7/6/2010
St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco
Not with outward force or boastful wisdom did He come to reign over the nations, but in the form of a servant the Savior came to take upon Himself the sin of Adam, to bear the burden of mankind, being accessible to all.
St. John (Maximovich) of Shanghai and San Francisco
But at the very time when visible victory was still on the side of the enemies of Christ, Christ in actuality had already overthrown the foundations of hell and freed its captives, had conquered death and risen from the grave.
He was the conqueror of his own self, and through this he ruled others, and preached Christ with his deeds in every realm of life. He served the true God as an individual, as the head of a family, as a leader, as a judge, a ruler, a sovereign.
The crime against Tsar Nicholas II is even more terrible and sinful because his entire family, including completely innocent children, was killed with him!
The search for truth is the main thread of life of the Russian people, and it is no coincidence that the first written code of laws, which was supposed to regulate life, was called “Russian Truth”.
St. John of Shanghai
Icons for our churches should not be written in a spirit foreign to Orthodoxy.
Prince Alexander knows that Orthodoxy is the truth, and the priceless pearl, for which everything must be sacrificed.
That’s how Nina, weak in body but strong in spirit, performed the great work of faith, enlightening the pagan people with the faith in Christ.
Before us are the paths of two thieves. What path will we take? Mankind has always taken one or the other of these paths.
The doors of repentance are opening, Great Lent is beginning. It is repeated every year, and each time it brings us great benefit if we spend it the right way.
It would seem that there is no place on the globe in recent times that remains a peaceful and calm haven from troubles in the world.
Rating: 9.8|Votes: 52
Love God, be dedicated to the Orthodox faith. Do not think that now you can skip going to church because I am no longer there to watch after you.
Rating: 9.1|Votes: 23
The commemoration day of the saints who shown forth in the Russian land show us that spiritual heaven under which the Russian land was created and lived. Before Holy Prince Vladimir, in the Russian land lived disparate pagan tribes who were constantly at war with each other. Holy Prince Vladimir brought them a new faith, a new inner spiritual state; he gave them a new, all-uniting spirit of life, and thus was one nation formed.
Rating: 9.9|Votes: 46
It is impossible to write an icon that depicts only external appearance of the body; it must reflect unseen spiritual struggles and must radiate with Heavenly glory.
Rating: 9.6|Votes: 39
A Sermon given in 1948, when once again there seemed to be absolutely no hope for the deliverance of Russia from the Communist Yoke.
Rating: 8.5|Votes: 11
Why is Prince Vladimir called holy and given the title Equal-to-the-Apostles? He converted from the darkness of paganism to the light of Christ, receiving baptism, baptizing the Kievans and sending emissaries to baptize the people of the other cities and regions of his duchy. He was among the first of the All-Russian rulers to become a Christian, and originated the Christian form of government for Russia. From his time, the Russian sovereignty becomes Orthodox, and Christianity makes its way into all the spheres of social and civil life.
Rating: 8.4|Votes: 48
Such a “vain deceit” is the teaching of the Immaculate Conception by Anna of the Virgin Mary, which at first sight exalts, but in actual fact belittles Her.
Rating: 9|Votes: 8
Just as a stairway is built into a tall building in order to enable one, by climbing the steps, to easily reach the top, so too, the various days in the year serve as steps for our spiritual ascent.
Rating: 9.3|Votes: 16
A search for compromise will be the characteristic disposition of men. Straightforwardness of confession will vanish. Men will cleverly justify their fall, and an endearing evil will support such a general disposition. Men will grow accustomed to apostasy from the truth and to the sweetness of compromise and sin.
Rating: 9|Votes: 54
It was the same during his earthly life. Cities were being destroyed, kingdoms were being established, Napoleon advanced upon Russia with twelve nations and then left in disgrace, Moscow burned and was again raised from the ashes, Decembrists organized revolts and were then sentenced; but was as if these events did not touch St. Seraphim.
Rating: 1|Votes: 1
Saints retain all that is characteristic of the human condition; they know everything that is ours. They are near to God, but they are also near to us; they walked and dwelt among us. The people of Holy Russia venerated them, kissed their icons and holy relics, wanted to be as close as possible to the saints, touched holiness, and the Russian land was filled with it.
Rating: 7.8|Votes: 4
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have common thought, common will, common actions. What the Father desires, the Son also desires, and the Holy Spirit also desires. This is not so with man. We are in constant disagreement, we have differing desires. Even a small child expresses his own wishes, willfulness, disobedience to his loving parents...
Rating: 9|Votes: 1
When He created the world, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness(Gen. 1:26). God’s image manifests in man’s mental capabilities, in his authority over nature, his power, and his ability to create. God’s likeness in man consists in his moral perfection, his spiritual strivings, and in his possibility of attaining sanctity. God’s image and likeness, in which our fore-parents were created, was fully reflected in them before the fall. Sin disrupted both the former and the latter, although it did not entirely deprive man of them.
Rating: 7|Votes: 1
St. Euphemia was tortured during the persecutions against Christians under Diocletian, and her death and suffering are commemorated on September 16/29. But today her memory is celebrated because of a miracle that happened during the Fourth Ecumenical Council. This council was supposed to decide who is right—those who believe that Christ was both God and man, the God-Man, or those who asserted that the divinity in Christ completely swallowed up His humanity, so that even His sufferings were only apparent.
Rating: 8|Votes: 2
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19), said the Lord, summoning His first disciples. I did not imagine in my earliest childhood that this call would be addressed to me, though from the first, I knew that I wished to serve the truth. My parents kindled within me the desire to stand firmly for the truth, and my soul was captured by the examples of those who sacrificed their lives for it, struggling against kings when they persecuted the faith of salvation, struggling for kings when they were the bearers and protectors of piety.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three gods, but one God, since They have one nature. But not only because of this. People also have one nature, one essence. But with people one cannot say that two or three persons are one person, no matter how close and amicable they may be. People not only have separate bodies, but each one also has his own will, his own tastes, his own moods.
Rating: 7.9|Votes: 13
Our grief for our loved ones who have died should be inconsolable and boundless, had the Lord not given us eternal life. Our life would be senseless if it ended in death. What benefit would there be from virtue, or from good deeds? Then they would be right who say, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!”
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
“Quite right, my son,” said the king. “Keep this lesson in mind for the rest of you life. Be as vigilant over your soul as you were today over the oil in the vessel. Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away, and keep them focused on what is eternal.
Rating: 10|Votes: 14
On Theophany, that is, the Day of the Lord's Baptism, every year a great miracle is performed. The Holy Spirit, coming down upon the water, changes its natural properties. It becomes incorrupt, that is it does not spoil, remains transparent and fresh for many years, receives the grace to heal illnesses, to drive away demons and every evil power, to preserve people and their dwellings from every danger, to sanctify various objects whether for church or home use.
Rating: 6.1|Votes: 8
The Apostles gave Her most pure body over to burial with sacred hymns, and on the third day they opened the tomb so as once more to venerate the remains of the Mother of God together with the Apostle Thomas, who had arrived then in Jerusalem. But they did not find the body in the tomb and in perplexity they returned to their own place; and then, during their meal, the Mother of God Herself appeared to them in the air, shining with heavenly light, and informed them that Her Son had glorified Her body also, and She, resurrected, stood before His Throne. At the same time She promised to be with them always.
Rating: 5.9|Votes: 29
Being born exactly half a year before Christ, John the Forerunner by the exact time of his birth depicted his mission of preparing the way for the Lord. He was born at the time of the year (June 24) when the day begins to grow shorter after the summer solstice, whereas the Nativity of Christ occurs (December 25) when the day begins to grow longer after the winter solstice. These facts are an embodiment of the words spoken later, by the Forerunner, after the beginning of Christ's preaching: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).
