August 17, 2020 Honey Spas at Our Convent Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord feast (Honey Spas) at our convent. Orthodox Christians celebrate three Savior Days…
August 17, 2020 Marital Relations During a Fast The Church definitely instructs us to abstain from marital intimacy during a fast, but we must understand that there are always nuances. There are…
August 16, 2020 Why Can’t You Get Married During Lent? The yearning for one lost joy can overshadow all the other delights of the world. Archpriest Vladimir Kostochka thinks that everything has its due…
August 16, 2020 Holy Fathers on Carrying One’s Cross To take up your cross is to submit willingly and diligently to the privations and strains that curb the unspoken desires of our flesh….
August 15, 2020 “Hodegetria” of Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God The miraculous Smolensk-Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” is one of the shrines of the Bogoyavlensky Convent in Kostroma. The fresco icon,…
August 15, 2020 Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God Commemoration Day On the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God Commemoration Day, the sisters and parishioners of our convent made a cross procession and prayed…
August 15, 2020 The Antitype There is an unusual and incomprehensible word Antitype in the Eucharistic theology (Greek: ἀντίτυπα – instead of the image), used in relation to the…
August 14, 2020 Sermon on the Eve of the Feast of the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord Again, at the onset of fasting, preparation for communion, repentance, and ascetic feats, the Cross of Christ is erected before us; and it makes…
August 14, 2020 Old Russian Practice of Preparing for Prayer In the Russian Church prior to the beginning of the Nikonian reforms of the 17th century, there was a pious custom of the so-called…
August 13, 2020 Old Testament Saints of August: The Holy Maccabees and the Holy Prophet Micah Old Testament saints? Yes! God created saints, holy men and women, long before the coming of Christ, and “martyrs before the Martyrs” as our…
August 13, 2020 Why Is It That Two or Even Three Passages from the Holy Scripture Is Read at the Divine Services? This is due to the fact that the worship services in the Orthodox Church are harmoniously integrated into a single whole, consisting of several…
August 12, 2020 The Authority of the Fathers We Orthodox are fond of referring to the Church Fathers as authorities within the Church. When faced with a new or controversial issue, an…
