[2/2] Dear Ones, don't wait until you feel strong and worthy to come to Holy Orthodoxy. Come now, with all your sins and human weaknesses. Come Home to the Orthodox Church, a place of healing, of forgiveness, and of love -- the very doorstep of our everlasting Home in Heaven. Come now.
—Nikolai Harris
—Nikolai Harris
Salvation is nothing less than the Sonship and Theosis (Divinization) of mankind. This is the message of St Irenaeus (130-202) (Aug 23), the third link in an unbroken chain of the Apostolic Succession. The second link was Saint Polycarp of Smyrna. The first link was the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
Saint Gregory of Tours credits the preaching of St Irenaeus for transforming all of Lugdunum (Lyons) into a Christian city.
"By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
you became a successor to their throne.
Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God;
by teaching the word of truth without error,
you defended the Faith, even to the shedding of your blood.
Hieromartyr Irenaeus, entreat Christ God to save our souls."
Saint Gregory of Tours credits the preaching of St Irenaeus for transforming all of Lugdunum (Lyons) into a Christian city.
"By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
you became a successor to their throne.
Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God;
by teaching the word of truth without error,
you defended the Faith, even to the shedding of your blood.
Hieromartyr Irenaeus, entreat Christ God to save our souls."
"Eve was seduced by the word of the [fallen] angel and transgressed God's word, so that she fled from him. In the same way, [Mary] was evangelized by the word of an angel and obeyed God's word, so that she carried him [within her].
And while the former was seduced into disobeying God, the latter was persuaded to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary became the advocate (advocata) of the virgin Eve." + St Irenaeus of Lyons (Aug 23)
And while the former was seduced into disobeying God, the latter was persuaded to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary became the advocate (advocata) of the virgin Eve." + St Irenaeus of Lyons (Aug 23)
A monk on Mount Athos was once asked: “What do you actually do in church?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?
“Yes, we do nothing.”
“Then why do you go to church?”
“Does a child do anything while it lies in its mother’s womb? It simply dwells there, is nourished, and grows until the time comes to be born. We do the same. We remain in the Church and pray; in the Church, we are nourished through the Holy Mysteries and, with the help of God’s grace, we grow and develop until the time comes to be born into eternal life.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?
“Yes, we do nothing.”
“Then why do you go to church?”
“Does a child do anything while it lies in its mother’s womb? It simply dwells there, is nourished, and grows until the time comes to be born. We do the same. We remain in the Church and pray; in the Church, we are nourished through the Holy Mysteries and, with the help of God’s grace, we grow and develop until the time comes to be born into eternal life.”
September 1 marks the beginning of the Church Year, when, according to Holy Tradition, Christ entered the synagogue to proclaim (quoting Isaiah 61:1-2):
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” (Luke 4:16-22)
Let us resolve this new year holy and acceptable to the Lord!
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” (Luke 4:16-22)
Let us resolve this new year holy and acceptable to the Lord!
Do you understand why the rules of the Church impose strict penalties on those who do not go to Church on Sunday? Because every church service, every dedication of Sunday to God, is a rung on the ladder, which brings us up to bring us closer to Christ. If you do not climb it because you give more importance to something else, then where will you end up when your life ends?
☦️ St. John Chrysostom
☦️ St. John Chrysostom
Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee from His face. As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; and as wax melts from the presence of fire, so let the demons perish from the presence of those who love God and who sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross and say with gladness: Hail, most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, for Thou drivest away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was crucified on thee, went down to hell and trampled on the power of the devil, and gave us thee, His honorable Cross, for driving away all enemies. O most precious and life-giving Cross of the Lord, help me with our holy Lady, the Virgin Theotokos, and with all the Saints throughout the ages. Amen.
The flowering herb basil is often called the "king of herbs" and the "royal herb"—appropriate, given its connection with the finding of the True Cross of the King of Kings.
The Exaltation (Elevation) of the Cross (Sept 14) commemorates the finding of Christ's Cross by St Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in 326 AD and, after it was taken by the Persians, of its recovery by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh century. At that time it was elevated in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, and celebrated annually thereafter in all churches in the Christian Empire. [1/2]
The Exaltation (Elevation) of the Cross (Sept 14) commemorates the finding of Christ's Cross by St Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine in 326 AD and, after it was taken by the Persians, of its recovery by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh century. At that time it was elevated in the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, and celebrated annually thereafter in all churches in the Christian Empire. [1/2]