Russia Buries Murdered Priest

Russia Buries Murdered Priest, As Attention Focuses On Fragile Religious Ties
(RFE/RL) — Thousands of mourners gathered at a suburban Moscow church today for funeral services for a Russian Orthodox priest shot dead by a masked gunman last week.
Investigators said Daniil Sysoyev had received death threats for converting Muslims and criticizing Islam. His death is [...]

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New Year’s Eve 2008

Most of us do at least some looking back (retrospecting) around the end of the year. What went wrong, what went right, what do we want to change in the new year, and will we really carry through with those changes?
We mostly don’t do that unless there were some real BIG disasters. Generally, the Ol’ [...]

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The Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias and Misael

The Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias and Misael
Commemorated on December 17/30
The Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths Ananias, Azarias and Misael: In the years following 600 B.C. Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, the Temple built by Solomon was destroyed, and many of the Israelite people were led [...]

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Serbia Weeps – yet again

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/serbs-murdered-for-their-organs-in-kosovo-new-evidence/2305843011672198082/?icid=VIDURVNWS01
OR
http://tinyurl.com/79flcw
AND
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/25455
Also:
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/22913
AND:
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/35306
So very, very sad – must Serbia ever suffer?
TROPARION TO ST. NIKOLAI VELIMIROVIC
Thy righteous acts have revealed thee to thy flock
As a model of frith, a reflection of humility
Therefore, through humility thou hast obtained exaltation and through poverty, riches;
ANOTHER TROPARION TO ST. NIKOLAI
Tone 8
And as a new Chrysostom thou didst preach to [...]

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Rhythms in Life

We Orthodox Christians live slightly different lives from the rest of the “herd” in the US. Yes, we go to work, our children go to school, we go to Church, like many others. Unlike the others, however, Orthodox Christians consult a special Church Calendar daily to see which Saints are commemorated and whether it is [...]

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Saints PriestMartyrZenobios and His Sister Zenobia

The PriestMartyr Zenobios, Bishop of Egeia, and his sister Zenobia suffered a martyr’s death in the year 285 in Cilicia. From childhood they were raised in the holy Christian faith by their parents, and they led pious and chaste lives. In their mature years, shunning the love of money, they distributed away their wealth, an [...]

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There are Times . . .

. . . when someone else says what you want to say better than you could say it, yourself. I’ve been so busy with Emmy (my new service dog) and trying to get everything else done, I have neglected this blog. I had a plaintive e-mail asking when I would get “back on track.” Well, [...]

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The Icon of the Mother of God, named “Prosperess of Loaves”

The Icon of the Mother of God, named “Prosperess of Loaves” (“Sporitel’nitsa Khlebov”), was written at the blessing of the starets-elder of the Visitation Optina wilderness monastery, the priest-schemamonk Amvrosii (Ambrosii) (23/XI/1812 – 10/X/1891). Father Amvrosii, a great Russian ascetic of the XIX Century, was ardent with a childlike faith towards the Mother of God. [...]

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October 14 / 25 St. Cosmas the Hymnographer

St. Cosmas the Hymnographer, bishop of Maiuma (787)
Commemorated on October 14
He was from Jerusalem. An orphan, he was adopted into the family of St John of Damascus (commemorated December 4). He became Bishop of Maiuma, a city on the coast of Palestine, which was later named Constantia. Like his adoptive brother he [...]

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Study Breaks Stereotypes of Orthodox Christians

Study Breaks Stereotypes of Orthodox Christians
Interesting story. Something for all of us to read and think about. I question a couple of the results, and wonder about their statistical techniques – like their sampling methodology, and how they analyzed the data. Is this a reliable and valid study? I don’t know. But it puts [...]

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Metropolitan Philip of Moscow

Metropolitan Philip of Moscow
January 9, July 3, and again on October 5
+December 23, 1569

When in 1480 Moscow’s Grand Prince Ivan III forced the Tatars to renounce their claim to the Russian tribute, it signaled Russia’s liberation from the Mongol yoke and confirmed Moscow’s ascendancy over the other Russian principalities. Indeed, whether by diplomacy or force, [...]

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Oct 18 (Oct 1 old style) The Protection of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
“Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church, and with choirs of Saints she invisibly prays to God for us. Angels and Bishops venerate Her, Apostles and prophets rejoice together, Since for our sake she prays to the Eternal God!”
This miraculous appearance of the Mother of God [...]

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The Appearance of the Most Holy Mother of God to the Monk Sergei of Radonezh

Commemorated on August 24
One time, in the deep of night, the Monk Sergei (1314-1392) was reading an Akathist to the Mother of God. Having finished his habitual rule, he sat down to rest a bit, but suddenly he said to his cell-mate, the Monk Mikhei (+ 6 May 1385): “Take courage, child, we shall have [...]

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The Gruzinian (Georgian) Icon of the Mother of God

In 1622 the Persian shah Abbas conquered Gruzia. Many Christian holy things were plundered and many such were sold to the Russian merchants that were in Persia. Thus, the Gruzinian Icon of the Mother of God came the way of a certain merchant named Stefan, who piously kept it. During this time in Yaroslavl’ the [...]

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Softening of Evil Hearts

The Softening of Evil Hearts
The icon of the Most Holy Theotokos known as “the Softening of Evil Hearts” or “Simeon’s Prophecy.” The Mother of God is depicted without Her Child, with seven swords piercing her breast: three from the left side, three from the right, and one from below.
A similar icon, “Of the Seven Swords” [...]

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Veneration of the Mother of God

The high esteem in which the Mother of God has been held among Christians goes back to ancient times. But the dogmatic teaching concerning the veneration of the Theotokos was developed and defined gradually, as was the case with other dogmas.
The Orthodox Church teaches two dogmas about the Mother of God: concerning Her  [...]

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The Holy Theotokos – Image of an Ideal Woman

One of the most terrible manifestations of our times is the complete distortion of the image of an ideal woman. The ideal image depicted for us by the mass media shows a sort of attractive witch, unashamedly half-naked, with loose and disheveled hair, impudent glance, business-like, energetic, fearless, unfettered by moral laws or conscience. In [...]

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MAN CAN NOT COMPREHEND THE DUST, MUCH LESS GOD

St. Ephraim the Syrian
Whither wilt thou mount, feeble man? Thou dust that art flung upon dust, let thy conversation be in the dust! Even the dust which is beneath thee is above thee, to search into. If that beneath be too high for thee, how wilt thou attain to Him who is above? If the [...]

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Lessons from the Maccabees – From Fr. Stephens Blog

These are the links to two posts in one of my favorite blogs. They were very meaningful to me, and I hope they will speak to you, also!
The Seven Holy Maccabbees
Lessons from the Maccabbees
I’m not just being lazy – Fr. Stephen has one of the best blogs going, in my NOT so humble opinion! I [...]

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Axion Esti

During the celebration of the Divine Liturgy every Sunday, we hear the beautiful, and inspiring hymn called “Axion Esti” which follows the prayer (as we kneel) called the “Epiklesis.” This hymn was written originally in the year 720 by St. Cosmas, one of the greatest hymnographers of the Christian Church. The hymn, however, began with [...]

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