SSCORRE!
Saint Sophia Cathedral
Online Resources for our Religious Edification
TOPIC OF THE WEEK:
“Today, increased knowledge and trust in logic has, unfortunately, shaken our faith to its foundations and filled our souls with question marks and doubts. This is why we don’t have miracles anymore, because a miracle cannot be explained logically, it can only be experienced. But faith in God will bring down divine power and overturn all human expectations. It will perform miracles, resurrect the dead and astonish science. From the outside, all things pertaining to the spiritual life seem upside down. Indeed, the mysteries of God will be impossible to know and will appear strange and contrary to nature as long as we don’t overturn our secular mindset and see everything with spiritual eyes. Those who believe that they can come to know God’s mysteries through mere scientific theory, without a spiritual life, resemble a fool who thinks he can look through a telescope and see Paradise.” † Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain (from pp 244-255 of With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man)
Adult/Family
Read about the miracles here.
Pre-School
Did you know that in Jerusalem at the All-Holy Tomb of Christ, every year on Holy Saturday a Holy Fire miraculously comes only to the Orthodox Patriarch? [The fire is a visible symbol of the real presence of the Uncreated Light of Christ’s Holy Resurrection.]
Elementary School
Did you know that every year on Mount Tabor in Jerusalem on August 6th, the day of the Transfiguration of our Savior, a light-bearing cloud appears, which covers the site of the monastery and illuminates the perimeter all night?
Middle School
Did you know that every year during the feast of the Theotokos (from August 6th to the 15th) in Markopoulos of Cephalonia (an island in Greece) snakes appear on the icon of the Virgin Mary and do not bite the pilgrims?
[This is a very real miracle that happens every year. A multitude of small snakes fill the holy church of the Theotokos only from August 6th-15th, they have small white crosses on them, they never harm anyone, they climb all over the icons in the church, and immediately after the feast, they disappear and are not seen for another year.]
A Message from Maria Spanos
I am passionate about our Orthodox Christian faith and seek to help others learn as much as they can about it. My purpose here is to share online resources that help strengthen our relationship with Christ and bind us closer to His Church. I believe they are invaluable in learning about our precious Orthodox Tradition, and are a great aid for teaching family members, friends and others about Orthodoxy. ~Maria
Two of my favorite quotes:
“A true Christian behaves in this life so that it may be a preparation for the future one and not only a life here below. In his actions, he does not think what will be said of him here but of what will be said there in heaven; he represents to himself that he is always in the presence of God, of the angels and all the saints, and remembers that someday they will bear witness of his thoughts, words, and deeds.” — Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Of all the holy works, the education of children is the most holy.”
— St. Theophan the Recluse
