-
The Saint, the Priest, and Face-tattoos
By Fr Photios Parks Some years back, there was a point in my life when I didn’t give a second thought to the Saints. I really didn’t see how they had any place within my faith. In Bible College and in Protestant seminary, I was fed the idea that saints were either a type of good luck charm to sell my house, a statue in your yard to attract birds, or they were individuals likened to magicians whose bones were exploited in medieval times. Fortunately, I had a life-changing experience that dispelled my incorrect notions about Saints and changed my whole paradigm in the way I view these holy servants.…
-
When Fr Benedict Resurrected His Dead Benefactor
Archimandrite Benedict Petrakis (+ September 8, 1961) developed a magnificent pastoral activity in the Metropolis of Aitoloakarnania and especially in Agrinio. Many spiritual branches of this region bore fruit through his systematic work and his exceeding love for God and neighbor. When he was young and wanted to study theology, he was helped financially by a pious woman from Patras, Melpomeni Bulbasakos. And when he became a mature preacher in Aitoloakarnania, he received a phone call informing him that his benefactor was near death and he was requested to go and give her final communion. Immediately Benedict got into a taxi and hurried for Melpomeni’s home in Patras. When he…
-
Orthodox Spirituality and The Technological Revolution
From “The Authentic Seal: Spiritual Instruction and Discourses,” by Archimandrite Aimilianos, Former Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras, Mount Athos. Introduction A great deal is made nowadays of “the technological revolution,” as seen from both sides, those in favour and those who are very much against. In the realm of Orthodox theology, however, is there really any essential difference between the age-old problem of technology and today’s reality? We could, of course, talk about the last century with the industrial revolution and all its consequences: social, political, moral, religious and so on. When people speak of a new era in the history of mankind, of the third, technological…
-
Strangers in a Foreign Land: Nationalism and the Orthodox Church
In calling the Church ‘catholic,’ Orthodox Christians confess belief in a Church for all ages, nations, and races. The Catholic Church is whole, complete, and lacking nothing—for this is what ‘catholic’ truly means. It is a calling for all, and Christ our God is sacrificed ‘on behalf of all, and for all.’ There is often confusion—especially for those either outside or unfamiliar with the Orthodox Church—in viewing our local, autonomous churches as ‘ethnic’ churches. Nevertheless, such a perspective was condemned as heresy (termed ‘ethno-phyletism’) by an ecumenical council in Constantinople (August 10, 1872).1 In that context, the concern was the uncanonical creation of an ethnic church for Bulgarians—a church sharing essentially the same ‘space’ as the…
-
The Self-Liquidation of Christianity
The striking phrase, “God is dead,” is the poetical expression of modern unbelief. Much is expressed in this phrase that is not to be found in the more prosaic expressions of modern atheism and agnosticism. A vivid contrast is established between a previous age when men believed in God and based their life and institutions upon Him, and a new age for whose inhabitants, supposedly, this once all-illuminating sun has been blotted out, and life and society must be given a new orientation. The phrase, itself apparently coined by Nietzsche almost a century ago, was for long used to express the views of a comparatively few enemies of Christianity, chiefly…
-
St. Xenia: The Homeless Wanderer
We know almost nothing about the early years of Blessed Xenia’s life. She was happily married to a colonel who was a court singer in St. Petersburg, Russia’s capital city at that time, and we can assume that her’ own family was among the well-to-do. She was only 26 years old when her husband suddenly died at a drinking party. Xenia loved her husband very much and his unexpected death came as a great shock, It completely changed her way of looking at life. Knowing that her husband had not prepared himself for death and that he had died without the prayers of the Church, she began to be very…
-
Subscribe Now!
Hurry and subscribe now! There is much in store for subscribers in 2013!! New issues and exclusive merchandise for subscribers only! More will be revealed in the upcoming weeks! SUBSCRIBE HERE!
-
Elder Arsenie: Kinds of Temptations
-
In Spirit and Truth (Issue 13)
A Homily by Archpriest Micheal Reagan Originally published in Issue 13, 2006 In Spirit and Truth To the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus said that “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”. From this passage it is clear that there is such a thing as “true worship” which is decided by God and not by man. But what is true worship? Is there such a thing as false worship? If the ancient…
-
The Sacrament (Mystery) of Christian Baptism
by St Cyprian of Carthage. From a Letter written to a new convert, 246 A.D. I promise to share with you the grace God in His great mercy has shown me, and to tell you as simply as I can what I have experienced since I was baptized. Until that time, I was still living in the dark, knowing nothing of my true life. I was completely involved in this world’s affairs, influenced by all its changing moods and troubles, and exiled from the light of truth. I had indeed been told that God offered men and women a second birth, by which we could be saved, but I very…
-
On Forming the Soul
By Blessed Fr. Seraphim of Platina The soul that comes to Orthodoxy today often finds itself in a disadvantaged or even crippled state. Often one hears from converts after some years of seemingly unfruitful struggles that “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I became Orthodox.” Some sense this when they are first exposed to the Orthodox Faith, and this can cause them to postpone their encounter with Orthodoxy or even run away from it entirely. A similar thing often happens to those baptized in childhood when they reach mature years and must choose whether or not to commit themselves to their childhood faith. From one point of…
