by Thaddeus Baklinski Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has said his government will debate legislation to ban abortion. The announcement follows an appeal by the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church for the procedure to be made illegal in the small country, according to a Radio Free Europe report. In his Easter Sunday address, Patriarch […]
How Russians Survived Militant Atheism To Embrace Christ Again
by Walter Rodgers There is a lesson for Americans here. After three generations of merciless persecution by the state, Russia has emerged as the most God-believing nation in Europe. That’s a testament to the devotion of multitudes of babushkas who kept the flames of faith alive in the face of state-sponsored repression. Sometimes really huge […]
The Bravest Man
While the media love to glut themselves on the misdeeds of evil clergy, there are a thousand more doing heroic works of love and sacrifice. Some even get noticed for it. Memory eternal, Fr. Emil. In the cold, barren hills of Korea more than 60 years ago, two teary-eyed soldiers stood in a prisoner of […]
Worship With Incense
by Dcn. Joseph Gleason Throughout the scriptures we see both the inward and outward aspects of worship offered to God as being in unity with one another. For example, scripture tells us to lift both our “hands“ and our “hearts“ to God (Lam. 3:41). The hands are outward, and the heart is inward. God is glorified by both, and he commands […]
Patriarch Kirill: Church Mission Should Be Better Represented On Web
Hey, we’re trying! Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has urged the clergy to conduct more active missionary work among Internet users. “The mission of the Church can and must be widely spread to the Internet. Blogs, social networks – all then are offering new opportunities for Christian testimony. To be absent from there […]
Halki Seminary Returned To The Orthodox
At its meeting today, the Council of Foundations – part of Turkey’s Directorate General for Foundations (VGM) – decided to return to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity of Halki, the Hill of Hope as it is called, 190 hectares of forest. The pine hill is 85 meters in height and located at the top […]
Returning To The Eucharistic Liturgy in Ancient House Churches
by Gabe Martini Many evangelical groups today are proposing that we abandon “traditional” models of “being the Church,” and instead replace that stodginess with what is presumably a more “New Testament” model: that of the “house church” or “cell church.” Essentially, they are promoting that the local Church be a de-centralized assembly, meeting […]
The Akathist of Thanksgiving
The Akathist Hymn: “Glory to God for All Things” This Akathist, also called the “Akathist of Thanksgiving,” was composed by Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov shortly before his death in a prison camp in 1940. The title is from the words of Saint John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile. It is a song of praise […]
The Necessity of Iconography and the Idolatry of Gnosticism
by Fr. John A. Peck How Dogmatic Iconography defends the doctrine of the Incarnation against ancient Gnosticism. Harold Bloom, in his book, The American Religion, rightly comes to the startling conclusion that America is a nation of Gnostics, believers in a pre-Christian tradition of individual divinity. The American propensity to be religious iconoclasts on the […]
The 2012 New Testament Challenge
by Fr. John A. Peck Beginning Nov. 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! […]