Prayer to Mary, the Mother of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, is an ancient Christian practice. The earliest written record of a prayer to the Virgin Mary is dated around 250 AD. This prayer, “Beneath thy compassion,” is in use to this day in the Orthodox Church. Prayer to and veneration of the …
Continue reading Christian Prayer to the Virgin Mary and the Theotokos Rule
Below the reader will find excerpts from an article by Ven. Seraphim of Platina, The Goal of Dialogue with Non-Christian Religions, Orthodox Word, 1972, Vol. 8, #1, (42). As Orthodox Christians we may well have hoped that the topic would have lost its significance, and that Orthodox would have repented of their dabbling in communion …
Continue reading Can the Orthodox Church Enter a Dialogue with Non-Christian Religions?
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!). The preceding sermons may be found by clicking here. St. Seraphim reveals, once again, to us that the Divine Liturgy is a direct window to the Sun of …
Greetings in Jesus Christ, dear readers! Two of my recent posts, The Gates of Hell Shall not Prevail, and, Worldly Progress or the Cross, were taken from a collection of writings by Archbp. Averky of blessed memory entitled, "True Orthodoxy and the Modern World." I received some comments from some readers asking if it would …
Continue reading Link to the full work of Archbp. Averky, “True Orthodoxy and the Modern World.”
The Most High God, the Holy Trinity, sustains and gives life to all things, from the smallest blade of grass to the most distant star. The beautiful and staple prayer, “O Heavenly King,” clearly confess this reality, “Who art everywhere present and fills all things.” The Holy Trinity is the Giver of life – the …
Below the reader will find another teaching from the great lion of the 20th century, Archbishop Averky. The article is taken from “Orthodoxy and the Modern World,” Chapter 28, “The Kingdom of God on Earth, Progress, or the Cross?”1 In these days, our hope must be in Christ Jesus. All of man's “progress,” which for …
Below is a sermon by Archbishop Averky of blessed memory from a collection of his works entitled, “True Orthodoxy and the Modern World.”1 The sermon is from chapter 29 of this work, “The Church of Christ is 'the Pillar and Bulwark of the Truth.” Our Venerable Father Seraphim of Platina called Archbishop Averky one of …
Below the reader will find the English translation of an open letter by the faithful of the Zaporozhye Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The faithful Hierarch of this Diocese is Luke. I have in the past translated a few of his writings (which may be found on this …
Below the reader will find my translation from the Russian of sermon number 19 by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski), On the Divine Liturgy. The preceding sermons may be found by clicking here. We are reminded of the reality that the Divine Liturgy is a Divine revelation, that is it is not ultimately the creation of man, …
Continue reading The Divine Liturgy – The Hymn of the Seraphim
My dear readers, during this most beautiful week of the Cross, in the middle of the Great Fast, I wanted to share with you the words of the holy Archbishop Averky. They are from his work, “The Kingdom of God on earth - progress or the Cross?” Which is a chapter is a greater work …
The Inkless Pen 