Two Roads Before Us

Homily on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

St. Alexei Mechev

The first path of earthly well-being is the path of destruction in eternal life; the second path, bitter and dark here, leads us to the source of light and truth.

For Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky talks about religious life in Benelux, and how he got around the pandemic restrictions. Part 2

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky

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Coming to Orthodoxy

For Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky talks about religious life in Benelux, and how he got around the pandemic restrictions. Part 2

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky

Our engaging talk with Fr. Alexander covered topics as varied as how a broken jaw helped him become a priest, what it is like to be ordained at the age of just twenty-one, his truck driver training course and the relationship with other truckers, continuing his ministry while at the wheel of his rig, his multi-cultural parish, the Orthodox children’s camp in Belgium, why Europeans fear death, the deserted Catholic churches in Europe, government assistance and the gift of the priesthood.

The Apostle Paul’s “Hymn of Love”

Archpriest Andrey Largus

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Homilies and Spiritual Instruction

The Apostle Paul’s “Hymn of Love”

Archpriest Andrey Largus

There are sixteen properties of love, each worthy of separate analysis, described in this chapter. Let’s consider them from the point of view of psychology, as far as that is permissible in relation to the Holy Apostle Paul’s Epistle.

A Priest is Always and Everywhere a Priest

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky talks about serving as a priest in Europe and his secular job as a long-haul truck driver. Part 1

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky

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Coming to Orthodoxy

A Priest is Always and Everywhere a Priest

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky talks about serving as a priest in Europe and his secular job as a long-haul truck driver. Part 1

Archpriest Alexander Yavorovsky

I am on my mission even while driving!

“The Grace of God Does Not Burn Out”

An interview with Priest George Maximov. Part 2: on modernism, pastor “burn-out”

Priest George Maximov

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Orthodoxy Today

“The Grace of God Does Not Burn Out”

An interview with Priest George Maximov. Part 2: on modernism, pastor “burn-out”

Priest George Maximov

Continuing on the theme of modernism, I want to mention why there is spiritual danger in it. Because a truncated, distorted Orthodox faith, a certain ersatz or stub of it—which the modernists propose rebuilding for themselves—is deprived of the power of grace.

St. Theodosius Of Chernigov

Commemorated February 5/18

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Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days

St. Theodosius Of Chernigov

Commemorated February 5/18

St Theodosius’ ascetic way of life and the secret help which he extends to all who raise up prayers to him bear witness to the grace-filled gifts he acquired.

“The greatness of a nation is in its righteousness”

An Interview with Priest George Maximov, Part 1: On young people, “protest Christianity”, the Church in our times, and the pandemic

Priest George Maximov

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Orthodoxy Today

“The greatness of a nation is in its righteousness”

An Interview with Priest George Maximov, Part 1: On young people, “protest Christianity”, the Church in our times, and the pandemic

Priest George Maximov

We talked with Fr. George Maximov on a range of subjects—from the crisis of faith in our young people to criticism of the Church by “experienced theologians” and pastor “burn-out”.

Why Are There No Elders Today?

An Interview with Archimandrite Antony (Guliashvili). Part 2

Archimandrite Antony (Guliashvili)

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Church History

Why Are There No Elders Today?

An Interview with Archimandrite Antony (Guliashvili). Part 2

Archimandrite Antony (Guliashvili)

Recently reposed Archimandrite Antony (Guliashvili) talks about eldership, punishment, his spiritual father, Archimandrite John (Krestiankin), and why Russia and Georgia are inseparable.