by Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) The power of the sign of the cross is known since the times of the holy apostles who performed miracles by it. Once, St John the Apostle found a sick man lying on the road in fever and healed him with the sign of the cross (St Dimitry of Rostov. Life of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian). Saint Anthony the Great, speaking about the power of the sign of the cross against demons, said the following: “…Therefore, when demons come to you at night, wishing to foretell the future, or calling themselves angels, do not heed them, because they lie. If they praise your asceticism and exalt you, do not listen to them and do not bond with them in the … [Read more...]

Theaters need to learn there's a "huge" market for good, Orthodox, faith based and family friendly movies out there. If you make them, we'll come and see them. Man of God” was a box office success on the first night of its two-night-only release, finishing in fourth position among the top-five highest grossing films, behind “The Batman", "Jujutsu Kaisen 0" and "Uncharted" on Monday, March 21. #1 The Batman #2 Jujutsu Kaisen 0 #3 Uncharted #4 Man of God “Man of God” was originally scheduled to be released in select theaters nationwide for one night only (March 21). But, due to popular demand, Fathom Events added another showing, on March 28. Don't miss your chance to see it on the … [Read more...]

Beloved in the Lord, Brothers and Sisters! Today the eyes of many of us are affixed to varying sources of information, and our hearts, numb and in bitter distress, behold the events presently unfolding in the God-preserved land of Ukraine. Seeing everything that is taking place, we instinctively call to mind the words of our Saviour, “of wars and rumors of wars,” and His warning: “see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). These words of the Son of God before His suffering on the Cross have resounded in our churches for many years, but it seemed to us that they were describing events from the distant past or some future … [Read more...]

The short answer is 'not on my watch.' The long answer is described by St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 180 AD) below. “And the churches too will wail with a mighty lamentation, because neither oblation nor incense is attended to, nor a service acceptable to God; but the sanctuaries of the churches will become like a garden-watcher’s hut, and the Holy Body and Blood of Christ will not be shown in those days. The public service of God shall be extinguished.” - On the End of the World, 34 … [Read more...]

It is a great day in the life in any parish when one of their own is elevated to Holy Orders, and even more so when one of those is ordained to the rank of presbyter, to the Holy Priesthood. On Sunday, February 20, 2022, a small group from ASONA, including Fr. John, Dcn. Joseph, and Mka Deborah Peck, travelled to participate in the ordination of Dcn Michael Vallecillo to the Priesthood at Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, the resting place of the relics of St. John Maximovitch. Fr. Michael will be assigned to St. Herman’s parish in Show Low, AZ. Here is the link to the video of the entire service (the ordination begins at 1:23:00). Here is the link to the video starting with the … [Read more...]