Orthodoxy for all

Full book here: https://followthesaints.com/books/the-heresy-of-patriarch-kirill The book is an Orthodox Christian apologetic study, authored by Silouan Wright and Panagiotis Makris, that compiles primary quotations and patristic responses to argue Patriarch Kirill’s public theology departs from historic Orthodox teaching. The book presents arguments that (a) documents Kirill’s words and actions, (b) contrasts them with consensus patrum, and (c) argues for canonical remedies such as cessation of commemoration.

"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mk. 16:1). In today's Gospel reading there is talk about the visit of the Myrrhbearing women "when the Sabbath was past" to the tomb, the encounter with the Angel and the information that "He is risen, He is not here." The encounter of the Myrrhbearers with the Lord is not described here, but we know very well that the Myrrhbearing women not only were found worthy of the angelic apparition and were the first to be informed of the Resurrection of Christ, but also were found worthy to see the Risen Christ. This is an event of great importance and significance. That is why in the person of the Myrrhbearers, female nature and in general all human nature is honored.

"Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18) Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord! + Today, in the radiance of Easter joy, the Church remembers those who remained with Christ when the world turned away from Him. We remember the Myrrh-Bearing Women – those whose faith was not loudly proclaimed, but was active; not confessed in words, but sealed with life, tears, love, and faithfulness. These are not just pages of biblical history. This living, historical presence: Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Cleophas, Solome, Joanna, Susanna, and others—those who followed Christ along the dusty roads of Galilee, who served Him from their estates, who stood at the Cross when the apostles fled in fear, who were the first to arrive at the Tomb while it was still dark. They stood at the Cross—not as heroines, but as grieving mothers, sisters, and disciples. Their hearts were pierced with pain when the Lord was lifted up onto the Tree. They...

An example of Monk Iliodor: Among the students at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy was a monk named Iliodor. He was distinguished by his spiritual fervor and heightened zeal. The Holy Fathers warn of such students that they can easily fall into "spiritual delusion," into spiritual self-delusion. This occurs because, out of self-confidence and arrogance, they begin to struggle without due humility, trusting in their own strength rather than in the Lord. And the Lord allows this to happen to them, or rather to us, in order to teach us reason and humble us, for falling into this spiritual malady of self-importance and self-delusion is the beginning of all terrible troubles. For Scripture says: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" ( Proverbs 16:18 ). "Before a fall, the heart of a man is haughty" ( Proverbs 18:13 ). “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” ( Luke 18:14 ).

"Hardly anyone would dispute that the truth of Divine existence is the most central of all possible and actual truths of human knowledge, both in its theoretical and practical significance. It is equally close to the simple believing heart and to the mind rich in scientific knowledge. Philosophers dedicate their "works" to it, poets are inspired by it. Finally, it represents the ultimate support for every person in moments of life's difficult trials..." But precisely because of this great significance, it has long evoked diametrically opposed attitudes. While for some it is clearer than daylight, for others it is a mere phantom of an undeveloped imagination.

Do not be deceived by the conceit and teachings of those deceived by conceit, who, disregarding the truth of the Church and Divine Revelation, assert that truth can speak within you without the sound of words, and instruct you by itself, through some vague and unclear action. This is the teaching of lies and their confidants . The hallmarks of a false doctrine are obscurity, vagueness, opinion 21 , and the dreamy, bloody, and nervous pleasure it engenders. It is achieved through the subtle effects of vanity and lust. Fallen humanity approaches holy truth by faith; there is no other way to it. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" ( Rom. 10:17 ), the Apostle teaches us. The word of God is truth ( John 17:17 ); the commandments of the Gospel are truth ( Psalm 119:86 ); every man is a liar ( Psalm 116:2 ). All this is attested to by Divine Scripture. How then can you expect to hear the voice of holy truth from one who is a liar?

Saint Leo, the saint of God, the son of noble and pious parents, hailed from the region of Ravenna. For his pure life and intellect, he was honored with all the sacred orders in due order, and upon the death of Blessed Sabinus, Bishop of Catana, he was elevated to the episcopal throne by God's election. The city of Catana is located on the island of Sicily, not far from Mount Etna, which still spews fiery lava. Upon accepting the episcopal throne, Saint Leo also assumed all the labors befitting his new rank. He cared for orphans, the poor, widows, the sick, and the straitened, feeding and clothing them at the expense of church property, and healed their ailments with his prayers. He was a merciful father to his children and a faithful shepherd of his flock, but to demons and their servants he was as terrifying as a lion to wolves. In his days there was a certain sorcerer in Catania, named Heliodorus; he was the son of pious parents who believed in Christ, and had himself been enlig...

Dear brother in Christ, I am glad to greet you in the Lord, and thank you for your letter. I understand how serious these questions are, and I will try to answer you with the same seriousness. First of all, I must tell you this: judging by everything, there are no truly God-bearing elders in our day —like, for example, the Optina elders who once guided people by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and not by their own understanding or the interpretation of the Holy Fathers. This path of spiritual guidance is not given to our time—and, frankly, with our sins, weaknesses, and spiritual corruption, we do not deserve it .

Letter 218 (excerpt). Apodosis of Ascension, 1976 [May 29/June 11, 1976] Dear Daniel, …Before going ahead, we must stop and find out where we are. We wish to be zealots for true Orthodoxy, and our Church leaders have indicated clearly that we must have no contact with the Moscow Patriarchate and similarly enslaved Churches; must refrain from participating in ecumenist activities and must be aware that ecumenism is eating away the very Orthodox fiber of most of the Orthodox Churches, beginning with Constantinople; and must be zealously pursuing a path of true Orthodoxy ourselves, not only in outward acts but especially in spiritual life,  but without falling into false zealotry “not according to knowledge”—a point that Vlad. Averky especially emphasized. About the latter danger we have been learning much of late from the situation of the Old Calendarists in Greece, which can help us to avoid some mistakes “on the right side.”

The following is the complete, extracted text of the two chapters from Acquiring the Mind of Christ: Embracing the Vision of the Orthodox Church by Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer). These chapters are presented together because they form a unified Orthodox presentation of atonement (salvation).

  Criticism of the new disgusting Kremlin propaganda: April 19, the so-called "Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of the Soviet People." Критика новой отвратительной кремлевской пропаганды: 19 апреля, так называемый «День памяти о геноциде советского народа». (https://paodkb.org/events/19-aprelya-den-pamyati-o-genotside)

  After completing the Forty Days of Great Lent, we have entered a new Forty Days, yet of a completely different nature. There, we mourned our sins, confessed our weaknesses, humbled ourselves through fasting and abstinence – we were in every respect as guilty ones seeking mercy and forgiveness of sins. The new Forty Days, beginning with the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ, has placed us in a new and radiant state as Christians, liberated from condemnation, resurrected for a new holy life, confident in the eternal blessedness of the immortality bestowed upon us. There we saw an example for ourselves in our Lord, how He, entering into the work of saving humankind, spent forty days in the strictest fasting, in solitary prayer, and in struggle against the unseen enemy. Here we see the same Lord, who for forty days appeared to His disciples, but we see Him glorified, victorious, triumphant over all His enemies. How comforting are these repeated appearances of the Lord to His disc...

What follows is a heavily excerpted and slightly edited transcript of three lectures given by the great Orthodox scholar John S. Romanides in 1981 at Holy Cross Seminary in the Patriarch Athenagoras Memorial Lecture series. This article deals with the fundamental difference between Orthodoxy and Western Christianity, mainly Roman Catholicism. Readers will be surprised to learn that the division between "East" and "West" was actually more of a political division, caused by the ambitions of the Franks and other Germanic tribes, than a "Theological" question. Professor John Romanides of the University of Thessalonike challenges the common views regarding the causes for the Schism of the Church in the "Roman world," and offers his own provocative interpretation of the historical background of this tragedy in the history of the Christian Church. Far from seeing basic differences in the "Roman world," which led to alienation between the East ...

A truth-seeker," Fr. Herman used to say, "when he finds the truth in Orthodoxy, must then stop his searching. His path to Orthodoxy, which is on a horizontal plane, has ended, and now he must go 'vertically,' deeper into Orthodoxy. If he continues to progress on the horizontal level, perpetually seeking how to be externally right, it is often the case that he will keep progressing right out of the Church."

. "After Easter, be doubly careful: demons do not sleep, and they easily seize those celebrating." St. Paisios the Athonite + Christ is Risen! When someone asks about relaxation—about laziness, idle words, the sudden heaviness that overtakes them after the great strain of Lent—I want to answer not in a bookish way, without reproaching, but rather by standing beside them, as a fellow Christian in the same struggle, in the same fatigue. In essence, relaxation after Lent is not a betrayal of the path, not a fall into the abyss. It is a moment of truth, when external supports are removed and it becomes clear what our hearts truly rest upon. While a strict regimen is in effect—services, prayers, ascetic labors—we seem to walk, supported by the rhythm of the Church's common prayer. But when Easter arrives and external austerity gives way to joy, it becomes clear: where do we stand? By grace—or by habit?

  One of the most famous shrines of Constantinople, the Zoodochos Pege, is located outside the land walls to the west of the city, at the site now known as Balikli. Two versions of a very old tradition provide information on the origins of this ancient shrine. According to the first, related by the historian Procopius, Justinian (527-565), while hunting in a beautiful verdant part of the land with many trees and much water, had the vision of a small chapel with a large crowd of people and a priest in front of a spring. "It is the spring of miracles", he was told, whereupon the Emperor built a monastery at the site using surplus materials from the church of Hagia Sophia. Cedrenus records that the monastery was built in 560. The second version, narrated by the chronicler Nikephoros Kallistos, says that the Emperor Leo I (457-474), when still a simple soldier, met at the Golden Gate a blind man who asked him for a drink of water. As he looked around for water, a voice directed h...

Let him who is pious and God-loving enjoy this beautiful and bright celebration. Whoever is a wise servant, let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord. Whoever has labored by fasting, let him take a denarius today. Whoever has worked from the first hour, let him receive his due pay today. Whoever comes after the third hour, let him celebrate with gratitude. Whoever managed to come after the sixth hour, let him not worry at all, for he will not lose anything. Whoever has delayed until the ninth hour, let him approach without any doubt, without fearing anything. He who managed to arrive only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid of his delay. For the generous Lord receives the last as well as the first; he gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour, just as he gives rest to him who has worked from the first hour; he has mercy on the last, and cares for the first; he gives to this one, and bestows favor on that one; he accepts deeds, and welcomes intentions; he honors ac...

Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven: and grant us on earth to glorify Thee with a pure heart. Christ has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life upon those in the tombs. The women who came with Mary before dawn and found the stone rolled away from the tomb heard an angel say, "Why do you seek Him who dwells in eternal light among the dead as a man? Look upon the graveclothes, flee, and proclaim to the world that the Lord has risen, having put death to death, for He is the Son of God, who saves the human race!" Though You descended into the tomb, O Immortal One, You destroyed the power of hell and arose as victor, O Christ our God, crying out to the myrrh-bearing women, "Rejoice!" and granting peace to Your apostles, You who grant resurrection to the fallen. The angel proclaimed to the Blessed Virgin: "Rejoice, O Pure Virgin!" And again I say: "Rejoice!" Your Son rose from the tomb on the ...

Philip Ludwell III is the first known convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the Americas. He was a prominent figure in pre-revolutionary Virginia and a relative by blood or marriage of many great early figures in American history from George Washington to Richard Henry Lee of the great Lee family of Virginia. The scion of one of the largest landholding and politically prominent families in early Virginia, he was born at Green Spring near Williamsburg on December 28, 1716, making him a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin, with whom he shared a friendship.

  Dear brothers and sisters! Christ is Risen! On this radiant night of Pascha, the whole creation rejoices, for the Lord of Glory has shattered the bonds of death. What the first Adam lost through disobedience, the Second Adam our Lord Jesus Christ has restored by His obedience to the Father. By His Resurrection, Christ has not merely revived His Body; He has healed our very nature. Where sin had wounded us, where corruption had made us mortal and captive to the passions, where the devil had held us in the fear of death, there the Risen Christ has entered as a Victor. He took upon Himself our flesh, suffered in it, died in it, and then, by the power of His divinity, raised it incorruptible. By Adam's transgression our nature got subject to death and corruption, we inherited his fallen nature while The Lord healed our nature by His resurrection and by joining and becoming members of His Body the Church, we partake of His resurrection and become members not of the fallen first Ad...

Reading the Gospel of Matthew during the First Passion confronts the mind with a paradox that is both surprising and terrifying. We find ourselves faced with a picture in which everything is turned upside down from the perspective of human logic. Christ was not rejected by hostile pagans, by indifferent pseudo-believers, by convinced atheists, or even by those who had never heard of God. He was put to death by those who should have recognized Him first. The scribes and Pharisees were professional theologians, men who devoted their lives to the study of the Law and the Prophets. Their entire lifestyle, all their work, was a preparation for the encounter with the Messiah. But instead of the joy of recognition, envy and hatred arose; instead of gratitude, the cry, "Crucify Him!" They were absolutely certain they would expose and punish a blasphemer and an impostor. This brings to mind the apostle's stern warning: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Cor 8:1)...

Never before, dear brothers, has there been so little of God in man as today; never before has man been so ungodly as today. Today the devil has incarnated himself in man in order to disincarnate the God-man. Today all evil has entered the body of man in order to drive God out of the body. Today all of hell has moved onto earth; does anyone remember that the earth was once paradise? The present fall of man is immeasurably more terrible than the first fall of man; then man fell away from God, but today he has crucified God, he has killed God. Man, what can one call you if not the devil? But what am I saying? This is an insult to the devil. The devil has never been so evil, so cunningly evil, as man. The Lord Christ descended into hell, and they did not crucify Him there! Are not men worse than the devil; has not the earth become more of a hell than hell itself? They did not cast Christ out of hell; and people even today drive Him from the earth, expel Him from their body, from their sou...

HOLY THURSDAY (John 13:4-17) Homily by Igumen Tikhon  + When the supper was over and the shadow of betrayal had already fallen upon hearts, Christ stood up. This movement is like a shattering of the world. He rises from peace, from equality, from love understood in a human sense, to reveal love that is incomprehensible. He takes off His garments—as if stripping Himself of any claim to external glory. He girds Himself—and becomes what no one wants to be: a servant.

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, in the world Basil Ivanovich Bellavin, was born on January 19, 1865 in Toropets, Pskov province, the son of a priest, Fr. John of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky church. His mother was called Anna. Once his father dreamed that he spoke with his dead mother. She warned him of his imminent death and went on to say that of his three sons, one would be a protector, one would die a youth and be brought back to Toropets, and Basil would become very great. Just after he had had been made Bishopof Alaska, Basil accompanied the body of his youngest brother back to Toropets, in fulfilment of this prophecy. Basil was a very cheerful, good-humoured and kind boy. He was also very intelligent, and used to help his schoolmates with their work.

Homily by Holy Martyr Daniel Sysoev ☦️ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! Today is the joy of the Annunciation. Today heaven and earth are united. Today the ancient curse disappears, Adam’s transgression is erased, and sorrow is turned into joy. Today is the day when God became man so that man might become god. Today the heavens have broken through the barrier set by human sin, through the humble consent of the Virgin and her creative word: “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). God became man so that man might ascend to heavenly heights. God took on weak, sinful, mortal human nature in order to grant it sinlessness, incorruption, and purity. God receives flesh from the most pure Virgin in order to teach us divine purity. And today is the day of the Gospel, the day of the Good News, when we hear of the hope for which we live. This is the hope of deification, because we are called to become gods by grace.

  On Palm Sunday, the Church calls all of us to stand with attention and reverence before a great event: the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. A king is coming, but not as the world knows kings. He is not accompanied or guarded by chariots, guards, noise and pomp. He rides a humble animal, a colt, and even accepts the applause of the people with silence and meekness.

According to anti-Christian Jewish tradition and based on rabbinic interpretations of biblical prophecies, the so-called Third Temple – Hamikdosh – should be built on the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) in the Old City of Jerusalem at the location they consider to be the site of the first (Solomon's, 10th century BC ) and second (Zerubbabel's, 6th century BC ) temples. According to most Orthodox holy fathers such as Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Saint John Chrysostom , and Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the Third Temple will never be rebuilt, and if by any chance the anti-Christian Jews do build it, it will certainly not be a lawful temple erected to God, but a synagogue of Satan dedicated to the Antichrist - the Man of Lawlessness.

1. We must always be firmly convinced that we cannot attain perfection through our own labors and efforts, even though we tirelessly practice every virtue. Human efforts alone cannot have the value and power to elevate us to the heights of holiness and blessedness unless the Lord Himself cooperates with us and directs our hearts to what is beneficial for us. Therefore, at every moment we must cry out to God with David: "Make my steps in Your paths; let not my steps slip" ( Ps. 17:5 ), so that this invisible ruler of the human spirit will turn our will toward virtue, since it is more inclined to vice, either through ignorance of goodness or through the seduction of passions. This is very clearly expressed by the Prophet in one verse of the song: "I was turned aside to the fold, and the Lord received me" ( Ps. 118:13 ). The first hemistich signifies the fragility of our will; and the second signifies the ever-ready help of the Lord, Who, whenever we begin to waver, ex...