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Faith in God!

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Faith in God! “Everything in this life passes away — only God remains, only He is worth struggling towards. We have a choice: to follow the way of this world, of the society that surrounds us, and thereby find ourselves outside of God; or to choose the way of life, to choose God Who calls us and for Whom our heart is searching.” +Blessed Father Seraphim Rose Adult/Family: “So we no longer pursue plainness

Knowing the Knowledge that Transforms

By Father Stephen Freeman, March 22, 2016 “If only I had known…” These are, not infrequently, the words of an apology. They are also an explanation of why we are sometimes the way we are. Ignorance is, in the mind of the Fathers, a major cause of sin. Of course, if sin is understood in a legal/forensic framework, then ignorance would be nothing more than a form of innocence. Not knowing is excusable in most

Chaplains

Chaplains represent the presence of God in the midst of tragedy By Abbot Tryphon, December 22, 2019  I am grateful to God for all the friendships I’ve formed with other chaplains during these past seventeen years of service as a police and fire chaplain, and am privileged to count among my friends some of the finest people I have ever known. These are individuals who have dedicated their lives in compassionate service to others, touching

Thoughts on similarities of ancient and modern cultures. Thoughts on who we are.

Thoughts on similarities of ancient and modern cultures. By Michael Haldas, July 26, 2016 “We are confronted today with a choice no less momentous than the Israelites’ choice between the Lord and Baal. Here is a broad road that leads down to destruction; there, a way narrow and difficult that leads upward to life (Matt. 7:13–14). God doesn’t share devotion with anything or anyone. We have to make the choice to be on God’s side—we

Sharing Orthodoxy. Hospital of the Soul.

Sharing Orthodoxy in a Post-Christian Age By Abbot Tryphon, December 27, 2019  If we wish to share the truth of the Orthodox Faith, and Christ Who is her head, we must give witness to the love of Christ by loving everyone. Without Christ, Orthodoxy is just another religion, devoid of the power to transform and deify the human heart. Without Christ the Church is nothing but a human institution, no different than a political party.

Apostle and Evangelist Luke of the Seventy

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, was a native of Syrian Antioch, a companion of the holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24, 2 Tim. 4:10-11), and a physician enlightened in the Greek medical arts. Hearing about Christ, Luke arrived in Palestine and fervently accepted the preaching of salvation from the Lord Himself. As one of the Seventy Apostles, Saint Luke was sent by the Lord with the others to preach the Kingdom of Heaven during the Savior’s

The Matter of our Salvation

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 18, 2016  Perhaps the most obvious thing for a visitor to an Orthodox Church are the presence and place of icons. They are literally everywhere. Some Churches are covered completely with iconography and no Orthodox Church is ever without them. That Churches are so decorated might not strike someone as unusual. After all, many Catholic Churches, particularly in Europe are highly decorated (think of the Sistine Chapel). But the difference

Watch!

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Watch! Stand fast on spiritual watch, because you don’t know when the Lord will call you to Himself. In your earthly life be ready at any moment to give Him an account. Beware that the enemy does not catch you in his nets, that he does not deceive you causing you to fall into temptation. Daily examine your conscience, try the purity of

The Mystery of Death. Preparing for our Death.

Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery By Abbot Tryphon, December 16, 2019  As a priest and monk of the Russian Orthodox Church, I am comfortable with the mystery of death, as all Christians should be. Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery. As the Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann wrote, “in essence, Christianity is not concerned with coming to

Thoughts on our problems and our hearts, on divisions and wholeness.

Thoughts on our problems and our hearts By Michael Haldas, July 25, 2016 “There are many devotees of the idolatrous cult of technical know-how…Many tragic and deadly problems hold the world in thrall: epidemics, wars, inexcusable hunger, repression, crime, despotism, and the loss of arable land and clean water. Many of these are intractable problems that technical solutions alone cannot fix…Technology and social engineering cannot correct people who devise wickedness and scheme evil on their