I cannot describe to you how much our Panagia likes chastity and purity. Since she is the only pure Virgin, she wants and loves everyone to be like that. As soon as we cry out to her she rushes to our help. You don’t even finish saying, ‘All-holy Theotokos, help me’ and at once, like lightning, she shines through the nous and fills the heart with illumination. She draws the nous to prayer and the heart to Love.
✠ St Joseph the Hesychast
✠ St Joseph the Hesychast
Why do we fast before the Dormition? “In a close-knit family, word that its matriarch is on her deathbed brings normal life to a halt. Otherwise important things (parties, TV, luxuries, personal desires) become unimportant; life comes to revolve around the dying matriarch. It is the same with the Orthodox family; word that our matriarch is on her deathbed, could not (or at least should not) have any different effect than the one just mentioned. …
Fr. Thomas Hopko has noted, she heard the word of God and kept it so well, that she of all women in history was chosen not only to hear His Word but give birth to Him. So while we fast in contemplation of her life, we are simultaneously preparing ourselves to live a life in imitation of her. That is the purpose of the Dormition Fast.”
—from the article "Why a Fast for the Dormition?", by Daniel Manzuk, published in “The Word", June 2008, Antiochian Archdiocese of America
Fr. Thomas Hopko has noted, she heard the word of God and kept it so well, that she of all women in history was chosen not only to hear His Word but give birth to Him. So while we fast in contemplation of her life, we are simultaneously preparing ourselves to live a life in imitation of her. That is the purpose of the Dormition Fast.”
—from the article "Why a Fast for the Dormition?", by Daniel Manzuk, published in “The Word", June 2008, Antiochian Archdiocese of America
Do not undertake to explain the Gospels or the other books of Holy Scripture yourself. The Scriptures were not expressed arbitrarily by the prophets and apostles, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. How mindless then is it to explain them arbitrarily? The Holy Spirit, having expressed the Word of God through the prophets and apostles, explained it through the Holy Fathers. Both the Word of God and its explanation are a gift of the Holy Spirit. The holy Orthodox Church and its true children accept only this patristic interpretation!
☦️ St Ignatius Brianchaninov
☦️ St Ignatius Brianchaninov
The purpose of our struggle is not that we become better persons than we are now, but rather, the purpose of our prayer and struggle is for Christ to dwell in our hearts, together with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, and for us to become gods by grace.
—Archpriest Theodore Gignadze ©️
Facebook Page: Sermons by Father Theodore Gignadze
—Archpriest Theodore Gignadze ©️
Facebook Page: Sermons by Father Theodore Gignadze
Did someone say it was #WorldCatDay?
This is Kesha, a native of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve in Karelia, on the island in Lake Onega, Russia. The Dormition Church of Kondopoga is in the background.
This is Kesha, a native of the Kizhi Museum-Reserve in Karelia, on the island in Lake Onega, Russia. The Dormition Church of Kondopoga is in the background.
A true Christian is made by faith and love toward Christ. Our sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity, according to the word of the Savior Himself. He deigned to say: not the righteous have I come to call, but sinners to salvation; there is more joy in heaven over one who repents than over ninety righteous ones.
☦️ St. Herman of Alaska (Glorification Aug 9)
☦️ St. Herman of Alaska (Glorification Aug 9)
In August, 2021, massive wildfires plagued Greece. In Evia, where there are many monasteries, the fires were especially fierce.
At the monastery of Saint David of Evia, home to the modern Saint Iakovos Tsalikis, abbot from 1975 until he passed away at 1991, the monks processed with the Holy relics of the Saints and their icons. As the fire encircled the monastery, police came to evacuate the monks, who refused to leave and continued to pray. Everything around the holy monastery burned. Only the monastery was spared.
At the monastery of Saint David of Evia, home to the modern Saint Iakovos Tsalikis, abbot from 1975 until he passed away at 1991, the monks processed with the Holy relics of the Saints and their icons. As the fire encircled the monastery, police came to evacuate the monks, who refused to leave and continued to pray. Everything around the holy monastery burned. Only the monastery was spared.