Fr. Seraphim Rose on the Rites Used to Receive Converts

The following is a letter which was written by Fr. Seraphim Rose to Fr. Alexey Young—now Hieromonk Ambrose. It was on the problem of certain people not accepting converts who were received into the Orthodox Church through either chrismation or confession, but insisted that all must be re-baptized.

Jan. 28/Feb.10, 1976

We forgot to ask you how [...]

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Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov on Practicing the Jesus Prayer

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”
THE CORRECT PRACTICE of the Jesus Prayer proceeds naturally from correct notions about God, about the most holy name of the Lord Jesus, and about man’s relationship to God.
God is an infinitely great and all-perfect being. God is the Creator and Renewer of men, [...]

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Saint Seraphim of Sarov on Knowing God

God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. And so, if we feel in our hearts coldness, which is from the devil—for the devil is cold—then let us call upon the Lord, and He will come and warm our hearts with perfect love not only for Him, but for our [...]

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Fr. Michael Oleksa on the Relationship between the Sacraments and Creation

Orthodox dogmatics defines the new trinitarian relationship which the faithful, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, enter with God as Father. Orthodox ethics delineates the new relationship which believers, united in the sacramental and liturgical fellowship of the Church, share with one another and all humankind. By combining the divine and human with the cosmic, [...]

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Saints Paisius the Abbot and Habakkuk the Deacon of Belgrade

Commemorated on December 30 (Old Style)
Paisius was abbot of the Travna Monastery near Cacak is Serbia, and Habakkuk was his companion and deacon. As Christians, both were impaled on stakes by the Turks on Kalemegdan in Belgrade December 17, 1814. Carryings his stake through the streets of Belgrade, the courageous Habakkuk sang. When his mother [...]

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Elder Joseph the Hesychast on Prayer

You don’t see how, with every prayer you utter, many demons fall and turn back. You only see how much you are wounded. Know that they, also, are being beaten and flee. Each time we show patience they flee in leaps, and with each prayer they are seriously wounded. So, in the time of war, [...]

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Homily on the Meaning of Love: by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom of Sourozh

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The meaning of love is the meaning of life, because love, in spite of what we very often think or imagine, is not a simple feeling. When we speak of God, and we say that God is love, we do not [...]

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Starbucks Sues Orthodox Monks

Yes the title is correct; Starbucks the multi-billion dollar coffee chain decided to focus its efforts on suing an Orthodox monastery in 1997 over the words “Christmas Blend”.
All Merciful Saviour Russian Orthodox Monastery found itself in a legal war with Starbucks over selling a coffee flavor called “Christmas Blend” to raise funds for its monastic [...]

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Saint Ephraim the Syrian on His Own Sinfulness

I am worthless, but think much of myself. I lie constantly but get angry with liars. I condemn those who fall, but myself fall constantly. I condemn slanderers and thieves, but am myself both a thief and a slanderer. I walk with bright countenance, although I am altogether impure. In churches and at banquets I [...]

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