Sermons & Homilies
Today we commemorate the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most famous and beloved icons of the Theotokos in the Russian Church. In this icon, the Queen of Heaven above all manifests herself as the Protectress...
Continue reading
So let us always remember that for us too, our resurrection — both bodily and spiritual — is not given to us for our own sake, but for the sake of those around us: those who love us, those who pray for us, and even for the sake of those who hate us and do us wrong. Above all, our resurrection is given to us for the sake of our own mother, the Holy Church of Christ, so that we can truly become Her faithful children.
Although we live in a world of icons throughout our secular society, whether as apps on our phones and computers or company logos and brand names, nonetheless, we remain in a predominantly iconoclastic world. Moreover, when it comes to the religious sphere, many may be more apt to talk and philosophize about spiritual realities. The Orthodox Church, however, not only speaks about these realities, it demonstrates them through icons, relics, the Divine Services, and most significantly, the Holy Mysteries.
Continue reading
During the Dormition Lent we deprived ourselves of certain foods, we starve our physical senses and nourish our spiritual senses so that we may more readily comprehend and enter into the Feast of the Dormition.
Continue reading
Our present feast is not just a feast of the victory of truth over falsehood in the abstract—but of truth’s triumph in public sphere, of its open proclamation, its universal acknowledgment, and its sanction by the earthly authorities. Orthodoxy, we see, is a thoroughly public affair.
Continue reading