September 7, 2022 Dealing with Pride Correctly Let us talk about pride, the most basic of human sins. The Venerable John Climacus in his book The Ladder of Divine Ascent wrote:…
September 2, 2022 How Emperor Constantine Challenges Our Conception of an ‘Ideal’ Saint People like to idealise, and it is hard not to, especially if the person is a saint and an emperor. Among the multitude of…
September 1, 2022 Venerable Paisios of the Holy Mountain on Self-perfection Elder Paisios used to say: “Purifying one’s soul is not easy. It cannot be done automatically, at the push of a button. Passion cannot…
August 31, 2022 Why Is the Dormition Called a “Summer Easter”? Why do Christians celebrate the Dormition? What does it have in common with Easter? Answered by Archpriest Vladimir Shutov, Rector of the Holy Royal…
August 27, 2022 About the Most Holy, Most Pure and Most Blessed Matthew 12:46–13:3 Romans 15:17–29 Once, when the Lord “was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to…
August 26, 2022 When Our Faith Falters, Where Do We Find Reassurance? Should we be afraid of questioning our beliefs in Christ? Should we accept our struggles as normal? And how do we overcome our uncertainties?…
August 24, 2022 Canon: the Most and the Least Known Genre among Church Hymns The canon is one genre in church hymnography with which we are perfectly familiar in practice, so this time we will talk about theory….
August 24, 2022 Two Parables and One Short Story about the Intricacies of Family Life An old woman came to a priest and asked him, “What should I do with my old man who has become totally unbearable? He…
August 19, 2022 St. Paisios the Athonite: “The Devil Enters a Person Who Has Dirt in His Heart.” Speaking of human passions and the devil, Elder Paisios used to say, “A person who deviates from God’s commandments is overcome by his passions….
August 18, 2022 Transfiguration: a Prototype of Universal Glory The Transfiguration of the Lord is one of the most important holidays in the Orthodox Church. Three semantic meanings are intertwined in it so…
August 17, 2022 When Did Christianity First Become a State Religion? Edict of Milan — what is it and what is its role in the history of Christianity? Let us talk about one of the…
August 11, 2022 “She Stopped at Every Grave in the Entire Cemetery, Praying for Her Fallen Lieges.” Memories of the Royal Family Daughter of the physician in ordinary E. Botkin, Tatiana Melnik (born Botkina) recalls: “Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was weakened physically and mentally. Although she…
