I started this blog five years ago in June of 2017. I figure that's a five-year anniversary. I simply wrote. I didn't write to try and be known. I was pretty shocked when the readership really started to grow. Really, I'm just a nobody parish priest of a smaller-sized parish in a midsized town in …
Tag: Christian Faith
The Life of the Holy New Hieromartyr Pavel of the Russian Far East
“I clearly see that the people’s task is not to remake the state system, but to work on the human person, and to be better yourself, and even to suffer for the truth.” Holy New-Hieromartyr Pavel. 1886 saw a terrible cholera epidemic in the city of Kolyvan, Siberia when young Pavel (Paul) Lasareff was 6 …
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Sight: A Cause for Scandal
“One thing I know ... I was blind and now I see” (John 9:25) - O Lord, I am no one. Just a blind beggar in the outer court. I have no eyes to see, I have no wealth by which to live. I am forgotten and despised by men. Have mercy on me. Illumine …
The Kingdom Proclaimed by the Angels and Prophets
Below the reader will find my translation of sermon 10 on the Divine Liturgy by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski). All titles and endnotes are my own. Previous sermons may be found here. I pray that you find great encouragement in the wise and profound sermons by St. Seraphim and that your love of worshipping God in …
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Salvation in No Other Name: Christians! You Must Know Christ!
Here is a spectacle worthy of bitter lamentation: Christians who do not know in what Christianity consists! St. Ignatius Brianchaninov The reader will find below a most pertinent letter by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. In it, he addresses mentalities and ideas that have only become more accentuated in our times. As Orthodox Christians, St. Ignatius calls …
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EXCLUSIVE: The Full Transcript of Lucifer’s Address to Adam and Eve at the First Ecumenical Dialogue of Love, Held in Eden
BREAKING NEWS! Paradise Lost News. EXCLUSIVE! Paradise Lost News has obtained exclusive access to the transcript of the first ecumenical dialogue of love, as it has been called, that is taking place this day in Eden itself. The transcript contains the address of Lucifer, leader of the fallen angels, to the relatively new creation of …
Proskomedia: The Liturgy of Preparation
My dear readers, below you will find my translation of Sermon nine on the Divine Liturgy by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski). All endnotes are my own. Also, within the sermon itself, I provide what I consider a few clarifications contained within brackets [ ]. The preceding sermons may be found here. May the rich words of …
The Desert: the End Time Dwelling for the Church
“These things I have spoken to you, in order that you should not be made to stumble. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, moreover there comes an hour that everyone who kills you should think that he offers God a service” (Jn. 16:1-2). The path of a true Christian can be nothing …
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The Priestly Preparation of the Divine Liturgy
Below is my translation from the Russian of the eighth sermon by New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinski) on the Divine Liturgy. The preceding sermons may be found here. This is a continuing series. Sermon 8 The Lord says, “I am the bread which came down from heaven” (Jn. 6:41). The bread is His Divine Body and …
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The Revival of the Heart
“Prepare yourselves to confess the Faith, prepare yourselves for martyrdom! God's thunder is all around us!” New Hieromartyr Nikon of Vologda.1 Cultivating the heart in Christ Jesus is vital to true Christianity and steadfast confession. Our Lord Himself warns us to guard our hearts so that they do not grow cold with the times (cf. …
The Inkless Pen 