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Saint Sava’s ideal

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“Brothers and spiritual children, mainly I beg you to lay all your hope on God, hold on to the true faith above all.”

~ Saint Sava

“The truth does not exist outside the Orthodox Church. It is the only faithful guardian of all that was commanded by the Lord through the Holy Apostles, and therefore it is the true Apostolic Church. It exists and will remain, according to His promise, unto the end of the world.”

~ St. Theophan the Recluse

“Give up everything for Christ, but Christ for nothing.”

Saint Sava’s ideal (described by St. Justin Popovich)

They will take the world away from Christ

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Archimandrite Lazar Abashidze (+August 17, 2018)

The last Christianity will take from the ancient only a shell, the content will be imperceptibly replaced by a new spirit, a different lifestyle, way of thinking and other values.

Secularized Christianity, with its wings cut off, is not only not scary for the devil, but also will serve him: after all, the antichrist will impersonate Christ, the Messiah, the God-man.

The devil, preparing the way for the antichrist, will be interested in spreading secularized, lifeless, formal Christianity throughout the world, and even all religions will try to “make friends” with him.

All religions recognize their “spiritual kinship” with Christianity, and even will admire the height of his teachings, the sanctity of his moral requirements, the beauty of his symbolism, etc.

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The Annunciation

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When the All-Holy Virgin completed the fourteenth year after her birth and was entering her fifteenth year, after having spent eleven years of living and serving in the Temple of Jerusalem, the priests informed her that, according to the Law, she could not remain in the Temple but was required to be betrothed and enter into marriage. What a great surprise to the priests was the answer of the All-Holy Virgin that she had dedicated her life to God and that she desired to remain a Virgin until death, not wanting to enter into marriage with anyone! Then, according to Divine Providence, Zacharias, the high priest and father of the Forerunner, under the inspiration of God, and in agreement with the other priests, gathered twelve unwed men from the Tribe of David to betroth the Virgin Mary to one of them to preserve her virginity and to care for her. She was betrothed to Joseph of Nazareth who was her kinsman. In the house of Joseph, the All-Holy Virgin continued to live as she did in the Temple of Solomon, occupying her time in the reading of Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in Godly-thoughts, in fasting and in handiwork.

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Saint Sava, Archbishop of the Serbs

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Sava was born in 1169 A.D. He was the son of Stephen [Stefan] Nemanja the Grand Zupan of the Serbs. As a young man, Sava yearned for the spiritual life for which he fled to the Holy Mountain [Mt. Athos] where he was tonsured a monk and with rare zeal lived according to the ascetical rule. Stefan Nemanja followed the example of his son and came to the Holy Mountain where he was tonsured a monk and died as Simeon, the monk. Continue reading →

The Holy King Milutin

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A great son of the Orthodox Church, King Milutin saved the Balkans from Uniatism. At that time in history when the Byzantine emperor’s conscience was weakened, this noble and God-bearing Slavic king rose up decisively and, with God’s help, saved Orthodoxy and not only in his own land, but also in all the lands of the Balkans. Everyone who closely examines the life of the holy King Milutin will understand why God gave him success after success in all his works throughout his life. When Milutin ascended the throne, he immediately vowed to God that he would build a church for each year that he would reign. He reigned forty-two years and built forty-two churches. Next to some of the churches-for example, in Thessalonica and Constantinople-he also built hospitals for the indigent, where the poor would receive everything free of charge. Beyond that, he especially loved to give alms to the needy from his own enormous wealth. Oftentimes, this powerful and wealthy king dressed in the clothes of a poor man and, with two or three of his servants, walked among the people at night and asked about their misfortunes, and gave to them abundantly. He lived a very simple, familial life, even in the midst of his great wealth-though he never seemed that way to foreigners. He had become accustomed to a simple life while still at the home of his father, King Uro I. It is told how Emperor Michael Palaeologus sent his daughter Anna with a retinue to the court of King Uro , as an offering to Milutin, in order to lure the Serbian king into union with Rome. But King Uro , seeing the foolish extravagance of the princess and her retinue, said: “What is this, and what is it for? We are not used to such a life.” And pointing to a Serbian princess with a distaff in her hand, he said: “Behold, this is the kind of clothing we expect our daughter-in-law to wear.”

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“I weep for the enemies of the Cross of Christ”

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If this general of the Church – Saint Paul – was among us today, again his tears would run endlessly from his eyes. Tears:
-for those who abuse and blaspheme the Cross of Christ,
-for those who are ashamed to make the sign of the Cross and not love the life of the Cross,
-for those who do not walk according to the citizenship of the Cross,
-for those who with their temporary power test the patience of the people, and oppress and tyrannize the human person, being scornful and disrespectful towards the unrepeatable divine image in man,
-for those who like Judas betray Christ,
-for all sorts of heretics who like wolves do not spare the flock and speak perverse things in order to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:30),
-for those who create schisms and divisions, putting the spotlight on themselves and supposedly work to present themselves as saviors instead of the true Savior Christ.

His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria
(part of Sermon)

Schedule of Services

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Below is a schedule of Services for next 2 weeks.

1. Saturday April 16 Holy Liturgy at 10:00 AM.

2. Sunday April 17 Holy Liturgy at 10:00 AM.

3. Wednesday April 20 Akathist at 6:00 PM

4. Thursday April 21 Holy Liturgy at 10:00 AM

5. Thursday April 21 Evening Service at 6:00 PM

6. Friday April 22 Evening Service at 6:00 PM

7. Saturday April 23 Holy Liturgy at 10:00 AM

8. Sunday April 24 Holy Liturgy at 10:00 AM

Welcome to your Church!!! 

Service Registrations

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We are setting up a Christmas Church service schedule, so we can ensure we follow all AHS recommendations for Church Services.  We can not allow more than 33% of our Fire Code occupancy, so we are setting up a schedule with multiple services options on Eventbrite. On January 6, the Church will be open all day from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM (the time between 11:30 AM and 4:00 PM is reserved for personal visits and registration is not necessary) Registration is necessary to attend any of the Services. January 7, the Church will be open from 9:00 AM to 1:00 and registration is necessary to attend the Service at 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. 

To ensure social distancing protocols, we ask that everyone follows the below instructions:

1) If you, or anyone in your household are feeling sick or unwell in any way, please do not come to Church.

2) Everyone MUST wear a mask.

3) When you arrive at the Church please stay in your vehicle until your scheduled time slot.

4) Please keep 6 feet of distance between other families and do not shake hands. Use the hand sanitizer available before and after the services. You must leave the church before the next time slot begins, so we can prepare for the next scheduled time slot.

5) Please follow the instructions of the volunteers.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/christmas-church-service-schedule-2022-tickets-236004394497

A Transition to Life

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Elder Ephraim of Arizona, Homily on the Dormition of the Mother of God

Every time we celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God, it’s as if we’re having Easter – the Easter of the summer. Our Lady the Mother of God prepares Easter for us. A glorious crossing “from death to life”. A second Easter, holy spotless, life-giving for the human race, because today “the laws of nature are overcome.”

“How the source of life goes towards life, passing through death”, says Saint John the Damascane. The death of the life-giving Mother of the Lord transcends the concept of death, so that it’s not even called death, but “dormition” and “divine transition” and an emigration and immigration towards the Lord. And even if it’s called death, it’s a life-bringing death, since it transports to a celestial and immortal life.

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