Those forces that are preparing the appearance of Antichrist will have a leading significance in public life. Antichrist will be a man and not the devil incarnate. … That man wants to be in place of Christ, to occupy His place and possess that which Christ ought to possess. He wants to possess the same attraction and authority over the whole world.
And he will receive that authority before his own destruction and that of the whole world. He will have a helper, a Magus, who, by the power of false miracles, will fulfill his will and kill those that do not recognize the authority of Antichrist.
— from “The Antichrist and the Signs of the End of the World a Homily on the Last Judgement” by ☦️ St John Maximovitch
And he will receive that authority before his own destruction and that of the whole world. He will have a helper, a Magus, who, by the power of false miracles, will fulfill his will and kill those that do not recognize the authority of Antichrist.
— from “The Antichrist and the Signs of the End of the World a Homily on the Last Judgement” by ☦️ St John Maximovitch
O Prophet of God and Forerunner of Grace, your head has blossomed from the earth as a sacred rose. We are ever being healed, for as of old, You preach repentance to the world.
☦ Kontakion (Tone 3), First and second finding of the Honourable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John
☦ Kontakion (Tone 3), First and second finding of the Honourable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John
God commanded Adam to fast (Gen. 2:16), but he did not obey. Let us repent of our own disobedience, “let us, each of us, pass a judgment on our whole soul, on our whole life; judge ourselves justly and honestly, and ask forgiveness not only from God … but also from all those to whom we have not been a help on their journey to God.”
☦️Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Sermon at Forgiveness Sunday Vespers, 1999
☦️Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Sermon at Forgiveness Sunday Vespers, 1999
Lenten Prayer of ☦️ St Ephrem
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.
Holy New Martyr Natalia Ivanovna was widowed after authorities murdered her husband for his defence of the Church and outspokenness against Soviet collective farms. Yet she refused to remain broken and bitter. She was not afraid to openly support persecuted and imprisoned clergy and speak against the confiscation and closures of churches. In May 1937, at the initiative of the Church Council of Theophany Church in the village of Churiki, where she served as churchwarden, Natalia inspired her fellow villagers to participate in a peaceful procession against its closure. Half of the church had already been converted into a granary.
For being “hostile” to the Soviet regime and a religious “counterrevolutionary”, Natalia Ivanovna and two other members of the Church Council of the Theophany Church— Vasily Matveyevich Abramkin and Vasily Danilovich Orlov— were put in the Moscow Taganka Prison and shortly thereafter sentenced to death. Their martyrdom took place at the Butovo secret firing range, where 20,000 “enemies” of the regime were executed in 1937-38. Her children carefully preserved Natalia’s Bible and shawl and donated them to the memorial museum at the church in Butovo. One of Natalia’s sons wrote years later: “In those distant, monstrously tragic years, our mother Natalia Ivanovna Kozlova suffered. She was a mother of eight children, in whose upbringing she had invested her loving heart and kind, sincere soul. With great gratitude we cherish her maternal love, care and affection...”
Holy New Martyr Natalia, pray to God for us! #NewMartyr #Natalia #Sept14
Holy New Martyr Natalia, pray to God for us! #NewMartyr #Natalia #Sept14
In 1895, the New York Times published an article on a "Damascus Preacher" a "Minister for Syrians," a rapidly growing Christian "colony" in America. Father Raphael would later become the first Orthodox Bishop consecrated in North America and our father among the saints, Raphael of Brooklyn (Feb 27/ Mar 11).
No less than thirty North American parishes --from Montreal to Mexico City-- were established by him, a sign of St. Raphael's dedication, missionary zeal, and love and a miraculous accomplishment. As one nun declared, "Who can do what he did?"
"Father to orphans, and Friend of the poor, Peacemaker and Good Shepherd, Joy of all the Orthodox, Son of Antioch, Boast of America: Intercede with Christ God for us and for all who honor thee." (Troparion, Tone 3)
No less than thirty North American parishes --from Montreal to Mexico City-- were established by him, a sign of St. Raphael's dedication, missionary zeal, and love and a miraculous accomplishment. As one nun declared, "Who can do what he did?"
"Father to orphans, and Friend of the poor, Peacemaker and Good Shepherd, Joy of all the Orthodox, Son of Antioch, Boast of America: Intercede with Christ God for us and for all who honor thee." (Troparion, Tone 3)
Clean Monday (Greek: 'Καθαρά Δευτέρα'), marks the start of Great Lent. We now begin the holy period of prayer, fasting, abstinence and almsgiving.
Many people clean their homes on this day, and in some places families even fly kites, a longstanding Greek tradition, symbolic of Christ’s Resurrection.
Many people clean their homes on this day, and in some places families even fly kites, a longstanding Greek tradition, symbolic of Christ’s Resurrection.
Having rivaled the first-created Adam by my transgression, I realize that I am stripped naked of God and of the everlasting kingdom and bliss through my sins. (Genesis 3)
Alas, wretched soul! Why art thou like the first Eve? For thou hast wickedly looked and been bitterly wounded, and thou hast touched the tree and rashly tasted the forbidden food.
The place of bodily Eve has been taken for me by the Eve of my mind in the shape of a passionate thought in the flesh, showing me sweet things, yet ever making me taste and swallow bitter things.
Adam was rightly exiled from Eden for not keeping Thy one commandment, O Savior. But what shall I suffer who am always rejecting Thy living words? (Hebrews 12:25; Genesis 3:23)
☦️ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
— from The Great Canon St Andrew of Crete, Monday of the First Week
Alas, wretched soul! Why art thou like the first Eve? For thou hast wickedly looked and been bitterly wounded, and thou hast touched the tree and rashly tasted the forbidden food.
The place of bodily Eve has been taken for me by the Eve of my mind in the shape of a passionate thought in the flesh, showing me sweet things, yet ever making me taste and swallow bitter things.
Adam was rightly exiled from Eden for not keeping Thy one commandment, O Savior. But what shall I suffer who am always rejecting Thy living words? (Hebrews 12:25; Genesis 3:23)
☦️ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
— from The Great Canon St Andrew of Crete, Monday of the First Week
Where shall I begin to lament the deeds of my wretched life? What first- fruit shall I offer, O Christ, for my present lamentation? But in Thy compassion grant me release from my falls.
Come, wretched soul, with thy flesh, confess to the Creator of all. In future refrain from thy former brutishness, and offer to God tears in repentance.
— from The Great Canon of ☦️ St Andrew of Crete, Monday of the First Week
Come, wretched soul, with thy flesh, confess to the Creator of all. In future refrain from thy former brutishness, and offer to God tears in repentance.
— from The Great Canon of ☦️ St Andrew of Crete, Monday of the First Week
Like Cain, we too, O wretched soul, have likewise offered to the Creator of all foul deeds, defective sacrifice and a useless life. Therefore we too are condemned. (Genesis 4:5; Hebrews 11:4)
In molding my clay into life, O Potter, Thou didst put in me flesh and bones, breath and vitality. But, O my Creator, my Redeemer and Judge, accept me who repent. (Genesis 2:7; Jeremiah 18:1-10; Rom. 9:21)
I confess to Thee, O Saviour, the sins I have committed, and the wounds of my body and soul which murderous thoughts like robbers within have inflicted upon me. (Luke 10:30)
I have sinned, O Savior, yet I know that Thou art the Lover of men. Thou strikest compassionately and pitiest warmly. Thou seest me weeping and runnest towards me as the Father recalling the Prodigal. (Luke 15:20)
☦️ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
—from the Great Canon, Tuesday of the First Week
In molding my clay into life, O Potter, Thou didst put in me flesh and bones, breath and vitality. But, O my Creator, my Redeemer and Judge, accept me who repent. (Genesis 2:7; Jeremiah 18:1-10; Rom. 9:21)
I confess to Thee, O Saviour, the sins I have committed, and the wounds of my body and soul which murderous thoughts like robbers within have inflicted upon me. (Luke 10:30)
I have sinned, O Savior, yet I know that Thou art the Lover of men. Thou strikest compassionately and pitiest warmly. Thou seest me weeping and runnest towards me as the Father recalling the Prodigal. (Luke 15:20)
☦️ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
—from the Great Canon, Tuesday of the First Week