Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
In order to discern on which of the three crosses the Savior was crucified, Patriarch Macarius alternately touched the crosses to a corpse. When the Cross of the Lord touched the dead one, he came to life. Having beheld the raising of the dead man, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross was found.


Sep 27, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos
The Most Holy Virgin Mary was born at a time when people had reached such a degree of moral decay that it seemed altogether impossible to restore them. People often said that God must come into the world to restore faith and not permit the ruin of mankind.

Sep 21, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year
The culture in which we live is obsessed with time. While we are offered “time-saving” devices and methods of every sort, we often find that our days are filled with rushing from one event and activity to another with little or no chance for reflections; that our children are “over scheduled;” that we wish we had forty-eight hours in a day just to meet the demands of daily life. Among today’s best-selling books are those dealing with “time management,” each promising do divulge the “secrets” of maintaining a “balance” in our hectic lives.
Sep 2, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Feast of the Dormition
The feast of the Dormition is the last great feast in the Church calendar year. It is preceded by a two week fast. The glorious lot of the Ever Blessed Virgin in the role of God's salvation of the world made all her life wonderful and exemplary.

Aug 28, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Feast of Transfiguration of Our Lord
Besides the fundamental meaning which the event of the Transfiguration has in the context of the life and mission of Christ, and in addition to the theme of the glory of God which is revealed in all of its divine splendor in the face of the Savior, the presence of Moses and Elijah is also of great significance for the understanding and celebration of the feast.
Aug 18, 2008, 10:00

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
St. Elias: Open To God's Voice
Many of us think that we are living a godly life but because we are turned off to scriptures, because we are not open to the prophetic voices of the Church, because we have turned our thoughts away from the sacred traditions which have been preserved and handed down for us for five thousand years, we can no longer hear the sounds of inspiration and guidance. As a result, many of us follow after the voices of false prophets.


Aug 2, 2008, 10:00

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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Holy Week Day by Day: Good Friday
As the priest reads the Gospel, and taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in a white cloth," he removes the Body of Christ from the Cross, wraps It in a white cloth and takes It to the altar. The priest then chants a mourning hymn: "When Joseph of Arimathea took Thee, the life of all, down from the Tree dead, he buried Thee with myrrh and fine linen . . . rejoicing. Glory to Thy humiliation, O Master, who clothest Thyself with light as it were with a garment."
Apr 5, 2007, 18:06

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Holy week Day by Day. Holy Thursday: The Last Supper
Two events shape the Liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both lies in love.
Apr 4, 2007, 09:27

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Easter recipes: Kulich & Paskha
During the great Easter fast of Greek Orthodox church it is forbidden to eat meat, eggs, butter or other dairy products. On Easter Sunday when the fast has ended, it is again allowed to eat these "forbidden" ingredients and this is why many of the Russian Easter dishes contain lots of eggs, butter, cream etc. In old agrarian society making kulich, paskha etc was a way of using up all the eggs and dairy products that had piled up during the fast.
Apr 4, 2007, 08:56

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Holy Week Day by Day: Holy Wednesday
Holy and Great Wednesday, as set by the Fathers of the Church, commemorates the woman who was a harlot, but who anointed the Lord with myrrh before his Passion.


Apr 3, 2007, 20:03

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Holy Week Day by Day: Holy Tuesday
ON TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK we commemorate the parable of the Ten Virgins, Matt. 25:1-13. Ethical preparation and wakefulness are the foundations of vivid faith. The parable of the Ten Virgins is developed around the theme of the Bridegroom: "Why are Thou heedless, O my soul? . . . Work most diligently with the talent which has been confided to thee; both watch and pray."
Apr 3, 2007, 00:12

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
"Blessed is He That Cometh in the Name of the Lord...."
PALM SUNDAY CELEBRATES the glorious and brilliant feast of the Entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. Zechariah had prophesied the entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem, saying: "Rejoice greatly ... O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King comes unto Thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zech. 9:9). The contemporary Jews associated this prophecy with the expected Messiah. This action of Christ testifies to His nature as Savior, but with the definite declaration that His Kingdom: was not of this world.
Mar 31, 2007, 11:53

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
In preparation for Holy Week....Saturday Morning of St. Lazarus
ON THIS DAY THE RISING from the dead of St. Lazarus, the righteous friend of Christ, is celebrated. Holy Week begins with the phrase: "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany" (John 12:1). His arrival coincided with the Jewish Passover. It started on the 15th of the month of Nissan in commemoration of the freeing of the Hebrew people under the leadership of Moses, from the slavery of the Egyptians by the miraculous act of God. The Church relates preparation and redemption to the events of this week.


Mar 31, 2007, 11:21

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Veneration of the Cross
At the Vigil on that day, after the Great Doxology, the Cross is brought in a solemn procession to the center of the church and remains there for the entire week – with a special rite of veneration following each service. It is noteworthy that the theme of the Cross which dominates the hymnology of that Sunday is developed in terms not of suffering but of victory and joy.
Mar 11, 2007, 02:46

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
We must not have any misconceptions: it'll be difficult for us to be companions
Following these weeks of preparation during which we have examined our soul, our lives, all our relationship with God, we enter into the joy of Lent; the JOY (!) of Lent. The word ‘lent’ means "Spring"; it is a beginning, a beginning of life, a time of renewal. It is a time when we will no longer be reminded of our sins, no longer be confronted with parable images of sin and repentance.
Feb 13, 2007, 12:48

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Magi
The word Magi comes from the Greek word magoi, meaning "astrologer" or "magician". By the time of the birth of Christ, the Magi were an already well-established and ancient upper class of people from the Persian Empire in today's northern Iran. The Magi were pagan priests, specializing in astrology and the interpretation of dreams. Skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural science, they became the scholars of Persian society. The Holy Fathers held the tradition that the Magi
Dec 31, 2006, 15:46

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Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas
According to Holy Scripture, the holy Apostle Thomas did not believe the reports of the other disciples about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Oct 6, 2006, 13:25

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Sermon on the Dormition
Mary was completely human like us. But the Mother of God struggled hard to protect her purity. The Mother of God promised herself to God alone, and vowed not to marry. This was an exceptional vow for a Jewish girl of that time. The Jewish nation saw the bearing of children as a blessing, since then the blood-line of the parents continues toward the establishment of the kingdom of God .
Aug 26, 2006, 03:26

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
All Saints of Russia Sunday
We are keeping today the feast of all the Saints of Russia, a country whose history was remarkably short, barely a thousand years, and which has been filled, from the beginning to the end, by tragedy, by bloodshed and by martyrdom. The number of the Saints whom we knew are many, but innumerable are those whose names are known only to God, who rest in His heart - men, women, children who have lived according to His Gospel and of whom many have died, following Him, as the Scripture say, whithersoever He went.
Jun 24, 2006, 20:55

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
P e n t e c o s t . The day of descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.
The feast of the Holy Trinity (otherwise, Pentecost) is dedicated to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ. This event brought into existence the Church of Christ and gave rise to the Christian faith on earth.
Jun 11, 2006, 12:46

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Ascension of our Lord
The disciples did not expect the Resurrection. The women did not, either. They were quite certain that Jesus was dead and rested in the grave, and they went to the place "where He was laid," with the spices they had prepared, "that they might come and anoint Him."
May 31, 2006, 12:16

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Man Blind from Birth
We heard today the story of the man born blind. We do not know from experience what physical blindness is, but we can imagine how this man was walled in himself, how all the world around him existed only as a distant sound, something he could not picture, imagine. He was a prisoner within his own body. He could live by imaginations, he could invent a world around himself, he could by touch and by hearing approximate what really was around him; but the total, full reality could only escape him.
May 27, 2006, 14:47

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
The Holy Martyr Photina (Svetlana) the Samaritan Woman
The Holy Martyr Photina (Svetlana) the Samaritan Woman, her sons Victor (named Photinus) and Joses; and her sisters Anatola, Phota, Photis, Paraskeva, Kyriake; Nero's daughter Domnina; and the Martyr Sebastian: The holy Martyr Photina was the Samaritan Woman, with whom the Savior conversed at Jacob's Well (John. 4:5-42).
May 21, 2006, 10:33

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women
We remember today the Myrrh-bearing women, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, people who in the course of the Gospel are hardly mentioned, yet who, when Christ was seemingly defeated, when death, rejection, betrayal and hatred had conquered, proved to be people of faithfulness and courage, the faithfulness of the heart and the courage that can be born only of love. At the moment of the Crucifixion all the Apostles had fled save one, John, who stood at the foot of the Cross with the Mother of God.
May 7, 2006, 00:54

Our Faith : Feasts. Calendar
Radonitsa, or Day of Rejoicing. Commemoration of the Dead.
On this day, the Tuesday of St. Thomas week, according to the order instituted by our Holy Fathers, we call to remembrance, in Paschal joy, all those who have died from the beginning of the ages in faith and in the hope of resurrection and life eternal.
May 1, 2006, 15:42