[T]he richest and most splendid vestments in our Church are to be found in our monasteries, and particularly on the Holy Mountain, the most important and authoritative monastic centre for Orthodoxy.
Why, then, does the genuine Orthodox monk, who according to the Sayings of the Fathers should wear such a shoddy and threadbare riason [cassock] that he could hang it outside his cell door in the certainty that no one would be tempted to steal it— why during the Liturgy does this same man, as celebrant, put on the most splendid vestments, yet without being scandalised or scandalising anyone else?
Quite simply, because the eschatological character of the Eucharist remains vivid in his consciousness: in the Eucharist, we move within the space of the age to come, of the Kingdom….
Why, then, does the genuine Orthodox monk, who according to the Sayings of the Fathers should wear such a shoddy and threadbare riason [cassock] that he could hang it outside his cell door in the certainty that no one would be tempted to steal it— why during the Liturgy does this same man, as celebrant, put on the most splendid vestments, yet without being scandalised or scandalising anyone else?
Quite simply, because the eschatological character of the Eucharist remains vivid in his consciousness: in the Eucharist, we move within the space of the age to come, of the Kingdom….
[T]he real celebrant, is Christ, and indeed the risen Christ as He will come in His glory on the last day, and those who celebrate the Liturgy are nothing more than icons of this eschatological Christ. And of course 'the honour paid to the icon passes to the prototype'”
—Met. John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon
—Met. John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon
“The longer we go without confessing, the worse it is for us, the more entangled we become in the bonds of sin, and therefore the more difficult it is to give account. We ought to confess our sins more frequently, in order to strike and scourge the sins by the open avowal of them, and in order to feel a greater loathing of them.”
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
He who takes the sacrament with Faith, receives great joy, is absolved of sins, is cured of illness, and purged of grief and sorrow. It is not in vain you receive communion, you receive joy, peace, What happiness, what felicity, what tenderness! Let me, O God, conduct the Liturgy to the end of my days, taking the sacrament myself and giving the sacrament to others. Amen.
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
☦️ St John of Kronstadt
Antipascha: St Thomas Sunday
Then [Christ] said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” + John 20:27-28
The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas did not want to be found guilty of careless belief. He did not want to believe an apparition, and our Lord understood this. When St Thomas touched the Life-giving side of the Lord, he no longer had any doubts.
Icons named “The Doubting Thomas” are incorrectly titled. The correct inscription is “The Touching of Thomas” or “The Belief of Thomas.”
By the intercessions of Thine Holy Apostle Thomas, O Christ our Lord and our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Icon from the altar of the Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (Chesmenskaya), St Petersburg
Then [Christ] said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” + John 20:27-28
The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas did not want to be found guilty of careless belief. He did not want to believe an apparition, and our Lord understood this. When St Thomas touched the Life-giving side of the Lord, he no longer had any doubts.
Icons named “The Doubting Thomas” are incorrectly titled. The correct inscription is “The Touching of Thomas” or “The Belief of Thomas.”
By the intercessions of Thine Holy Apostle Thomas, O Christ our Lord and our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Icon from the altar of the Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (Chesmenskaya), St Petersburg
In 2013, Islamist militants attacked the monastery of St Thekla (Sept 24/ Oct 7) in the ancient Christian village of Maaloula, Syria. Their attempt to burn down the entire monastery failed. Twelve nuns who were kidnapped were later released. Looted icons were eventually retrieved. Who can doubt the intercession of this Holy First-Martyress, tutored in the Faith by the Holy Apostle Paul.
O most lauded Thekla, entreat Christ, that our souls be saved.
O most lauded Thekla, entreat Christ, that our souls be saved.
“We should go to the Liturgy even if we stand there like logs. Someone might say: ‘I'm not what I should be, I don't understand anything there, I can't concentrate.’ But go as you are. An elder says: ‘When you enter a perfumery and then leave, your clothes will smell nice, even if you didn't want them to, even if you didn't buy anything.’ He says the same thing happens when you go to the Liturgy.
Maybe you couldn't do anything spiritual, but it's already something that you went, that you stood there like a log. So tell yourself: ‘I am going as I am – an unpolished log. Because God can work with an unpolished log.’ And if you don't go because you say, ‘I can't concentrate’, things will get worse and worse, and you will never improve.”
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
Maybe you couldn't do anything spiritual, but it's already something that you went, that you stood there like a log. So tell yourself: ‘I am going as I am – an unpolished log. Because God can work with an unpolished log.’ And if you don't go because you say, ‘I can't concentrate’, things will get worse and worse, and you will never improve.”
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
“Let us bless James, praising him as the messenger of God, for he filled the souls of the pious with wise dogmas. Standing at the throne of glory before the Master, he rejoices with all the angels unceasingly praying for us all.”
Holy James, Son of Alphæus, and one of the Twelve (Oct 9) went with the First-Called Apostle Andrew to many places among the gentiles, where they smashed idols, destroyed pagan temples, healed diverse illnesses, drove from people evil spirits, and brought a great multitude of people to Christ.
He sowed the seed of the word of God in people's hearts, he planted faith and piety. For this, he was called the "Divine Seed". St James finished his apostolic work In the Egyptian city of Ostrachina, where he was crucified by the pagans.
Holy James, Son of Alphæus, and one of the Twelve (Oct 9) went with the First-Called Apostle Andrew to many places among the gentiles, where they smashed idols, destroyed pagan temples, healed diverse illnesses, drove from people evil spirits, and brought a great multitude of people to Christ.
He sowed the seed of the word of God in people's hearts, he planted faith and piety. For this, he was called the "Divine Seed". St James finished his apostolic work In the Egyptian city of Ostrachina, where he was crucified by the pagans.
On the 17th Sunday after Pentecost, we commemorate the Fathers of the Holy, Great, Ecumenical Synod, the Second of Nicaea (7th Ecumenical Council). In harmony, the Fathers declared, “[W]e keep unchanged all the ecclesiastical traditions handed down to us, whether in writing or verbally.”
As the prophets beheld,
As the Apostles have taught,
As the Church has received,
As the teachers have dogmatized,
As the universe has agreed,
As grace has illumined
As truth has revealed,
As falsehood has been dispelled,
As wisdom has presented,
As Christ has triumphed:
This we believe,
This we declare,
This we preach:
Christ our true God, and His saints we honour in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, in icons, on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honouring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration.
This is the faith of the Apostles!
This is the faith of the Fathers!
This is the faith of the Orthodox!
As the prophets beheld,
As the Apostles have taught,
As the Church has received,
As the teachers have dogmatized,
As the universe has agreed,
As grace has illumined
As truth has revealed,
As falsehood has been dispelled,
As wisdom has presented,
As Christ has triumphed:
This we believe,
This we declare,
This we preach:
Christ our true God, and His saints we honour in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, in icons, on the one hand bowing down and worshipping Christ as God and Master, on the other hand honouring the saints as true servants of the Master of all, and offering to them due veneration.
This is the faith of the Apostles!
This is the faith of the Fathers!
This is the faith of the Orthodox!