Below the reader will find the work of St. Theophan the Recluse, "On Truth and Love." On some of my social media accounts, I posted the recent statement from the Synod of the OCA, "On Same-Sex Relations and Sexual Identity." In it, Glory to God, the Synod upholds Orthodox teaching. It was striking to me …
Tag: Orthodoxy in America
The Disease of Secular-Humanism and the Cure
“A man who is blind in relation to one thing (to God) is totally blind in relation to all things; and a man who sees in the one (in God), has vision of all things,” St Symeon the New Theologian.1 Events in the world seem to be transpiring at breakneck speed. This is intentional. Keeping …
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Joyful Light: A Sermon by St. Sebastian Dabovich
Below the reader will find a sermon by one of the few American-born Orthodox saints, Sebastian Dabovich (1863-1940). The sermon was originally printed in the 1966 September – October issue of the Orthodox Word, pp. 129-132. All end notes are from the original article. May we, through the prayers of St. Sebastian, be illumined with …
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A Starless Sky
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 …
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 …
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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A Reflection on Ukraine, America, Russia, and War
“The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who, out of envy, killed his own brother” His Beatitude, Metropolitan Onuphry of All Ukraine. I have been working on another rather large article, which is close to being …
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A Pick of Ten
Ten picks from the archives. 2022. I now have over 200 articles on my blog. In this post, I have gathered 10 articles from the now 200 I have posted. This is not a “top ten” list, these articles highlight and touch on issues that I believe to be of continued importance and value (although …
Prophetic Warnings – That We Would be Saved
“In the twentieth century it is almost a joke in the Western world to use words like 'good' and 'evil.' They have become old-fashioned concepts, yet they are very real and genuine. These are concepts from a sphere which is above us. And instead of getting involved in base, petty, shortsighted political calculations and games …
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Without Christ, Everything is in Vain
“If we burnish the wires, the sinful man can become a good conductor, and then the Grace of God will be transmitted to provide the divine light of Grace. Otherwise, the system is short-circuited and Grace cannot enter. The basic thing is for man to take care not to lose the Grace of God, so …
The Inkless Pen 