On Saturday, February 2nd, 2019 the inaugural Mission Development Conference and Satellite Training workshop was held in Glendale, AZ. The conference was sponsored by St. Lawrence Orthodox Church in Felton, CA, and their priest, Fr. Thaddaeus Hardenbrook, was one of the conference speakers and leaders. Fr. John A. Peck led the sessions by identifying important mission growth principles. Fr. Thaddaeus discussed the relationship of anthropology and Orthodox phroenema to mission work. A break for lunch at the local Buffalo Wild Wings was a happy success, and after lunch, Paul Rathbone, of the Theotokos "Joy of All Who Sorrow" and St. John Maximovitch Orthodox Mission spoke about Home Fellowship Groups. Conversations were lively, and continued … [Read more...]
The Men who Failed to Paganize the Origins of Christmas
by John Sanidopoulos Every Christmas season, the usual myths are hauled out and distributed for popular consumption. You know them. We’ve all heard or read them. That Christmas celebrations were stolen from the Romans The Christmas tree is a pagan hangover That other gods had virgin births That Yule and the mistletoe are all about Odin These falsehoods are repeated often and loudly, under the guise of being “historical truths.” And strangely they still stump most Christians, who are then filled with doubt about what they believe. Of course, these myths were designed to elicit precisely this sort of reaction from believers. All of them were invented in the 18th- and 19th-centuries by specific writers, who were looking for … [Read more...]
Sermon on the Occasion of an Earthquake
In light of the terrible earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska, we offer this homily by St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on the occasion of an earthquake in his day. Have you seen God’s power, have you seen God’s love for mankind? His power, because He shook the world; His love, because He made the tottering world firm again; or rather, you saw both His power and His love in both. For the earthquake showed His power, and its cessation showed His love, because He shook the earth and made the world fast again, because He set it upright when it was rocking and about to fall. The earthquake has gone by, but let the fear remain; that tossing has run its course, do not let discretion depart with it. We spent three days in prayer; … [Read more...]
2018 Vicariate Spiritual Retreat
On Saturday, October 13, 2018 at the Cathedral of St. George in Daly City, CA, the Vicariate held the 3rd Annual Spiritual Retreat of the Vicariate for Palestinian/Jordanian Orthodox Christian Communities in the USA. The speakers were Archimandrite Damaskinos Alazrai (who gave his presentation in Arabic), Fr. Thaddaeus Hardenbrook, Fr. John A. Peck, and Fr. Leo Arrowsmith whose presentations are embedded below. Although it is not below, Master Iconographer Fr. Luke Dingman also gave a short presentation. The text of Fr. John's presentation is below the videos. … [Read more...]
A Letter from Metropolitan Amfilochios of Kissamos and Selinon to ASONA
We just today received this note from his eminence Amfilochios, Metropolitan of Kissamos and Selinon. Let's continue to pray for him, and for the faithful of the new St. Nikiphoros the Leper Church! … [Read more...]
Blessing the Chapel of St. Nikiphoros the Leper
On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, the holy relics of St. Nikiphoros the Leper were brought to the Hermitage Chapel of St. Nikiphoros for a special blessing. The Paraklesis service to St. Nikiphoros was celebrated, and the holy relics were made available for veneration. On Sunday, September 30, the holy relics will be brought to All Saints of North America Orthodox Church for veneration, two days before the Church of St. Nikiphoros will be consecrated by several hierarchs and many faithful, including the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and many more hierarchs. The parishioners of ASONA made a special gift to help the building up of the Church of St. Nikiphoros, and we are doubly blessed to have a portion of his … [Read more...]
The Life of an Orthodox Christian
I must say, this was simple, but impressive in its scope and treatment. Enjoy! … [Read more...]
L.A.M.B.S. – Learning About My Blessed Savior
On the one year anniversary of ASONA, we are launching our L.A.M.B.S. (Learning About My Blessed Savior) Children's Education group. Our Chidren's Educaiton Group is run by Laura Broughton, and assisted by Sophia Mastrangelo. Please get in touch with them after Divine Liturgy if you have questions, wish to join, or need additional information. This part of the website will be the location for weekly lessons, updates, and news. Parents, please make sure you are in touch with us - this is a very specific program, and requires precision planning to accomplish. For everyone else, we ask you to pray daily for our L.A.M.B.S. Group and Group Leaders for the rest of the year. If you have any questions, see Fr. John or Laura on … [Read more...]
About the Particles Taken out During the Proskomedia
“And there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Since ancient Apostolic times the Liturgy was served with one Bread (and one Chalice) following Christ’s example. This tradition remained in the West. In the East, according to Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern), “The Byzantine Empire weaved a lot of theological and mystical patterns in the liturgical cloth”. In particular, the best bread was chosen as the lamb, while small particles were taken out from all the other breads and placed on the diskos near the lamb in memory of those who had brought those breads (such liturgical tradition exists since 11th century; before that time all the other breads were just raised with pronunciation of the names of people who brought … [Read more...]
Archbishop Demetrios: 2018 Dormition Encyclical
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we celebrate this blessed Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, “in radiant joy with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs together with the angels and the apostles,” we give thanks to God for the revelation of His abundant grace and glorious power through the life and witness of the Virgin Mary. In our commemoration of her and the holiness of her life and service, we are reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, All things are possible to the one who believes. (Mark 9:23). This assurance of Christ, that through faith the impossible becomes possible, that as people of God we can move beyond limitations to accomplish great and marvelous things in His name, was the focus of the … [Read more...]
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