October 26, 2017 The Significance of the Rituals Connected with Death and Dying in the Orthodox Church Theological and scriptural grounding It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for…
October 26, 2017 Several Stories about Various Iveron Icons of the Mother of God During the ninth century and the Byzantine Iconoclasm (destruction of the icons), in the reign of Emperor Theophilus, and in accordance with his command,…
October 25, 2017 Deciding to Enter into Marriage: Relationships Before Marriage Why is the candy and flowers phase of a relationship so important? What qualities are necessary for a future spouse—husband and wife? What…
October 25, 2017 The Story of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God The Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, by tradition, was written by the holy Evangelist Luke in the 15th year after the Ascension…
October 23, 2017 Places and Explanations of Contradictions in the Holy Scripture We can, however, only express the Truth if we foresee the extreme expression of all the contradictions inherent in it, from which it follows…
October 23, 2017 An Elder’s Correspondence to his Spiritual Daughter Caught Between the World and the Monastery January 3, 1879 In our last letter of December 14, you wrote that you cannot find any books applicable to your situation. You…
October 23, 2017 St. Ambrose of Optina on the Consequences of a Continuously Happy Life “A continuously happy life produces extremely unhappy consequences. In nature we see that there are not always pleasant springs and fruitful summers, and sometimes…
October 23, 2017 How Are Passions Born? Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, reasoned one of the friends of Job the Much-Suffering…
October 20, 2017 Impediments and Advice on the Priestly Vocation The following represents my own personal reflections and are not necessarily representative of anyone else’s opinions. I focus on the UOC-USA because it is…
October 20, 2017 What Can I See in the Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God? The Pskov-Pechersk Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God (also called “The Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God”) is famous for defending…
October 20, 2017 12 Thoughts of Athonite Elders on How to Stay Healthy and Defeat Your Diseases 1 When we give ourselves to Christ, then our spiritual organism is in peace, which allows our organs begin to function naturally. They all…
October 20, 2017 How a Single Parable Helped a Man Convert to Christianity Shortly before World War I, a Turk visited Fr. Ieronymos’ humble hermitage. The Turk told the elder that his master, a judge, had sent…
