According to the practice that the Orthodox Church in America has inherited from the Russian Orthodox Church, this day, known as Demetrius Saturday, is a universal commemoration of the departed. Though…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today, the Lord speaking in parables describes the faithful as different types of soil: some are good fruitful soil, but others are bad soil – rocky, thorny, shallow. ...
October is recognized across the Christian world as Clergy Appreciation Month, a time to honor those who serve the Church in pastoral ministry. While not a designated observance within the Orthodox Church in America…
Happy Thanksgiving to my flock in Canada! As we celebrate the bountiful harvest of the earth this day, we are reminded that God “established the earth; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited”...
Today we celebrate the Protection of the Theotokos and also two of the Church’s great singers and melodists, St. Roman and St. John Cucuzeles. There is a deep connection between our hymnography and the person…
The first event of the New Testament, chronologically, is the conception of the Forerunner. Only St. Luke deals with the Baptist’s conception and birth, but three of the four Gospels…
Today, as we bow down before the Cross, the wisdom of the world is put to shame by the foolishness of God. Today, as we exalt this instrument of torture and death as an ensign of life, we testify…
The final chapter of the Didache refers to a sign of outspreading, or expansion, and many have understood this sign to be the sign of the Cross. On the Cross, Christ stretches…
One of the folk-names for today’s feast is translated in English as the “Little Most Pure.” The literal meaning here is clear: today we see the Theotokos as a baby; looking at the festal icon we behold…
Last week we celebrated the beginning of a new ecclesiastical year; now we mark the first great feast of the year, the birth of the Theotokos. The outer proclamation of…