"Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." John 5:14
Wherein Lies Life's Greatest Evil? (Archbishop Averky of Syracuse)
"Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." John 5:14
A MUST READ BOOK TO UNDERSTAND THE HERESIES OF ''PATRIARCH'' KIRILL AND THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE
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.
Sunday of the Myrrhbearers - The Risen Christ and the Myrrhbearers (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)
"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.
THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN (Archimandrite Tikhon Nevidimov)
"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!
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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 saw everything they had hoped for crumble. And even after the Savior's death, when it seemed all was over, when only despair remained—they did not leave. They went to the Tomb. Without hope. Without a miracle. Only with Love. Only to anoint the body. To remain close, at least, to the Shadows of Christ.
But it was to them—not the apostles, not the high priests, not the philosophers—that the risen Lord first appeared. Why?
Because Love is beyond knowledge.
Because Love is the foundation of faith.
Because Love is beyond even hope.
They didn't believe they would see the Living One—but they didn't stop loving the Dead One. And so they met the Living One.
While Peter wept, Thomas doubted, and the other apostles hid behind doors, the myrrh-bearing women were already preaching the Resurrection.
And even if they weren't listened to. Even if the men brushed them off: "Their words seemed empty to them." But with God, there are no "empty" words, spoken with love and tears.
And so—victory. Christ comes into the upper room, closed by fear. He Himself confirms the message brought by the women. Their truth conquers male unbelief. Their faithfulness breaks down the walls of fear. Their love opens the doors of eternity.
Perhaps we are those apostles who hide in fear of the world? Or are we Thomas, who demands proof? Or perhaps we are myrrh-bearers? Not in strength, not in knowledge, not in loud confession, but in daily, patient, loving fidelity.
And so, even now, someone stands at the crucified Body—in the form of a ruined temple, a blasphemed priesthood, persecuted Orthodoxy. Someone goes to the Tomb—when faith seems dead and prayer unanswered. Someone carries myrrh—when the heart is exhausted, but love has not faded.
When the world rejects the truth, when even within the Church itself there is pain, division, scandal, weakness—you remain. Because Christ is not somewhere "above," but here—in the Mystery of the Church. And you do not leave. You stay—not for proof, not for a miracle, but because you love.
The myrrh-bearing women are an image of spiritual courage. They are the motherhood of faith. This is tenderness transformed into confession.
Today the Church says to every soul: be a myrrh-bearer. Do not be afraid to go to the Tomb. Do not be afraid to remain close when all have departed. Do not fear love, which is stronger than death.
Let each of us take one thing from this week:
When everything collapses, when there is nothing, Love remains. And this Love reveals the Resurrection.
Amen.
What is prelest (spiritual deception)? (Saint Theophan of Poltava)
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 ).
Mystical proof of the existence of God (Saint Theophan of Poltava)
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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.
Truth and Spirit (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)
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?
Life of Saint Leo Bishop of Catania, Sicily (+789)
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 enlightened by holy baptism, but later secretly renounced Christ and began to serve demons, having learned sorcery from a Jew. Thus he was considered a Christian, but in fact he was a pagan, a servant of demons and a great sorcerer, no better than that ancient sorcerer Simon, whom the holy chief apostles Peter and Paul put to death by their prayers. Heliodorus was like him in all things: performing astonishing magical miracles, he, through his suggestion, caused people to imagine that rivers were flowing on dry ground, on roads and in the streets, so that citizens of both sexes, naked, crossed through the middle of the city, as it seemed to them, a river; he turned stones into gold, but only for a short time; In the markets he caused great losses to the merchants with his sorcery; he so aroused noble maidens, the daughters of honest and dignified citizens, to carnal sin with his magic that, forgetting shame, they left their homes and parents and ran to various places for the sake of fornication. When the hegemon Lucius reported him to the kings Leo and his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the kings sent a command to arrest him; but Heliodorus himself gave himself up to the people who were looking for him; he boarded a ship with them in Catania and landed that same day at Constantinople, having sailed in one hour a distance that only people sailing from the West - from Sicily to the East - to Thrace can imagine. Appearing before the kings, he was condemned by them to death, but immediately before the kings' eyes he became invisible and again appeared in Catania; Having been summoned a second time to Constantinople and condemned to beheading by the sword, the sorcerer again became invisible at the very moment when the warrior, raising the sword above his head, swung it with such force that the sword struck only the air; and again this sorcerer found himself in Catania.
Advice to contemporaries
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 .
On Zealotry (Saint Seraphim Rose)
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.”
Orthodox teaching on atonement and original sin
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."
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)
Homily for Thomas Sunday (Saint Alexei Mechev)
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 disciples following His Resurrection. All of them testify to the greatest love of the Lord for those who believe in Him.
Here is the first assurance of the goodwill of the Lord, bestowed upon Christians: He, the risen one, appeared only to His own, only to His closest disciples, only to those who believed in Him. It seems, why would the Lord not appear again in Jerusalem before the faces of His treacherous enemies, the high priests, scribes, and Pharisees? What confusion, shame, and defeat He would have brought upon them before the people, before those whom they taught to oppose the Lord.
So it seems to us, brethren, due to our vanity and love for power: it is we who enjoy witnessing the humiliation of our enemies, it is we who boast of victory over our opponents. It is gratifying for us to trample upon those who intended to do us harm.
Our Lord is loving; He spares His enemies. He allows them to realize their guilt, to acknowledge their crimes, and to willingly come to the Lord.
Would there have been any benefit had He appeared in glory to His enemies? For a moment they might be struck down – but then what?
If the very disciples of the Lord did not suddenly meet Him with faith, but considered Him joyfully as a dream, a premonition, or merely an appearance of the spirit – then even more so would His adversaries, blinded by passions and malice, have encountered Him with doubt, disbelief, and an even greater surge of malice and hatred.
Yes, even if they were to convert – would it be for long?
We observe among ourselves how thoughtful individuals refuse to acknowledge the manifest truth, but stubbornly reject it, spurred by pride and the desire to glorify themselves.
It seemed that they had lost faith in His Resurrection; yet in an instant, when He was among them, when He still sat with them, spoke His wondrous familiar words, even ate and drank with them, showed them His wounds and scars – in that moment, this sorrow, this doubt transformed into joy, into certainty, into such devotion for which they were ready to go to the marketplace, endure suffering, and accept a painful death. And behold, how diverse were the manifestations of the Lord! He appears to women first, to reward them for the courage with which they stood by Him until His last breath; He appears to Peter, who had denied Him three times, to encourage him and restore his title as Apostle; He appears to two disciples on the way, so that two witnesses could more firmly assure the Apostles; and finally, when all the Apostles were prepared, in an eager expectation, already tormented by impatience – then He stood among them to bless them for the great task that awaited them after Him. He appeared to all the faithful to assure them of His Divinity.
The Lord has demonstrated a renewed assurance of love for Christians in that He has shown, through His appearances, His care for all the needs of His disciples. The Lord appears to all the disciples and also to one or two alone. This signifies that the Lord cares for both the entire Church and for each individual believer.
The Lord has appeared not once, nor twice, but many times. This means that regardless of our state or circumstances, He is always present with us. The Lord, through His manifestations, has always brought some joy, help, or consolation: here is Mary standing by the tomb of the Lord and weeping – and He is there to comfort the grieving. Here are two disciples on their way to Emmaus, expressing their emotional sorrows and shattered hopes – and the Lord is right there to dispel their doubts. The Apostles locked their doors, Thomas does not believe until he touches His wounds, and the Lord satisfies them all.
Is it not reassuring for us, Christians! Christ has promised to be with us forever: what, then, shall we fear?
Source: https://www.mystagogyresourcecenter.com/2025/04/homily-on-sunday-of-thomas-righteous.html
The Fundamental Difference Between the "East" and "West" (Professor John Romanides)
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 and West, Romanides argues for the existence of "national, cultural and even linguistic unity between East (Byzantine) and West Romans"; that is, until the intrusion and takeover of the West Romans (the Roman Catholics) by the Franks (German tribes).
Works of Fr John Romanides are available here:
1. Patristic Theology
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UnmLj3DSpkIK_n-M2_pjHLgDpHhVhfwT/view?usp=drive_link
2. In Thy Light Shall We See Light: A Defense of the Theology of Father John Romanides
https://phospublications.com/2024/10/02/in-thy-light-shall-we-see-light-a-defense-of-the-theology-of-father-john-romanides/
3. FRANKS, ROMANS, FEUDALISM, AND DOCTRINE
https://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.01.htm
Converts - Chapter 88 from Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works
On Relaxation After Great Lent (Igumen Tikhon Nevidimov)
"After Easter, be doubly careful: demons do not sleep, and they easily seize those celebrating."
St. Paisios the Athonite
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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?
Zoodochos Pege
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 him to the spring and enjoined him to build a church on the site when he would become emperor. Kallistos describes this great church in detail ("Description of the Holy Church of the Pege Erected by Leo", P.G. Migne, vol. 147, 73-77), but the description agrees more with the church built by Justinian. It is historically confirmed that Zenon, Hegumen "of the house of the most holy and glorious Virgin Mary and Mother of God at Pege", participated in the Council of Constantinople, convened by the Patriarch Menas (536-552) in 536.
Catechetical Sermon for Holy Easter (Saint John Chrysostom)
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 activity and praises disposition.
Paschal chants
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 third day, and raised the dead. People, rejoice!
Shine, shine, New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! Rejoice now and be rejoiced, O Zion! And you, rejoice, O Pure Theotokos, for the resurrection of Your Son.
Let God arise and His enemies be scattered (Psalm 68:2).
The sacred Pascha has appeared to us on this day—the new Pascha, the holy Pascha, the mystical Pascha, the Pascha honored by all. Pascha is Christ the Redeemer; the immaculate Pascha, the great Pascha, the Pascha of the faithful, the Pascha that opened the gates of paradise for us, the Pascha that sanctifies all the faithful.
As smoke vanishes, let them vanish (Psalm 68:3).
Go forth after the vision, O women who bring good news, and proclaim to Zion: "Receive from us the joy of the good news of Christ's resurrection!" Rejoice, be glad, and be glad, Jerusalem, having beheld Christ the King, like a bridegroom, coming forth from the tomb.
So let sinners perish before the face of God, but let the righteous be glad (Psalm 68:3-4).
Late in the morning, the myrrh-bearing women, standing before the tomb of the Giver of Life, found an angel seated on a stone. He turned to them and cried out: "Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? Why do you mourn for the Incorruptible One, as one subject to corruption? Return and tell His disciples!
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalm 118:24).
Joyful Pascha, Pascha, the Lord's Pascha, the all-holy Pascha has dawned upon us. Pascha! Let us joyfully embrace one another. O Pascha—deliverance from sorrow! For from the tomb on this day, as from a bridal chamber, Christ, shining forth, filled the women with joy with the words: "Let the Apostles Know!"
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Resurrection Day! Let us shine with triumph and embrace one another; let us say, "Brothers!" and forgive all who hate us for the sake of the resurrection, and thus proclaim: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs He bestowed life!"
The First Known American Convert to Orthodox Christianity - Philip Ludwell III
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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.
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