by John Sanidopoulos October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Latin ôctō meaning "eight") after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and with spring in the Southern hemisphere. The month of October in the Orthodox Church is perhaps the least eventful as far as great festivals and themes in the calendar are concerned. Nothing related to the life of our Lord Jesus Christ or … [Read more...]
September is National Preparedness Month
Our ASONA Ready Page contains more than in this article. Click here to see the ASONA Ready Page. September is indeed National Preparedness Month, and this year recommended tasks have conveniently broken down our activity into four simple tasks - 1 per week! The Time to Make a Plan is Now Make a plan today. Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establish a family meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find. The Basics Remember, when trouble hits, you can't rely on your local stores. Remember stores running out … [Read more...]
About Orthodox Divine Services
by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) Orthodox Divine Services are an enormous treasure, one which we must carefully keep. Whether in the Liturgy, Vespers, Matins, the Hours, Midnight Office, or Compline, from the very opening exclamation we immerse ourselves into our element, into prayer, that nothing is capable of interrupting. One after another, psalms, litanies, sticherae, troparia, prayers and exclamations by the priest: the entire service moves like a single, constant, unfolding mystery, breathing as one, everything in one rhythm, nothing distracting from prayer. Byzantine liturgical texts, filled with the most profound theological and mystical content, alternate with the prayerful … [Read more...]
Why are Parishioners Censed during Divine Services?
by Archpriest Victor Potapov Incense symbolizes prayer. That is pointed out in Sacred Scripture: And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5: 8). As sweet-smelling smoke lightly rises up, so true prayer coming from a purified heart, should rise up to God. As incense has a pleasant aroma, so prayer, done with love and humility, is pleasing to the Lord. The Holy Apostle Paul says, Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us … [Read more...]
Modest Attire
by Abbott Tryphon The Old Testament is filled with the image of God’s people being a holy people, set apart. The ancient Israelites were not like their neighbors. Their values and their faith impacted everything about them. They dressed differently than many of their neighboring pagan tribes. Their worship was centered on the God that had revealed himself to them and made them his chosen people. Their spiritual and moral views reflected this relationship with the One God that had entered into communion with them and who had revealed Divine Truth through the prophets. The Church is the continuation of the Church of the Old Testament and as such, we are the chosen people of God. Our lives … [Read more...]
Where is our Bliss in Paradise if our Loved Ones are in Fiery Gehenna?
by Priest Alexei Taakh The idea that God created such a “concentration camp” for eternal and cruel torture of sinners is nonsense. He is Love, He came down into our world and suffered for us; He taught love and forgiveness… And then He suddenly turned into a ruthless executioner and tortures His children everlastingly as punishment for several years of sinful life? It is nonsense. “After the general resurrection we will meet with our kin and friends. This long–awaited meeting and the life of the age to come is the fundamental hope of Christians. This is how we console ourselves after the deaths of our loved ones. But after the Last Judgment not everyone will inherit the Kingdom of … [Read more...]
“Children, It is the Last Hour”
by Fr. Lawrence Farley It is sometimes imagined that the Resurrection of Christ finds its full significance as the last happy chapter in the story of His life, so that after a gruelling chapter about His betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and burial, the tale can end with the Evangelist concluding, “And He lived happily ever after”. Consistent with this is a theological view which finds the sole significance of His Resurrection as proof that the price Jesus paid for our sin on the cross was accepted by the Father—that is, the Father indicated that the price Jesus paid by dying for our sins was fully sufficient. In this view, the Resurrection of Christ had no salvific value such as did His … [Read more...]
Inaugural Arizona Icon Writing Workshop Complete!
The first Arizona Icon Writing Workshop, sponsored by ASONA and Christ the Savior Churches is complete. Running from June 12-17, 2023, the week long Iconology Workshop was led by Tatiania and Dimitry Berestova of the Prosopon School of Iconology, and featured 12 students, lay and clergy, including two advanced students who have studied under the Prosopon School previously. Consisting of 22 distinct steps that were executed in 6 days, the Christology, anthropology, patterns, symbolism, and allegories of the icon and iconography were well presented by Tatiania Berestova. Running all day, from morning til evening, the workshop closed at around 5 pm on Saturday evening, just in time for Great … [Read more...]
The Divine Liturgy Sustains the Cosmos
Sermon 21 by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski) Translated by Fr. Zachariah Lynch Below the reader will find my translation from the Russian of sermon number 21 by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski), On the Divine Liturgy (only one more to go!). St. Seraphim reveals, once again, to us that the Divine Liturgy is a direct window to the Sun of Righteousness. Through it, the world is sustained and upheld. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the enemy seeks to halt the service of the Divine Liturgy? Be it through outright hindrance or by replacing it with an anti-liturgy, a false liturgy (such as is performed, for example, by the pseudo-church in Ukraine, the “orthodox church of Ukraine” [OCU-EP]). We also see … [Read more...]
Christ’s 2nd Coming or Antichrist: Who are Modern Christians Waiting For?
by Professor Alexei Osipov A lecture given to students of the Moscow Theological Academy Who is more awaited by modern Christians: Christ with His spiritual blessings, but Who has not improved people’s earthly life a whit, has not solved their daily problems—political, economic, social, or cultural; or antichrist, who promises to do give all this? Those Christians of all confessions, who see the meaning of their lives and faith itself in receiving the maximum of earthly blessings, will, of course, receive this earthly king as their savior. You don’t believe it? Well, just look at what modern Christians around the world seek most of all—of course they seek an abundance of earthly … [Read more...]
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