8/12/2020
Marilyn Swezey
The main and constant miracle was the effect presence of the icon on people in the who were uplifted, and sometimes just brought to a renewal of their faith.
Vladimir Krassovsky
Vladyka John transcends all ethnic boundaries, and he is recognized as a modern saint in all jurisdictions.
Simon Scionka
When they became Orthodox it was real for them. It was not forced, it made sense to them. As a people, they pass it down from generation to generation and continue to do so now.
Dmitry Zlodorev
As the icon has renewed itself, so we can also renew our soul, heart, and mind, our whole life.
Matushka Rose Legouté
We believe that God will reestablish His authority in Haiti. We have confidence that we will survive. We are praying for support from our friends so we can face this situation with their help.
Metropolitan Mark (Arndt)
We are under daily pressure from both sides, from the Israelis and the Palestinians. Christians have a very difficult life here.
I do not expect any justice from any court in Ukraine. It is a country that is totally steeped in the prosecution of Christians.
Mother Maria (Wall)
When you feel vulnerable, so unprotected and exposed and surrounded by evil, help can only come from God.
So, anyway, the film itself was just superior, and all of its production value, presentation, and subject matter are well put together.
While there are no Russian convents or churches in the conflict zone, the tragedy is almost knocking their door.
Fr. Silouan (Brown)
Ultimately, it is a very difficult calling to be a priest. So, the monastery is where we return to and recharge our batteries. It is the same way for everybody in many ways.
And before doing anything I would always think: “What will I say at Confession? How will I tell this to Christ?”
Fr. Joseph Farooq
In general, people in Pakistan respect Holy Orthodoxy, they love our traditions and appreciate our veneration of the holy icons and how we are serving the Divine Liturgy. All these things touch their hearts
Valeria Nollan
He was neither a priest nor a deacon, but Orthodoxy determined his whole life. At the same time, he remained a secular composer and pianist.
Archpriest George Larin
What should we ask of God; what should we expect from doctors? —Just say this prayer that the Lord gave us: “Thy will be done.”
Archimandrite Nektary (Haji-Petropoulos)
We know for sure that the United States does not accept Russian refugees, and it is very hard to get there from Mexico.
Archpriest Seraphim Gan
This is a story about love, obedience and humility – this is exactly how our Vladyka was remembered.
This is being sought by those who are ruled by the devil, and their goal is to destroy the spiritual bonds of the nation.
Bishop Theodosius of Seattle
We see how today the same thing is happening as at the dawn of Soviet rule, only with a greater kind of blasphemy, because they find time to mock at the graves of the Primates of the UOC.
Vladyka John experienced the joy of Pascha throughout his life—regardless of whether it was Lent or any other time.
Everything in our life has always been connected with the Church. This is where we spent all feasts and held meetings, where we brought our friends and acquaintances. This is the foundation of our Russian culture as a whole, so I can’t even imagine it without the Orthodox faith.
We met Lydia Petrovna at the home of her son, Yury Andreyevich, where she stays on weekends, and together they shared how, despite living all their life in the foreign lands, they still managed to keep their Russian culture and the Orthodox faith.
Helping people in need was simply in his blood. But this relationship to people had nothing to do with any weakness of character, of which some ill-wishers accused Vladyka.
Metropolitan Nikoloz (Pachuashvili)
We must always remember that we’re the Church of Christ, not the Church of the government.
Bishop Irenei (Steenberg)
In this interview, His Grace Bishop Irenei (Steenberg) of London and Western Europe speaks again about the recent Bishops’ Council that elected ROCOR’s new First Hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas, ROCOR’s relations with other jurisdictions, assistance to Ukrainian refugees, and more.
Archpriest Vladimir Boikov
It turns out that people from one little corner of the world are sending some assistance to another little corner of the world.
Archpriest Nikolai Artemov
Because that pain, blood, and death are the outstretched hands of Christ on the Cross. Christ’s labor was manifested clearly in the Garden of Gethsemane, when His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground; but it started much earlier than that, at the moment of His Nativity, or rather, even at conception.
This story characterizes Queen Elizabeth as a person. She reacted very humanly, and she was absolutely right. She was not Orthodox and not a “second Godmother” of the baby, so she couldn't actively participate in the service.
Fr. Nikolai spoke to Pravoslavie.ru about funneling the Bible and books by Solzhenitsyn behind the “Iron Curtain,” the tragedy in Munich, and how he realized that prayer soaks up blood and death.
Archbishop Gabriel (Chemodakov) of Montreal and Canada
We are going to commemorate the Patriarch as the head of the Church. His Holiness is a citizen of his country and has the right to express his position.
Archpriest Victor Potapov
We were assigned double rooms, and I ended up sharing a room with the future Vladyka Hilarion—known simply as Igor then.
For me, the past 15 years have been years of joy. And in the time that has passed since then, I have never regretted it.
Trust is safety, the feeling that the Lord is always with you—as long as you allow Him to be with you, within you, and as long as you allow Him to guide you through life.
Deciding to seek God’s will, I travelled to other countries and eventually ended up in Jordanville, where I hoped to join the brotherhood.
Head of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Mexico on faith, life and the mutual support of the community.
Alena Plavsic
Now the Mission comprises seven parishes and has around 3,000 members. They are all locals, Haitians.
In my opinion the pandemic did not affect Church life very much as such. Still, it did affect our flock.
My wife and I serve God and the people. Without her, I wouldn’t have any kind of success. I remember how Archpriest Vladimir Rodzianko said during a pre-marriage conversation with us just before our wedding that on the day of a man’s ordination to the priesthood, his wife is as if ordained along with him.
Sergei Sinelnik
To believe in people, you should set out on a long journey. That’s when you realize that not all is lost, because we still have so many caring and good people. You rejoice if once in a while you get to meet such “pearls.”
Sometimes there is nothing to say, since the crisis is difficult, and so prayers to St. Seraphim are suggested.
Sergei Kalfov
I knew many bishops, but he was completely different.
On a pilgrimage to Russia in 1988, Vladyka unofficially served one of the first panikhidas for Tsar Nicholas II and his family in the USSR. It happened right on the 70th anniversary of their murder in Ekaterinburg, which I heard about from Vladyka’s spiritual daughter Marilyn Swezey, who was with him on that pilgrimage. As she believes, the service became a kind of prologue to the glorification of the family and faithful servants of the last Tsar, which took place twelve years later.
Now I would like to share some of these wonderful letters of St. John of those years in order to honor the memory of this saint of God, through whose prayers and deeds we all came safely to the end of our refugee path.
He always fulfilled one of the most difficult commandments of God: to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us.
Abbot Tryphon (Parsons)
Although Abbot Tryphon (Parsons) had a tortuous journey towards Orthodoxy, which included a departure from Lutheranism, work as a psychologist, and a passion for Trotskyism, now the wise priest shares his experience with hundreds of his spiritual children who come to him for support and consolation.
Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral)
This year, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) is marking its centennial. His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of ROCOR, discusses what has been accomplished over the century and what challenges the Church faces today.
“Vladyka really loved the Kursk Icon. He explained many things to me that I didn’t understand as a child, but he never spoke about the icon with me,” Batiushka says. “I saw many icons in his room, a whole small iconostasis, but somehow I wasn’t even interested in which icons they were.”
During the recent Great Lent, one of the most senior protodeacons of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in the Unites States, Fr Joseph Jarostchuk, who last year celebrated his 50th anniversary of clerical service, contracted the coronavirus and was even preparing for death.
The priest, who in his youth was a radical socialist, shared his thoughts on how faith can help overcome tribulations, and also compared today’s events in the USA with the pre-Revolutionary situation in Russia in 1917.