by Fr. Stephen Freeman Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation. - Fr. Alexander Schmemann I do not believe it is possible to exhaust this topic. I have set forth a few suggestions of how we might build and maintain a life of thanksgiving. Particular thought is given to those times when giving thanks is difficult. 1. I must believe that God is good. I struggled with this for many years. I believed that God was sovereign; I believed that He was the Creator of heaven and earth; I believed that He sent His only Son to die for me. But despite a host of doctrines to which I gave some form of consent, not included (and this was a matter of my heart) was the simple, … [Read more...]

by Fr. Zechariah Lynch In true Christianity — Orthodoxy — right faith and living go hand in hand. For instance, a person cannot confess that "Jesus Christ is not God" and be an Orthodox Christian. In confessing something contrary to the revelation of God in His Church, such a one is setting himself at odds with that revelation. Of course, one may repent, that is, change his faulty confession and receive the true confession of Christ in His Church. Yet a person who willingly persists in a false teaching, willingly sets himself outside of Christ and His Body. A person who rejects the manifest teachings of true Christianity is not a Christian at all. Such a one subscribes to heresy and is a … [Read more...]

St. Herman’s West 2022 will be held this year at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Youngtown (near Phoenix), AZ. Arrival is December 26 with departure on December 30. The conference will include a work project — building a walkway for processions at the church, panel discussions, lectures by Fr. George Kaplanov, liturgical workshops, a hierarchal liturgy, and social interaction in beautiful areas of Phoenix and Old Town Scottsdale. Come out for a break from winter weather and an injection of new life into your Orthodox life! Registration for parishioners of the ROCOR Western American Diocese opens October 1. Register Here. The cost for youth is $275 for first family member, $250 for … [Read more...]

by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon Before he ever met the Apostle Paul, the life of young Timothy was already full of blessings. Indeed, Paul himself, among the last lines he wrote on this earth, reminded Timothy of those blessings: “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14–15). Both Paul and Timothy knew who were the latter’s first teachers of Holy Scripture. Paul wrote earlier in this same epistle, “I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in … [Read more...]

By George Mantzarides Professor at the School of Theology, University of Thessaloniki Are you aware that counting 40 days from Transfiguration, on the 40th day we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross? It’s not a mistake. The Transfiguration of Our Savior has a central place in the Orthodox Church and in Orthodox theology. It is the event that reveals the glory of the Church and of the faithful. It is a witness to the new reality introduced by the coming of Christ in history. During His Transfiguration, Christ revealed the Uncreated Glory of His Divinity within His human nature. At the same time, He took up those surrounding Him into His Uncreated Divine Glory. Moses and Elias … [Read more...]

by Fr. Lawrence Farley The service of Vespers is, I think, dramatically under-appreciated today. The temptation for us busy people is to reduce our church-going to Sunday mornings only, and let everything else slide. Since we under-appreciate Vespers, it often tends to slide with other things we deem relatively unimportant. But Vespers warrants a second look, and a renewed appreciation. The word “vespers” comes from the Greek ἑσπέρα (hespera) and the Latin vesper, both meaning “evening”, because it is the evening service of the Church. Christians are to pray to God not just on Sunday mornings, but constantly, sanctifying time by offering prayer throughout the day. In the eighth chapter of … [Read more...]

by Abbot Tryphon One of the most powerful reasons for embracing Orthodoxy is to be found in the Church’s insistence that she holds to the evangelical and apostolic doctrine of the Ancient Church. In an age when everything is up for change, there is a certain security and stability when one institution (the Church) stands firm in her Apostolic Authority, and refuses to allow popular culture or political correctness to influence her rightful role as hospital for the soul. “It is not lawful to differ even by a single word from the evangelical and apostolic doctrine, or to think otherwise than as the blessed Apostles and our fathers learned and taught concerning the Holy Scriptures," (Saint … [Read more...]

The Fourth Ecumenical Synod of 451 took place in the Church of Saint Euphemia in Chalcedon, where her sacred relics were kept. The Patriarch of Constantinople at this Synod was Anatolios, while the Pope of Rome was Leo the Great. Information about the miracle of Saint Euphemia comes from two letters: one from the the Synod to Pope Leo and the other from Patriarch Anatolios to Pope Leo. Though the passages are a bit obscure about the miracle, it says that the definition of faith was delivered by Saint Euphemia as her own confession of faith and confirmed by the holy Fathers present. It seems clear that Pope Leo already knew of the miracle, or it was common knowledge by the time these two … [Read more...]

The holy Great Martyr Euphemia (September 16) suffered martyrdom in the city of Chalcedon in the year 304, during the time of the persecution against Christians by the emperor Diocletian (284-305). One and a half centuries later, at a time when the Christian Church had become victorious within the Roman Empire, God deigned that Euphemia the All-Praised should again be a witness and confessor of the purity of the Orthodox teaching. In the year 451 in the city of Chalcedon, in the very church where the glorified relics of the holy Great Martyr Euphemia rested, the sessions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (July 16) took place. The Council was convened for determining the precise dogmatic … [Read more...]