I cannot be the only one who has had the experience of visiting a non-Orthodox church service and finding it stunningly empty and plain.  After long familiarity with Orthodox worship with its icons, incense, candles, vestments, Gospel books, and crosses, attending such services produces a kind of sensory deprivation, rather like sensory overload in reverse.  […]

Eastern Orthodoxy Gains New Followers in America   Ancient faith is drawing converts with no ties to its historic lands Congregants at Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, Ga., on Sunday. By Francis X. Rocca Follow | Photographs by Alyssa Pointer for The Wall Street Journal May 17, 2023 10:00 am ET Michelle […]

All Orthodox Christians are now in a special expectation—Great Lent is coming. It will commence on February 27, and our preparation for it is no less important than the forty days of fasting themselves. We asked some priests to tell us how to prepare the body and the soul, what goals to set for Great Lent, what prayer […]

Marilyn Swezey When I heard about the repose of Queen Elizabeth II, my intuition as a journalist prompted me to call Marilyn Swezey, who was a long-time assistant to Bishop Basil (Rodzianko). To be honest, I did not expect to hear that Vladyka, who had lived in the UK for many years, had ever met with […]

Fr. Lawrence Farley The recent decision of Archbishop Elpidophoros to baptize the adopted child of an openly gay couple in Greece is only the latest addition to a series of actions which have raised Orthodox eyebrows, coming as it does hard on the heels of his decision to consecrate as bishop an archimandrite deposed by the Russian Orthodox Church […]

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon Monday, June 27, 2022 To the Hierarchs, Clergy, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America: Christ is in our midst! He is and ever shall be!On June 24, the American people received the news that the Supreme Court of the United States, in its opinion concerning the […]

Commemorated on December 6 Troparion & Kontakion Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents […]

Commemorated on October 18 Troparion & Kontakion The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, was a native of Syrian Antioch, a companion of the holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24, 2 Tim. 4:10-11), and a physician enlightened in the Greek medical arts. Hearing about Christ, Luke arrived in Palestine and fervently accepted the preaching of salvation from the […]

The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John Commemorated on August 29 Troparion & Kontakion The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of […]