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Reflection from His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon on the Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner

Today we fast, honoring the greatest born of women, the crown of the prophets, the one who must decrease, the friend of the Bridegroom, the holy Prophet and Forerunner and Baptist John. John’s death was a glorious witness to God, a triumph over the powers of darkness, and a step toward his immortal place in heaven at the side of Christ our true God. Nevertheless, we fast because the powers that put John to death – the power of pride, vainglory, hypocrisy, people-pleasing, hatred of criticism, love of pleasure, and so forth – often tempt us. Indeed, we may find ourselves held in the grip of these passions just as tightly as were Herod and Herodias. The present commemoration reminds us that man’s ill-formed...

Read more here: https://www.oca.org/reflections/metropolitan-tikhon/reflection-beheading-saint-john-forerunner

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May God grant His Eminence Archbishop Alexander of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese many years on the occasion of his Name Day!
Eis polla eti despota!!
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Reflection from His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon on the Placing of the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos

On July 2, we celebrated the robe of the Theotokos; today we celebrate the placing of her belt. These feasts are not merely connected with ancient relics as a source of pious power. As the hymns of the feast make clear, today is a celebration of the Incarnation in all its glorious reality and specificity: God was born of a real woman of flesh and blood, who wore real clothing upon her most pure body. Celebrating the cincture of the Theotokos on the last day of the ecclesiastical year, we are reminded that each year is a year of the Incarnation of our Lord; he has united himself to his creation, filling all time with meaning. The girdle ties the clothing together; it is a something final, a closing. Thus, as we close this year with the celebration...

Read more here: https://www.oca.org/reflections/metropolitan-tikhon/reflection-placing-belt-most-holy-theotokos

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Reflection from His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon on the Ecclesiastical New Year

Happy New Year to all! September 1 marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical new year, which has always been reckoned according to the creation of the world. This is not a matter of mere pious tradition or quaint outdated science, but rather a theological assertion: all the time of this world, and all the things that arise and disappear during that time, are the handiwork of our Creator. The point is not so much that a specific number of years have passed since the creation of the world; the main point, rather, is the very fact that the world is created. It is not self-existent or everlasting. This world and everything in it, all of it, is a gift from God, the work of his love. During this coming ecclesiastical year, let us accept this gift for what it is, an opportunity to grow in holiness. Hence, let us use the time of this year to repent and draw close to our benevolent Creator and Redeemer.

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2025/10/19 22:49:34
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