How can one convey the most important thing about family life in a few words? Archpriest Eugene Ambartsumov, a well-known pastor in St. Petersburg, wrote such a letter of advice on the occasion of the wedding of the young Gleb and Lida Kaled. They carried these words with them their entire lives and remembered them when Gleb Kaled became a renowned priest and professor, and Matushka Lida raised five... 

Patience is a heavenly virtue, and it seems that God is giving the Christian Single a task that requires a lot of it. We ought to give thanks to God for everything, including our current situation, even if we don’t really like it. Trying to find that special person is a holy struggle. God had to wait at least 4,000 years to find the right woman to bear Christ, and the Old Testament is the story of... 

No, this is not a review of the recently-released romantic comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. For those of you who do not already know, “friends with benefits” is a euphemism—common these days—for a relationship in which two people engage regularly in sexual activity without making a long-term commitment to one another. I was recently conversing with a young woman in my parish... 

I had one question for the padre after my first Orthodox service: “What do I have to do to become a priest?” Rather than brushing off this 16-year-old, Father Michael offered two solid suggestions. “Well, you need to become Orthodox,” he observed, “then you’d need to marry a woman who’s Orthodox.” This was my introduction to the hard wisdom of the ancient... 

Stories about “journeys to Orthodoxy” are very popular on the English-language Orthodox Internet. Usually one feels glad reading about someone’s acquaintance with Orthodoxy, his way to the faith, and his final conversion to the Orthodox Church. But life is not always a fairy-tale with a happy ending. For some, the encounter with Orthodoxy can be a source of pain. We cannot help but publish the... 

I was told about a Carolina Governor who was carrying on with a woman who was not his wife, and, when it became public, justified himself on the grounds that she was his “soul mate.” The term is used constantly now and some assume, unfortunately, that we should be constantly looking for this soul mate. This is utter rubbish, of course. There’s no such thing, at least not in the sense we use... 

We offer you a series of articles on love, dating and relationships by Fr. Niko Bekris which was originally published in October, November, December 2009 and January 2010 issues of ”The Voice of Saint Anthony” - monthly newsletter of Saint Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, Pasadena, CA, USA. Reprinted by Pravmir.com with Fr. Niko’s permission.    What... 

Source: The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America           He Said by George Matook   Is there any difference between going out with an Orthodox girl and a non- Orthodox girl? Absolutely. There is a significant advantage to having a relationship with an Orthodox girl. For one thing, you believe in the same things as she does. Of course,... 

Source: HELLENIC Communication Service   The latest statistic on inter-faith marriages among Orthodox singles stands at almost 90%. That means that the vast majority of marriages of Orthodox Christians are to non-Orthodox Christians or even non-believers. So why is this important? Well, maybe it isn’t. But I think it is a symptom of a potential weakness. Let me tell you why. St. Paul said... 

Source: The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America           College…a chance to move on from our high school lives and experience new places, challenges, and people. It’s a transition to maturity that is anticipated by almost all high school students. When I moved up to school at UC Santa Barbara, how tough my classes were going to be was not...