Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov
Rating: 10|Votes: 3
What makes the servants of the Lord, the servants of the God of heaven, true Christians, different from the children of this age? The wise King Solomon says that even the face of a pious man shines. His royal father, the holy Prophet David, adds, The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath shined upon us (Ps. 4:6). The gift of the Holy Spirit given to us in the Sacrament of Baptism has placed a bright mark upon our whole being—in the hour of our spiritual birth in the baptismal font, the soul was wondrously illumined, as if it had been clothed in garments of grace, white as snow.
Archpriest Andrew Phillips
After the martyrdom of his spiritual father the Apostle Paul, Dionysius conceived of the desire to follow in his footsteps. Thus, he left Athens and travelled to Greek settlements in the West. According to tradition, he ended up, not among the many Greeks in Rome, but elsewhere among Greeks in the Roman Empire, in Gaul, in what is today Paris. It was here at the end of the first century that the elderly Dionysius found martyrdom.
Rating: 7,7|Votes: 7
On this mountain Cyprian studied all manner of diabolical arts: he mastered various demonic transformations; learned how to change the nature of the air; to bring up winds; produce thunder and rain; disturb the waves of the sea; cause damage to gardens, vineyards, and fields; to send diseases and plagues upon people; and in general he learned a ruinous wisdom and diabolical activity filled with evil.
Roman Makhankov
Rating: 6,4|Votes: 8
This commandment is remarkable in that it… was never followed by Christians! From the moment that the Church appeared, it was accepted that priests were called "fathers" and "teachers". Outside the churches—for example, in schools—the very same Christians called their instructors "teachers" without giving it a second thought. This applied even more so to their own fathers.
Fr. Alexey Young
"Holding to the Orthodox Faith as to something holy, longing it with all their hearts and prizing it above all, Orthodox people ought ... to endeavor to spread it among people of other creeds. Christ the Saviour has said that neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house (Matt. 5:15) The light of Orthodoxy was not lit to shine only on a small number of men. The Orthodox Church is universal; it remembers the words of its Founder: Go ye unto all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15) ..We ought to share our spiritual wealth, our truth, light, and joy with others who are deprived of these blessings, but often are seeking them and thirsting for them...
