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?
Tripping, stumbling, wandering, Dusty, gritty, and dirty, Parched mouth, fumbling hands, Eyes darkened, blinded Hustle, bustle, tossed here and there, Stamping crowds, a thousand Murmuring voices of disharmony. Fallen, beggar, wounded, lost, Sinful, sitting by the wayside, Two-fold aspect of being Eternally woven and bound, Earthen body – immaterial spirit Sightless windows, eyes veiled, Trampled …
Below the reader will find my translation from the Russian of sermon number 22 by St. Seraphim (Zvezdenski), On the Divine Liturgy. This is the final sermon in the series. The preceding sermons may be found by clicking here. I posted the first sermon on my blog in June of 2021. Now, about two years …
Continue reading The Divine Liturgy is the Axis of the Wheel of Life
Below the reader will find a sobering and timely message from Archbishop Averky of blessed memory. He delivered these words in the midst of the 20th century when Communism held full sway in the then Soviet Union and he himself lived in the United States. Yet, in a manner similar to Solzhenitsyn, he understands that …
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 …
The Inkless Pen 