“O believers, come, let us go unto the tomb of the Mother of God and embrace it longingly, and with sincerity touch it with our lips and eyes and foreheads of our hearts, and we shall then obtain from that ever-welling fountain the divine gifts of healing that issue abundantly.” (Hymn from the Matins of the Feast)
O heavenly mother, Panagia, intercede for us!
Photo: St Savvas of Kalymnos Orthodox Church, Sydney, Australia
O heavenly mother, Panagia, intercede for us!
Photo: St Savvas of Kalymnos Orthodox Church, Sydney, Australia
Several years ago something remarkable happened at a church shop in Georgia. An icon of St Gabriel began streaming myrrh abundantly. Many miraculous healings are reported by those who have come from around the world to be anointed with the myrrh.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HllwGcOaefE&fbclid
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HllwGcOaefE&fbclid
YouTube
A new myrrh-streaming icon of Saint Gabriel in Tbilisi, Georgia
An icon of Saint Gabriel started myrrh streaming abundantly in a small church shop near Samgori Metro station in the Capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The myrrh has a strong fragrance of flowers!
According to the owner of the shop Mrs. Nargiza Khantadze the…
According to the owner of the shop Mrs. Nargiza Khantadze the…
Have you seen a good Orthodox movie lately? The survival struggles of a Russian Orthodox mission through brutal Nazi occupation is told in a beautifully crafted movie, The Priest. (Russian with English subtitles)
https://youtu.be/zghBLMX972U?si=SqWDwukx3m4fL9Kc
https://youtu.be/zghBLMX972U?si=SqWDwukx3m4fL9Kc
YouTube
The Priest (Russian movie with English subtitles)
A historical film by Vladimir Khotinenko, unveils a page of the Second World War history that is little known of - the Russian Pskov Orthodox mission, that had to survive in Pskov region after it had been occupied by German fascists. Times long gone, but…
September 1 marks the beginning of the Church Year, when, according to Holy Tradition, Christ entered the synagogue to proclaim (quoting Isaiah 61:1-2):
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” (Luke 4:16-22)
Let us resolve this new year holy and acceptable to the Lord!
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” (Luke 4:16-22)
Let us resolve this new year holy and acceptable to the Lord!
Remembering Fr. Seraphim Rose (reposed Sept 2, 1982)
In high school, he was called “Eugene the Genius”. However, as Hieromonk Damascene notes, when he became Orthodox, he crucified his mind. “‘When I became a Christian, I crucified my mind, and all the sorrows that I have borne have only been a source of joy for me. I've lost nothing and gained everything.’”
In high school, he was called “Eugene the Genius”. However, as Hieromonk Damascene notes, when he became Orthodox, he crucified his mind. “‘When I became a Christian, I crucified my mind, and all the sorrows that I have borne have only been a source of joy for me. I've lost nothing and gained everything.’”
“For years in my studies I was satisfied with being ‘above all traditions’ but somehow faithful to them... When I visited an Orthodox church, it was only in order to view another ‘tradition.’ However, when I entered an Orthodox church for the first time (a Russian church in San Francisco) something happened to me that I had not experienced in any Buddhist or other Eastern temple; something in my heart said that this was ‘home,’ that all my search was over. I didn’t really know what this meant, because the service was quite strange to me, and in a foreign language. I began to attend Orthodox services more frequently, gradually learning its language and customs…. With my exposure to Orthodoxy and to Orthodox people, a new idea began to enter my awareness: that Truth was not just an abstract idea, sought and known by the mind, but was something personal — even a Person — sought and loved by the heart. And that is how I met Christ.”
—Fr Seraphim Rose
—Fr Seraphim Rose
Our Patriarch and Father in the Faith, St. Moses the Law-Giver (Sept 4), born a slave, lived 16 centuries before Christ— yet it is correct to call him and the other Prophets Christians. They clearly prophesied about Him.
When St. Moses encountered the burning bush, he received and obeyed the word of God. He followed God’s command and led the Hebrews out of captivity, leading them to Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments. He died before God’s people crossed over the Jordan into the promised land, and Satan and Archangel Michael fought over his body. Taken into heaven, St. Moses returned to earth to consult with Our Lord at the Transfiguration, showing that Christ was greater than he was, and that Christ fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets.
Rare icon: Moses the God-seer in the Tabernacle
When St. Moses encountered the burning bush, he received and obeyed the word of God. He followed God’s command and led the Hebrews out of captivity, leading them to Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments. He died before God’s people crossed over the Jordan into the promised land, and Satan and Archangel Michael fought over his body. Taken into heaven, St. Moses returned to earth to consult with Our Lord at the Transfiguration, showing that Christ was greater than he was, and that Christ fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets.
Rare icon: Moses the God-seer in the Tabernacle
Are these words not even more true today?
“It is necessary for everyone to know Scriptural teachings, and this is especially true for children. Even at their age, they are exposed to all sorts of folly and bad examples from popular entertainments. Our children need remedies for all these things! We are so concerned with our children’s schooling; if only we were equally zealous in bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord!...
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls and reveal the image of God within them. This, then, is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness.”
☦️ St. John Chrysostom
“It is necessary for everyone to know Scriptural teachings, and this is especially true for children. Even at their age, they are exposed to all sorts of folly and bad examples from popular entertainments. Our children need remedies for all these things! We are so concerned with our children’s schooling; if only we were equally zealous in bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord!...
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls and reveal the image of God within them. This, then, is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness.”
☦️ St. John Chrysostom
Establish my heart, weak for everything good, upon the immovable rock of Thy commandments O Christ. Without Thee I myself am nothing. Without Thee I can do no good. Without Thee evil in its various forms is alone within me. Without Thee I am the son of perdition. O unspeakably Good One, fill my heart with Thy goodness! But above all, I pray Thee, grant that I may love Thee with all my heart and my neighbour as myself. Grant that I may be neither malicious, proud, presumptuous, nor disobedient, but grant that I may be gentle, humble, tenderly respectful, and obedient. Amen.