Our Faith : In the Church
12 Things I Wish I’d Known…
Orthodox worship is different! Some of these differences are apparent, if perplexing, from the first moment you walk in a church. Others become noticeable only over time. Here is some information that may help you feel more at home in Orthodox worship—twelve things I wish I’d known before my first visit to an Orthodox church.

Jul 23, 2008, 10:02

Our Faith
WHAT IS MAN?
Most of the time we think we know who we are. But do we, in fact, know in the full and profound sense who we are? One text that is very important for the Orthodox understanding of the human person is Psalm 64:6 [LXX 63:7]—"The heart is deep." That means the human person is a profound mystery. There are depths—or if you would like, heights—within myself of which I have very little understanding.
Jul 21, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith
How to Read the Holy Scriptures
IT IS WELL known that Protestants spend a great deal of time on Holy Scripture, because for them it is everything. For us Orthodox Christians the Scripture also holds an essential place. Often, however, we do not take advantage of it, and do not realize what importance it has for us; or if we do, we often do not approach it in the right spirit because the Protestant approach and Protestant books about the Scriptures are widespread, while our Orthodox approach is quite different.
Jul 19, 2008, 10:01

Our Faith
Past Cannot Be Recalled
They often say that time heals, pain passes with time. Not quite right. My pain isn’t over, it has changed, as if it sank deep inside. With the lapse of time you begin to take the death of your only child as a tragedy, you understand that a part of you has also died. This part that broke away from you hurts like an amputated arm or leg, though you know that your child’s soul is alive, that it cannot die. But still we miss our son so much. We have no other child to console us, to give our love to.
Jul 18, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith
Rublev's "Old Testament Trinity"
Of course it is not obvious to all that beauty always leads us to God. I once was interviewed by a reporter for National Public Radio, who questioned this point of view. She asked, "Doesn’t all the music and painting and artwork in your church distract you from focusing on God?" and I responded, "Tell me this. If your husband takes you out for an anniversary dinner, and there is candlelight and roses and violins, does that distract you from feeling romantic?"
Jul 17, 2008, 10:11

Our Faith
Raising Children Who Believe
Central to everything we tried to do as a family was going to church Sunday morning. Even through the struggles of the teenage years, there was never a question as to what we did Sunday morning. I was not a priest during the teenage years of our older children, but regardless of that, as a family we were in church on Sunday morning. And if we traveled, we went to church wherever we were.
Jul 16, 2008, 10:01

Our Faith
Why Orthodoxy is the True Faith
We would like to acquaint you with the lecture "Why Orthodoxy is the True Faith," delivered on September 13, 2000, at the Meeting of the Sretenskaya Lord's School in Moscow by A.I. Osipov, a professor of the Moscow Theological Academy.

Jul 15, 2008, 10:07

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
About the Apostles Peter and Paul
The day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is the culminating feasts of the Gospel. Although the last event in the life of Christ which is related in the Gospel as His Ascension into heaven (Mark 16:19 ; Luke 24:51), the preaching of the Apostles is closely bound up with the Gospel. The Gospel tells us of their being chosen, and the Gospel indicates beforehand the end of Apostolic activity.
Jul 12, 2008, 10:01

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Apostle Peter and Orthodox Conscience
Among the many passages that describe characteristic aspects of St Peter's life, the most moving is neither his confession at Caesaria of Philippi, which we have already mentioned, nor his bitter tears after the momentary betrayal at the courtyard of the high priest. For both the confession and the repentance were within the immediate logic of things for all the Apostles who lived the mystery of the direct presence of the God-Man. What was beyond this "logic of things", which constitutes perhaps the even more moving biographical element of St Peter, is the fact that at a certain time he felt his unworthiness to humiliate him.
Jul 12, 2008, 09:29

Our Faith
Started without a Prayer
"It occurred because she boasted," my spiritual father explained. "One should never do it, especially aloud. Demons cannot stand it when a man feels good; they are spiteful and envious. But if a man keeps silent, according to St. Macarius of Egypt, the demons may guess a lot, yet don't know everything. If a man boasts aloud, they will know and become annoyed, and then they try do him some harm. People's bliss is unbearable to them."
Jun 21, 2008, 10:11

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Fast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. June 23 - July 11
Fasting consists not just of eating rarely, but also of eating little. And not just in eating only one meal, but in not eating much. Foolish is the faster, who waits for a specific time [to eat a meal], but then at the time of the meal is completely consumed, body and mind, with insatiable eating.
Jun 21, 2008, 09:55

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Pentecost 8th Sunday after Pascha Explanation and Typicon
This first Christian sermon was simple and brief, but since the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of the Holy Apostle Peter, his words penetrated the hearts of the hearers and won over their obstinacy. "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' (Acts 2:37) . "Repent", the Holy Apostle Peter answered them, "and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" and you will not only be forgiven; but you shall also "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". For the promise of the Holy Spirit is given" Then those who gladly received his word" that is of the Apostle Peter immediately repented, believed, and were baptized (Acts 2:41) , and the new Church has grown from 120 (Acts 1:15) to 3000 men.
Jun 15, 2008, 10:03

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ (40th Day after Pascha)
On the 39th day after Pascha we celebrate the Leavetaking of the Feast of Feasts, commemorating the last day of the Risen Christ's earthly sojourn. The day following is celebrated as His Leavetaking - His Glorious Ascension into Heaven.
Jun 8, 2008, 01:38

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
On the sunday of the Samaritan woman
It is on this Sunday that the Church commemorates Christ's discussion during which Our Lord revealed His Divine identity to a simple women. During the Church service, as I listened to the Gospel narrative, I realized that through my mother, another simple women, the Lord had revealed to us, to her relatives and acquaintances, the mystery of death and life, and the profound meaning of faith in His Resurrection and in life eternal. Her experience of death revealed to us that, for the faithful, there truly was no death, but that rather, there was life in the bosom of Abraham.
May 27, 2008, 21:30

Our Faith
There Is No Death
On the 26th of May, in Cleveland, Ohio, my mother, Parasceva Ivanovna Potapov, nee Golikov, reposed. Her physicians had predicted that she would live between two weeks and two months from the date on which her cancer was discovered. She lived exactly two weeks from the date of that oncological evaluation.
May 27, 2008, 10:03

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Sermon on the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women
Now, we know the triumph of Christ. We know the end of the story. We know this even as we walk with these women to the tomb, as they despair, hopeless. Yet still in our lives, we also may deal with despair. Why am I stuck in this job? Why can't I pay my bills? Why can't I be patient with my children? Why do I feel so alone? When we are abandoned, when we try to follow God's will but can't see the way, when we lose someone or something we don't think we can live without, when we suffer, perhaps that is when we experience Christ as dead.
May 12, 2008, 10:03

Our Faith
Pascha (Easter) in Dachau
In the entire history of the Orthodox Church there has probably never been an Easter service like the one at Dachau in 1945. Greek and Serbian priests together with a Serbian deacon adorned the make-shift "vestments" over their blue and gray-striped prisoners uniforms. Then they began to chant, changing from Greek to Slavonic, and then back again to Greek. The Easter Canon, the Easter Sticheras - everything was recited from memory. The Gospel - "In the beginning was the Word" - also from memory.
May 7, 2008, 10:06

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Radonitsa
As believers, we know there is a future life and yet we do not know what it will be like. The future life remains hidden from us. However, although we are ignorant of the details, Holy Scripture assures us nevertheless that there is life beyond the grave. The Lord correcting the false teaching of the unbelieving Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, says to them: “God is not the God of the dead but of the living”.
May 5, 2008, 22:22

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
On Thoms sunday 2002
The Resurrection is the core of our Orthodox Christian faith. It is why we are called Orthodox Christians. No-one else in all history has risen from the dead, defeating death through death. The Hindu gods failed, the gods of Greece and Rome failed, Buddha failed, Mohammed failed, the Popes of Rome failed, Luther failed, atheists and humanists failed, even Moses and the whole Old Testament failed. Christ alone did not fail. He rose from the dead, raising the righteous with Himself. That is why we follow Him, calling ourselves Christians.
May 4, 2008, 10:03

Our Faith
Great Miracle on Orthodox Easter - the Holy Fire in Jerusalem
This ceremony takes place in the Orthodox Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem in such a way that bewilders the soul of the Christians.
Apr 21, 2008, 10:34

Our Faith
Passion Week
The central event in the history of mankind is the coming into the world of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the most important deed — His voluntary suffering and death on the cross, culminating in the glorious Resurrection from the dead.
Apr 21, 2008, 10:18

Our Faith
In Passion Week
A cab drove by. The cabman was clucking to his horse and slapping the reins, unaware of two street-urchins hanging from the springs of his little carriage. I wanted to join these boys, but straightway remembered that I was on my way to confession, whereupon the boys appeared to me to be very wicked sinners indeed.
Apr 21, 2008, 10:12

Our Faith
Passion Week: An Explanation
Great Lent and Holy Week are two separate fasts, and two separate celebrations. Great Lent ends on Friday of the fifth week (the day before Lazarus Saturday). Holy Week begins immediately thereafter.
Apr 21, 2008, 10:09

Our Faith
On the services of the holy week of the Passion
As we approach the great solemn days of Holy Week, we bring to mind how our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed and seized, tortured and crucified, died and was buried, and arose from the dead. The services of Holy Week, beginning with Lazarus Saturday, show us in symbols, readings and chants the account of our Saviour’s love and sacrifice ‘unto death, even the death of the cross’ for our sake (Phil. 2:8).
Apr 21, 2008, 00:38

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Feast of Palms. Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday
The liturgy of the Church is more than meditation or praise concerning past events. It communicates to us the eternal presence and power of the events being celebrated and makes us participants in those events. Thus the services of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday bring us to our own moment of life and death and entrance into the Kingdom of God : a Kingdom not of this world, a Kingdom accessible in the Church through repentance and baptism.
Apr 20, 2008, 10:13

Our Faith
What is Orthodoxy?
Orthodoxy is not only the sum total of dogmas accepted as true in a purely formal manner. It is not only theory, but practice; it is not only right Faith, but a life which agrees in everything with this Faith. The true Orthodox Christian is not only he who thinks in an Orthodox manner, but who feels according to Orthodoxy and lives Orthodoxy, who strives to embody the true Orthodox teaching of Christ in his life.
Mar 20, 2008, 09:42

Our Faith
At the Threshold of the Fast. Reflections on the Sunday of Forgiveness
The Sunday of Forgiveness stands, as others have written, at the 'threshold of Great Lent'. The Vespers of this evening is a cardinal moment for many: a service in darkness by which their whole mode and attitude of being are propelled as if by a great wave into the 'sea of the Fast'. There have been, already, four weeks of preparation for this moment; but this Sunday is the actual doorway into Lent, the threshold on the other side of which stands the fullest measure of ascesis that the Church metes out to the whole of her faithful throughout the world.
Mar 11, 2008, 10:05

Our Faith
Take Time to Find God
God had allowed someone to leave a special, little flower on that table so that as she entered the building she would discover it and feel His great love for her. Her heart was greatly touched by this incident, and I felt so blessed to be a part of it. I had been right behind her when she walked into the building that morning.
Mar 6, 2008, 09:32

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Sunday of the last judgement
On the past two Sundays of this pre-Lenten period, the focus was placed on God’s patience and limitless compassion, of His readiness to accept every sinner who returns to Him. On this third Sunday, we are powerfully reminded of a complementary truth: no one is so patient and so merciful as God, but even He does not forgive those who do not repent. The God of love is also a God of righteousness, and when Christ comes again in glory, He will come as our Judge. Such is the message of Lent to each of us: turn back while there is still time, repent before the End comes.
Mar 2, 2008, 10:27

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Prodigal Son
One of the most beautiful of all the Gospel Lessons in our Church year is this Parable of the Prodigal Son. Only the Lord, who searches and knows the human soul, its every rising and falling, could have delivered such a parabolic masterpiece. No other parable adequately portrays the depth and the mysticism of the goodness of God towards His prodigal sons.
Feb 24, 2008, 10:34

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Prodigal son
How simple and how restrained are the words in which the Gospel describes his cruel rejection of his father, and prepares his departure into the far, the strange country! “Father - give me my part of thy inheritance!” Do these words not mean: “Father - I can't wait until your death! You are still strong, and I am young; it is now that I want to reap the fruits of thy life, of thy labours; later they will be stale. Let us come to an agreement: for me you are dead; give me what belongs to me or what would belong to me after your actual death, and I will go, and I will live the life I have chosen”.
Feb 24, 2008, 10:06

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Meeting of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple
At this time the righteous Elder Simeon (February 3) was living in Jerusalem. It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he should behold the promised Messiah. By inspiration from above, St Simeon went to the Temple at the very moment when the Most Holy Theotokos and St Joseph had brought the Infant Jesus to fulfill the Law.
Feb 11, 2008, 10:15

Our Faith : Sacraments
Historical and liturgical aspects of the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation in the Byzantine traditio
This paper has as its aim, the tracing of the historical development of the principal elements of the liturgical order of the sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation.
Nov 27, 2007, 09:07

Our Faith : Sacraments
The sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist
I remember how I — at that time a subdeacon — once went to common Confession in the lower church of St Daniel ’s monastery. When, after all the canons and prayers, I approached the priest, he — a severe hieromonk — asked me: ‘Did you fast yesterday?’ I answered: ‘Yesterday I was in an airplane’. The severe hieromonk asked: ‘Where are you from?’ I said: ‘From Paris ’. His answer was: ‘It’s not Paris here. It’s Moscow . I cannot allow you to take Communion!’
Nov 22, 2007, 23:23

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Holy Apostles: St. Peter and St. Paul
On the 12th of July, the church commemorates the apostles Peter and Paul. The lent, which prepares us for this day is over. And as with many feast days in the church, this one also commemorates a tragic event (as with the beheading of John the Baptist). On this day, the “teachers of teachers” Peter and Paul were executed in Rome.

Jul 12, 2007, 21:27

Our Faith : Fasting
Peter and Paul Lent - Delicious Lenten Dishes
Recipes included : Black Bean Chili with Toasted Spice Seasoning, Cashew Mushroom loaf, Minestrone Soup, Cornmeal Dumplings.
Jun 28, 2007, 22:16

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
All Saints Day
The Sunday following Pentecost is dedicated to All Saints, both those who are known to us, and those who are known only to God. There have been saints at all times, and they have come from every corner of the earth. They were Apostles, Martyrs, Prophets, Hierarchs, Monastics, and Righteous, yet all were perfected by the same Holy Spirit.
Jun 3, 2007, 18:28

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Day of the Holy Spirit
Today we are keeping the Feast of the Holy Spirit. What do we know about Him? We heard wonderful words of prayer about Him yesterday on Trinity Sunday, but let us think of Him, of the name He is given in the Gospel, which is translated ‘The Comforter’ in English, in other translations ‘The Advocate’.
May 28, 2007, 00:08

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Ascension of our Lord
The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on the fortieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Since the date of Pascha changes each year, the date of the Feast of the Ascension changes. The Feast is always celebrated on a Thursday.
May 17, 2007, 10:24

Our Faith
"The feeling of loneliness is in our nature..."
I have not met one woman who did not suffer from this at one point or another. Obviously this is a part of the woman’s nature. God said to Eve at the point of the Fall: “thou shalt be attracted to your husband” This attraction (not really physical, but mostly psychological) acts in all lonely people, but is always a little bit different, is “decorated” and individualized. Taken from the rib of Adam, she searches for her spot to become complete once more.
Apr 30, 2007, 22:41

Our Faith : Sacraments
....An Image of the Trinity
These crowns have two meanings. First, they reveal that the man and woman, in their union with Christ, participate in His Kingship. Second, as in the ancient Church, crowns are a symbol of martyrdom. The word "martyr" means witness. The common life of the bride and groom is to bear witness to the Presence of Christ in their lives and in the world.
Apr 28, 2007, 10:29

Our Faith : Sacraments
"I Confess to You All the Secrets of my Heart..."
What we need….is, first of all, the real rediscovery in the Church and by her faithful members of the true meaning of the Eucharist as the Sacrament of the Church, as that essential act in which she always becomes what she is: the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the new life, the manifestation of the Kingdom of God, the knowledge of God and communion with him.
Apr 24, 2007, 09:11

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Myrrh-Bearing Women : Sacrificial Love
The third week after Easter is called the Week of the Myrrh-bearing Women. The Holy Church praises and glorifies these holy women for their devotion and love of Jesus Christ, as they did not spare themselves at a moment of severe danger and suffering. At a time when every disciple of Christ deserted Him, they stood at the Cross to see His crucifixion and to lay His body down in the grave.
Apr 20, 2007, 10:20

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Radonitsa
During Holy Week and Bright Week, the Church focuses all of her attention on celebrating the Paschal mystery -- the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the God-Man Jesus Christ -- so she does not hold memorial services for the dead (aside from remembering them in the proskomide of the Divine Liturgy) from Lazarus Saturday through Thomas Sunday (the second Sunday of Pascha).
Apr 17, 2007, 09:43

Our Faith
Holy Week and Pascha in Jerusalem
For the Christians the greatest feast days and festival were approaching. The time of joy and sorrow was approaching. We rejoiced because of this, that we would receive the new grace of the heavenly Fire, and celebrate the most radiant festival of Holy Pascha in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
Apr 9, 2007, 09:24

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Paschal Epistle Of His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. Christ is Risen!
Rejoicing in the Risen Christ, the Source and Fulfillment of our faith and salvation, I sincerely greet the Right Reverend Hierarchs, the all-honorable priests-concelebrants, and the God-loving children of the Russian Church Abroad, with the world-saving feast of Holy Pascha! Paschal joy is first of all the joy of the Church.
Apr 9, 2007, 08:56

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Holy Easter: Christ is Risen!
A sacred Pascha today hath been shown unto us:
A Pascha new and holy,
A Pascha mystical,
A Pascha all venerable,
A Pascha that is Christ the Redeemer;
A Pascha immaculate, a great Pascha;
A Pascha of the faithful;
A Pascha that hath opened the gates of Paradise unto us;
A Pascha that doth sanctify all the faithful.


Apr 8, 2007, 13:28

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia: Paschal Message to Hierarchs, Pastors, Monastics and All Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church (2007)
I address now these triumphant words, full of rejoicing, to each of you, Your Graces my brothers the archpastors, most-honourable pastors and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, and pious laity of our Holy Orthodox Church.
Apr 8, 2007, 12:13

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Holy Week Day by Day: Great and Holy Saturday
Great and Holy Saturday is the day on which Christ reposed in the tomb. The Church calls this day the Blessed Sabbath.

"The great Moses mystically foreshadowed this day when he said: God blessed the second day. This is the blessed Sabbath This is the day of rest, on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works…."
Apr 7, 2007, 12:09