Rating: 10|Votes: 3
All Orthodox Christians follow the Orthodox Paschalia, and therefore have the feasts of Pascha, and all the commemorations which depend of the date of Pascha on the same date in a given year. Since the beginning of the Apostles fast always depends on the date of Pascha in a year, all these Orthodox supposedly start the Apostles fast on the same day, but they end the fast on a different date, depending on whether they follow the church calendar (Julian calendar) or the so called "New" calendar, which is the civil date.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Rating: 7,2|Votes: 9
If we think about the Latin roots of the word humility, we see that it comes from the word humus, which indicates fruitful earth. St. Theophan writes about this. Just think about what earth is. It lies there in silence, open, defenseless, vulnerable before the face of the sky. From the sky it receives scorching heat, the sun’s rays, rain, and dew. It also receives what we call fertilizer, that is, manure—everything that we throw into it. And what happens? It brings forth fruit. And the more it bears what we emotionally call humiliation and insult, the more fruit it yields.
Fr. Dionysy Pozdnayev
On the eve, there were already proclamations pasted along the streets calling the pagans to kill the Christians, and threatening with death anyone who dared to hide them. During the night, the boxers appeared with burning torches in all parts of Peking, attacking Christian homes, grabbing the misfortunate Christians and torturing them, trying the force them to renounce Christ.
Rating: 8|Votes: 3
"Christian! Observe once and for all how the sunflower even on gloomy days pursues its circular course, following the sun with the unchanging love and attraction natural to it. Our sun, illuminating our path through this world, is the will of God; it does not always illuminate our path in life without clouds; often clear days are followed by gloomy ones: rain, wind, storms arise. But let our love for our Sun, the will of God, be so strong that we may continue, inseparably from it, even in days of misfortune and sorrow, like the sunflower on gloomy days, to navigate faultlessly on the sea of life, following the indications of the 'barometer' and 'compass' of the will of God, which leads us into the safe harbor of eternity."
Fr. Thomas Hopko
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
Tradition says that to fulfil the prophecy of Joel, the Holy Spirit descended not only on the twelve chosen Apostles, but also upon all those who were with them "with one accord in one place", that is, on the whole Church. This is why in Icons of Pentecost there are represented Apostles not belonging to the twelve - Apostle Paul, and among the seventy, Luke the Evangelist and Mark the Evangelist.
