by Abbot Tryphon –
These are times that call for bold and courageous Orthodox faithful to step forward, proclaiming the Gospel Truth without fear
The Church Militant, which is the Church of Christ here on this earth, is in the midst of a battle. Our enemy is not one of flesh and blood, but one of darkness and evil. [Read more…]
by Fr. Gabriel (Hieromonk) –
Christians are coming to the conclusion that the times are not merely troubling, but apocalyptic.
There is no question that we live in troubling times. The 20th century witnessed an unparalleled persecution of Christianity across the entire world – primarily through revolutionary violence in the East, but primarily through worldly seduction in the West (if you doubt that the two are comparable, I will simply point to the witness of Alexander Solzhenitsyn who had ample occasion to experience both for himself).
Such persecution was prophesied to us by our Lord: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). And before this He had warned of the rise of false prophets, of wars and rumors of wars, of plagues and famines and troubles of many kinds – [Read more…]
by Glenn Ellmers –
The entire Woke agenda is an attack on civilization and a return to barbarism, violence, and anarchy. It’s the return of tyranny.
Our political situation is so chaotic and strange right now that we can’t take anything for granted—including what is normal. So it’s often necessary to explain what may seem obvious to readers of American Greatness, but is regarded as strange or almost incomprehensible to other people.
For example, it is obvious to me, and probably to you, that today’s “progressive” agenda is actually pushing our country back to a more primitive past.
Consider some of the most urgent priorities of woke ideology: [Read more…]
by J.B. Shurk –
Here’s what our COVID-1984 authoritarians want: they seek to use pandemics, wars, uncontrolled immigration, doomsday climate predictions, and “woke” cultural Marxism to keep people in a constant state of fear, divided among themselves, and willing to hand over their freedoms for evaporative promises of protection. “Protection” in this racket means survival but not life, equity but not fairness, financial handouts but not prosperity, and politically correct narratives but no truth.
This last point deserves emphasis. The powers that be—the central bankers, global financial elites, corporate propagandists, and political aristocrats—have given up on any notion of truth. [Read more…]
by Fr. Dimitry Shishkin –
Whatever may happen, we must not succumb to melancholy, but on the contrary, we must resist it with faith, courage and patience
According to statistics, about seventy-five percent of our compatriots [in Russia] were baptized in the Orthodox Church. But the spirit that many of us possess, alas, is far from Christian. This is the spirit of this world with its lack of faith, relaxation and pride.
Now, succumbing to the influence of this spirit, Christians are gradually losing courage, the sense of belonging to the spirit of Christ; and when faced with inevitable problems of life, they begin to grumble, complain and plunge headlong into the abyss of their sufferings. This is also facilitated by the ideology of extreme individualism (which has spread recently), when a person considers himself, his moods and feelings to be the most important thing in life. [Read more…]
by Fr. Geoffrey Korz –
Kindly set aside the idea that you will return to the holy services “when it’s safe”. That day will never come.
At every liturgy in the Orthodox Church, just before the singing of the Nicene Creed, the priest or the deacon intones the words, “The doors! The doors!” This call dates back to the earliest times, when the doors of the church had to be barred shut, to prevent outsiders (in those days, Roman soldiers) from entering the church, witnessing those who confessed the faith, seizing them, and killing them.
Being a Christian was not safe. [Read more…]
by Fr. Geoffrey Korz –
…
We should not ever, ever be surprised when the world responds to Orthodox Christianity with skepticism and hostility.
We should not be surprised when the world tries to reinterpret the Bible, or the Church Fathers, or the lives of the saints, to fit some modern agenda.
We should not be surprised when even so-called Orthodox people follow the example of the parents of the Blind Man, and try to make themselves friends of the world, and won’t say a word that might cause waves with the world.
That’s the way it’s always been. Even since the time of Christ Himself. Even with the Apostles, when you think about it. [Read more…]
Patriarch Kirill (Moscow and All Russia) –
A person who believes in God is filled with tremendous power, because knowledge is revealed through faith. Faith brings a person into living contact with the Lord, and everyone who turns to God with faith gains a special life experience said His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, in his sermon on February 7, on the 35th Sunday after Pentecost, the feast day of the Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
“All atheistic work aimed at destroying the faith in our country consisted of rationally, relying supposedly on some scientific achievements, proving that there is no God. [Read more…]
by Abbot Tryphon –
A nation that forbids her people from participating in corporate worship, is a nation that is doomed.
Christianity is a communal faith, one that requires its followers to be actively involved with others. The Church’s worship is communal, and salvation itself is a corporate act, one that necessitates interaction with others. One is not “saved” in a vacuum, but as part of the corporal life of the Church. Your salvation must be as much a concern to me, as is my own salvation. My relationship with Christ is not about me, but about us. Our sins are not just against God, but against the Body of Christ, the Church. Our love of God can not be salvific if we do not love others, for just as the Lord said, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)”. [Read more…]
by Abbot Tryphon –
For all those individuals who have seen the mass demonstrations in the streets of Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and countless other cities across the country, and still believed we were, as the mayor of Seattle proclaimed, coming upon “a summer of love,” I would call your attention to what happened in Portland a month or so ago.
The usual “peaceful demonstration” that took place in front of the Federal Courthouse saw the burning of an American flag, but for us Christians, the much more ominous burning of Bibles. How on earth could these people think they were demonstrating for equal rights for our black citizens, and an end of “police brutality,” by burning Bibles? [Read more…]
