Part of the Holy Forerunner's head is now on Mt. Athos. The main portion rests at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady, in Amiens, France. In recent years, Orthodox molebens and sometimes Divine Liturgies have been served there.
Already in his lifetime, St John of Kronstadt was considered a prophet and a miracle-worker. Several of these miracles are highlighted in this Christian Message from Moscow Podcast.
https://youtu.be/XFbGuz_j7ak
https://youtu.be/XFbGuz_j7ak
YouTube
Saint John of Kronstadt (Episode 62) - Orthodox Christian Podcast
2 Part Video
Intro - "On December 20th the Russian Orthodox Church marks the 100th death anniversary of the great Russian Saint St. John of Kronstadt.
His fame was such among the Russian people that he had no equals among the clergy in all the history…
Intro - "On December 20th the Russian Orthodox Church marks the 100th death anniversary of the great Russian Saint St. John of Kronstadt.
His fame was such among the Russian people that he had no equals among the clergy in all the history…
“There have been times when I was in line to receive Communion, and some of the most horrible, dark, even blasphemous thoughts came into my mind. Is that me? Why would I think such things, that I’d never thought before in my life, when my entire self is concentrated on receiving Communion? It breaks my heart even to know that I had such thoughts. I feel so bad that I have wounded God in some way. The pre-Communion prayer says ‘I stand before the doors of Thy temple, yet I do not put away evil thoughts’—is that us? Some people think they need to leave the line at that point, but we should simply make the sign of the Cross, ask God to forgive us, bemoan the fact that our humanity is corrupt and fallen, and hold our ground.”
From “Taking Custody of Your Thoughts—Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction” by Fr. Maximos Constas
From “Taking Custody of Your Thoughts—Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction” by Fr. Maximos Constas
The Need To Mourn
God Is With Us In The Intimacy Of Grief
The one who has lost his life may very well be “in a better place,” but it is oddly of little comfort to say those words. In a powerful witness of human behavior, Christ does not say, “Well, now he is in heaven, everything is well; he is separated from this difficult and tormented life.” Christ does not say all those things we do in our pathetic and uncomforting attempts to console. In fact he says nothing—he weeps.
…. Grief is confirmation that this was a person of value, a beloved son or daughter, a cherished brother or sister, a loving parent, or a treasured friend.
—From “The Morning Offering” by Abbot Tryphon, All Merciful Savior Monastery, Vaschon Island, Washington
God Is With Us In The Intimacy Of Grief
The one who has lost his life may very well be “in a better place,” but it is oddly of little comfort to say those words. In a powerful witness of human behavior, Christ does not say, “Well, now he is in heaven, everything is well; he is separated from this difficult and tormented life.” Christ does not say all those things we do in our pathetic and uncomforting attempts to console. In fact he says nothing—he weeps.
…. Grief is confirmation that this was a person of value, a beloved son or daughter, a cherished brother or sister, a loving parent, or a treasured friend.
—From “The Morning Offering” by Abbot Tryphon, All Merciful Savior Monastery, Vaschon Island, Washington
Liberality in alms moves God to be liberal to us in the dispensations of His spiritual graces but he who hardens his heart to the injuries and wants of others, shuts against himself the treasury of heaven.
☦️St Germanus of Paris (May 28) “Father of the Poor”
St Germanus is hymned as one who prevailed on the powerful “to free slaves and release prisoners.”
More at https://mewe.com/join/orthodoxfaith
“Let us celebrate the father of the poor, the treasure of the needy, the master of wisdom of kings and powerful men, the unifier of the Church of Gaul, the unmercenary healer of all illnesses: Saint Germanus, the founder of the abbey that still bears his name, the crafter of peace, the exemplary pastor of Paris: for he intercedes for our souls before Christ our God.”
—Troparion, Tone 8
☦️St Germanus of Paris (May 28) “Father of the Poor”
St Germanus is hymned as one who prevailed on the powerful “to free slaves and release prisoners.”
More at https://mewe.com/join/orthodoxfaith
“Let us celebrate the father of the poor, the treasure of the needy, the master of wisdom of kings and powerful men, the unifier of the Church of Gaul, the unmercenary healer of all illnesses: Saint Germanus, the founder of the abbey that still bears his name, the crafter of peace, the exemplary pastor of Paris: for he intercedes for our souls before Christ our God.”
—Troparion, Tone 8
"I come to You, O Christ,
Blind from birth in my spiritual eyes
And I call to You in repentance:
You are the most radiant light of those in darkness!"
The miracle described in the Gospel reading (John 9:1-38), for the Sunday of the Blind Man (Sixth Sunday of Pascha), is even more remarkable than it might seem at first.
St Basil and other Fathers tell us that our Lord didn't just give sight to a blind man born "who was blind from his birth" (John 9:1). He placed clay in the man’s empty sockets and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. When the blind man, did this, the eyes of clay became living eyes!
Saint Demetrius of Rostov, in his Great Synaxarion, mentions that the blind man's name was Celidonius. One tradition ascribes to St. Celidonius the founding of the Christian church at Nîmes in Gaul (present-day France).
Blind from birth in my spiritual eyes
And I call to You in repentance:
You are the most radiant light of those in darkness!"
The miracle described in the Gospel reading (John 9:1-38), for the Sunday of the Blind Man (Sixth Sunday of Pascha), is even more remarkable than it might seem at first.
St Basil and other Fathers tell us that our Lord didn't just give sight to a blind man born "who was blind from his birth" (John 9:1). He placed clay in the man’s empty sockets and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. When the blind man, did this, the eyes of clay became living eyes!
Saint Demetrius of Rostov, in his Great Synaxarion, mentions that the blind man's name was Celidonius. One tradition ascribes to St. Celidonius the founding of the Christian church at Nîmes in Gaul (present-day France).
God do not leave me, I have done nothing good in your sight. Rather according to your goodness, let me now at least make a beginning of doing good.
☦️ St. Arsenios
☦️ St. Arsenios
“[W]hatever is touched by the Holy Spirit is sanctified and converted."
☦️ St Cyril of Jerusalem
During the Holy Anaphora the priest prays: “Again we offer unto thee this rational and bloodless worship and beseech thee and pray thee and supplicate thee: Send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Gifts here spread forth. And make this bread the precious Body of thy Christ; Amen. And that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of thy Christ; Amen. Changing them by thy Holy Spirit; Amen. Amen. Amen.”
St John Chrysostom says, “At this point, the Divine Liturgy signifies the time of Pentecost.”
☦️ St Cyril of Jerusalem
During the Holy Anaphora the priest prays: “Again we offer unto thee this rational and bloodless worship and beseech thee and pray thee and supplicate thee: Send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Gifts here spread forth. And make this bread the precious Body of thy Christ; Amen. And that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of thy Christ; Amen. Changing them by thy Holy Spirit; Amen. Amen. Amen.”
St John Chrysostom says, “At this point, the Divine Liturgy signifies the time of Pentecost.”
“I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God, and Your God”+ John 20:17
"In the Ascension resides the meaning and the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection." - Fr. George Florovsky
With Christ, man’s nature ascends also. As God-man, Christ's ascension shows that we are capable of being deified-- united, both body and soul, eternally.
The Ascension is also a sign and token of Pentecost and of the Second Coming. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
"O Christ God, You have ascended in Glory, Granting joy to Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through the blessing they were assured That You are the Son of God, The Redeemer of the world!" (Troparion, Tone 4)
"In the Ascension resides the meaning and the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection." - Fr. George Florovsky
With Christ, man’s nature ascends also. As God-man, Christ's ascension shows that we are capable of being deified-- united, both body and soul, eternally.
The Ascension is also a sign and token of Pentecost and of the Second Coming. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
"O Christ God, You have ascended in Glory, Granting joy to Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through the blessing they were assured That You are the Son of God, The Redeemer of the world!" (Troparion, Tone 4)
“Beauty is from God, and our temples, our worship, and the very way we try to live our lives, gives witness to the beauty that is God. Is it any wonder, that so many who've converted to Orthodoxy, were first drawn to the beauty of Her worship, and Her temples?
This beauty aids in bringing about an inner transformation that prepares us for eternity in the presence of God. The importance of beauty to we Orthodox, is so central to our faith, that we often refer to the Holy Doors, those central doors on the iconostasis, leading into the altar, as "The Beautiful Gates," for they symbolically open into paradise.
As Orthodox Christians believe that when we partake of the services, we enter into a place where there is neither time, nor space, and are mystically transported into the very presence of God.
This beauty aids in bringing about an inner transformation that prepares us for eternity in the presence of God. The importance of beauty to we Orthodox, is so central to our faith, that we often refer to the Holy Doors, those central doors on the iconostasis, leading into the altar, as "The Beautiful Gates," for they symbolically open into paradise.
As Orthodox Christians believe that when we partake of the services, we enter into a place where there is neither time, nor space, and are mystically transported into the very presence of God.
Heaven is not just a place in the future, but is experience in the here and now. This beauty we experience is a touch of eternal beauty, that is our true inheritance.”
—From “The Morning Offering” by Abbot Tryphon, All Merciful Savior Monastery, Vaschon Island, Washington
—From “The Morning Offering” by Abbot Tryphon, All Merciful Savior Monastery, Vaschon Island, Washington
The Church is robed in truth woven of the word of God from above.
On the 7th Sunday of Pascha, we commemorate the 318 God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council who gathered in Nicaea in 325 at the request of the Emperor, St Constantine the Great. The council's purpose was to address the heresy of Arianism and other threats to the unity of the Church.
"The Church was strengthened into one faith through the preaching of the Apostles and the doctrines of the Fathers. The Church is robed in truth woven of the word of God from above. It teaches truth, and glorifies the great mystery of faith." (Kontakion, Tone 4)
On the 7th Sunday of Pascha, we commemorate the 318 God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council who gathered in Nicaea in 325 at the request of the Emperor, St Constantine the Great. The council's purpose was to address the heresy of Arianism and other threats to the unity of the Church.
"The Church was strengthened into one faith through the preaching of the Apostles and the doctrines of the Fathers. The Church is robed in truth woven of the word of God from above. It teaches truth, and glorifies the great mystery of faith." (Kontakion, Tone 4)
Recall how St. Stephen said in his last sermon to the Jews: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit (7:51). That is, God speaks to people, but they don’t listen.
God speaks with us through the circumstances of life, through the words of friends, through books, through our thoughts. But because of coarseness and passionateness, even if we hear it, we don’t want to talk with Him. We want to talk to ourselves, to communicate with our passions and desires. Even when we seem to want to talk to God, deep down we don’t really want to hear, to listen to and obey Him. But God wants to talk to us.
—Sergei Komarov
God speaks with us through the circumstances of life, through the words of friends, through books, through our thoughts. But because of coarseness and passionateness, even if we hear it, we don’t want to talk with Him. We want to talk to ourselves, to communicate with our passions and desires. Even when we seem to want to talk to God, deep down we don’t really want to hear, to listen to and obey Him. But God wants to talk to us.
—Sergei Komarov
An orchid species called "Flower of the Holy Spirit" (Peristeria elata) starts blooming during Pentecost each year.
Before it blooms, it looks like monks praying. When the flower blooms, it resembles a flying dove.
Before it blooms, it looks like monks praying. When the flower blooms, it resembles a flying dove.
They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. + John 16:2,
“The universe offers You the God-bearing martyrs“, Holy Apostles Bartholomew of the Twelve and Barnabas of the Seventy (June 11/ June 24)
“As the first fruits of creation, O Lord and Creator.
Through the Theotokos, and their prayers establish Your Church in peace!“
“The universe offers You the God-bearing martyrs“, Holy Apostles Bartholomew of the Twelve and Barnabas of the Seventy (June 11/ June 24)
“As the first fruits of creation, O Lord and Creator.
Through the Theotokos, and their prayers establish Your Church in peace!“