“And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone we always remember him and try to please him; day and night our heart is occupied with that object.

Is that how you, gentlemen, love God? Do you often turn to Him, do you always remember Him, do you always pray to Him and fulfill His holy commandments? ‘For our good, for our happiness at least let us make a vow that from this day, from this hour, from this minute we shall strive to love God above all else and to fulfill His holy will.’”

+ St. Herman of Alaska

On the icons of St. Nicholas, the Lord Savior is usually depicted on one side with a Gospel in His hands and, on the other side, the Most Holy Virgin, the Theotokos, with an episcopal omophor on her hands. This has a two-fold historical significance, and in the first instance, this signifies the calling of Nicholas to the Hierarchical office and in the second instance, his justification from the punishment because of the confrontation with Arius. 

St. Methodius, the Patriarch of Constantinople writes: “One night, St. Nicholas saw our Savior in glory standing by him and extending to him the Gospel, adorned with gold and pearls and, on the other side, he saw the Theotokos who was placing the episcopal pallium [omophorion] on his shoulders.” Shortly after this vision John, the Archbishop of Myra, died and St. Nicholas was appointed as archbishop of that city. That was the first incident. The second incident occurred at the time of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. Unable to stop Arius of the irrational blasphemy of the Son of God and His Most Holy Mother by reason, St. Nicholas struck Arius on the face with his hand. The holy fathers at the Council, protesting such action banned Nicholas from the Council and deprived him of all his episcopal signs. That same night, several of the holy fathers saw an identical vision, namely, how the Lord Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos standing around St. Nicholas; on one side the Lord Savior with the Gospel and, on the other side, the Most Holy Theotokos with a pallium extending to the saint the marks of his episcopacy which had been removed from him. Seeing this, the fathers were awe-struck and quickly returned to Nicholas that which had been taken away and began to respect him as a great chosen one of God and his actions against Arius, they interpreted, not as an act of unreasonable anger, but rather an expression of great zeal for God’s truth.

Prolog of Ohrid By Bishop NIKOLAI VELIMIROVCH

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Today the Virgin appears in the temple of God, in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all…

The angels beheld the entrance of the Pure One and were amazed. How has the Virgin entered into the Holy of Holies?

Purity and holiness, light and joy—that imperceptible spirit of today’s feast and service. Upon the steps of the Old Testament shrine of the Jerusalem Temple stands the three-year-old youth, the great Holy of Holies, triumphantly and rejoicing. And her elderly and righteous parents, Joachim and Anna, and a choir of young maidens with lighted candles, “singing, playing, and exalting,” accompany she who is borne as a gift to God. Embraced by sacred delight, the high priest Zacharias, the elder and father of the Forerunner, “blessed and welcomed” the holy maiden, and according to special revelation bore her into the Holy of Holies.

Small events, so why is this celebration so joyful, so memorable and significant? Continue reading →

Fr. Daniil Sisoyev visiting the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric, Serbian Orthodox Church

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord (Psalm 121:1).

People often ask priests: “Why should we go to church every Sunday?” and then they begin to justify themselves.

“We need our sleep, we need to spend time with the family, do things around the house and you want us to get up and go to church. What for?”

Of course, in order to justify one’s laziness one can come up with various objections. But we have to understand the meaning behind going to Church every Sunday. Continue reading →

Who would not be astonished to know in depth the life of this holy hierarch, this great servant of God? Like a new disciple of Saint Demetrios, during times of persecution, he did not hide his faith in Christ, but revealed and preached the name of our Lord and Saviour wherever he went.  

The future Vladyka Boris – zealous, respected and beloved shepherd, erudite, educator and patriot, was born on the day of Saint Demetrios in 1888 in the village of Gyatto, Bitola region. He lived modestly and poorly with his parents. When he was fifteen his father died.

The young man studied in the Constantinople Spiritual Seminary and in the Faculty of Theology in Chernovtsi where at the end of his studies he received a Doctoral Degree in Orthodox Theology. After becoming Hieromonk, the Synod assigned him a mission regading the Bulgarian community in Budapest. Later, he headed the Cultural and Educational Department at St. Synod, the temple “St. Alexander Nevsky” and after that was appointed a rector of the Sofia Seminary.  Continue reading →

The holy Optina Elders gave spiritual guidance and care to all Russia for more than a century, and continue to instruct their descendants, and continue to pray for them. Let us hold ourselves close to their instructions and teachings as to living and healing water.

St. Lev

• Above all keep from blaming and judging your close ones. We do have something to worry about: our sinful sores stink—we have to busy ourselves about them. You will not have to answer for others, only for yourself.

• Whoever feels that what he does is according to God, it will not be bad for him here, and it will be good for him there.

• Keeping the Lord’s commandments revives the soul; it brings peace to your body, and abundant comfort.

St. Moses

Continue reading →

We magnify You, O Most Pure Virgin, and we honor Your Protection!

The spiritual protection and intercession before God, which we receive according to the great mercy and love that the Mother of God has for us, do we hymn today. For from the time that the Divine Sufferer and Savior of the world willed to give to the Mother of God as an adopted child the human race in the person of His disciple, St. John the Theologian, this protection has not ceased for a single day; and throughout all times and human history it has been this way—Mother and child! Penetrate these words with your thought; think upon their great depth of meaning, and on the most sacred kinship, purer and holier than which there is none on earth.Woman, behold thy son! (Jn. 19:26) is heard from the lips of the Divine Sufferer. And what do these words mean?!

Continue reading →

Before the time of Christ, the cross was an instrument of punishment; it evoked fear and aversion. But after Christ’s death on the Cross it became the instrument of our salvation. Through the Cross, Christ destroyed the devil; from the Cross He descended into hades and, having liberated those languishing there, led them into the Kingdom of Heaven. The sign of the Cross is terrifying to demons and, as the sign of Christ, it is honored by Christians.

“O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Grant victory unto Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and by the virtue of Your Cross, preserve Your community.”

The beginning of this prayer is taken from the twenty-seventh Psalm. In the Old Testament the word “people” designated only those who confessed the true faith, people faithful to God. Continue reading →

Thy Nativity, O Theotokos Virgin, Has brought joy to all the inhabited earth: For from Thee has sprung forth the Son of Righteous, Christ our God…

We solemnly celebrate, dear brothers and sisters, the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin Mary from her barren parents, pious Joachim and Anna. Continue reading →

Our ever-memorable spiritual father and mentor, Archimandrite Lazarus (born Michael Petrovich Abashidze-Desimon), was born on July 23, 1959, in the town of Gagra in Abkhazia, one of the most beautiful corners of the Caucasus. He graduated from the Russian school of Gagra and studied architecture at one of Moscow institutes. According to the future archimandrite, he had a vague feeling of dissatisfaction from his childhood.

As a student of an institute of higher education in Moscow, Michael Abashidze became distrustful of both the existing regime and the general atmosphere of falsehood and hypocrisy in the world, which stirred up his protest. Since his family was not religious, Michael was still not baptized. His inner dissatisfaction and protest caused him to join the hippie youth movement.

Several years later he found a copy of the Bible and the Orthodox Catechism in his friend’s house. It left an indelible impression on him, the chapter from the Book of Isaiah about the Passion of Christ in particular. From that moment he took a profound interest in Orthodoxy and wanted to comprehend its essence.