Rating: 10|Votes: 4

Sermon on the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

It is also claimed that not only did the apostle Peter found the Church of Rome, but that somehow this gives the Church of Rome some special supremacy and superiority over all the other Churches. This is clearly not true, for the Church of Antioch, which was founded by St Peter, has never claimed any superiority. In reality, when our Lord says in the Gospel: ‘Thou art a rock and on this rock I will build my Church’, it refers not to some special authority given to Peter, it concerns all who confess Christ as the Son of the Living God. All who make this confession have authority, all who confess Christ truly are rocks and are granted the keys to the kingdom.

Rating: 6,6|Votes: 22

The Prayer Rule of St. Ambrose of Optina To Be Read in Times of Temptation

St. Ambrose, elder of Optina offered to those who came to him with various sorrows and trials a special, brief prayer rule that is possible for any Christian to read. The elder knew from his own experience the effectiveness of these prayers, how they strengthen one's enfeebled spirit, and how they scatter the enemy's attacks if read with faith and hope in God's almighty help. This prayer rule, comprised of the Psalms of David, we offer here together with extracts from the letters of St. Ambrose.

Rating: 5,2|Votes: 20

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

St. John of Shanghai

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).

Rating: 8,4|Votes: 17

St. John of Shanghai—Sternness and Sanctity

St. John of Shanghai

He consciously lived in and operated from this otherworldly realm, formed historically by the Church Fathers, and thus he had a virtual disdain for the pragmatic expectations placed on one by the times and fashions. He was an enemy of fashion and gossip and pharisaical narrow-mindedness...

Rating: 10|Votes: 2

On the Descent of the Holy Spirit

From the Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles by St. John Chrysostom Homily I. Acts 1:1–2

But why did the Holy Ghost come to them, not while Christ was present, nor even immediately after his departure, but, whereas Christ ascended on the fortieth day, the Spirit descended when the day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth, was fully come (Act. 2:1)? And how was it, if the Spirit had not yet come, that He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (Jn. 20:22)? In order to render them capable and meet for the reception of Him.