St. John of Damascus
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
Today the life-giving treasury and abyss of charity (I know not how to trust my lips to speak of it) is hidden in immortal death. She meets it without fear, who conceived death’s destroyer, if indeed we may call her holy and vivifying departure by the name of death.
St. John of Shanghai
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.
Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie)
Rating: 4.2|Votes: 6
Holy Tradition is the teaching of the Church, given by God with a living voice, a portion of which was later written down. Like Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition also contains Holy Revelation, and is therefore fundamental for our salvation. Holy Tradition is the life of the Church in the Holy Spirit; and, in concord with the enduring life of the Church, it is a wellspring of Holy Revelation, and thus it possesses the same authority as Holy Scripture.
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)
The great Prophet Elias was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot (4 Kings 2:1–18). According to the Old Testament Prophecy, he will return to the earth before the coming of the Messiah Christ: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (Mal. 4:5).
Alexei Ilyich Osipov
Rating: 10|Votes: 2
Free will is such an important quality that, when it is lost, the personality becomes completely degraded. But as long as self-awareness is preserved, no one can take authority over this freedom—not another man, nor society, nor laws, nor any regime, nor demons, nor angels, nor even God Himself. Saint Macarius of Egypt (fourth century) said: "You are created in the image and likeness of God; therefore just as God is free and creates what He wants … so are you free. Therefore, our nature is well capable of accepting both good and evil; both God’s grace, and the enemy’s powers. But it cannot be forced."