Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · February 19, 2012
The Orthodox Church in America continues our mother Russian Orthodox Church’s tradition; at least, it was like that a half century ago when I was ordained into the sacred priesthood of our holy Church. The silver cross...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · February 12, 2012
Ponder with me the enigma of our American Orthodox Christian differences from our ethnic ancestors in our relationship with the Theotokos. How is it that the renowned Tikhvin Mother of God icon was received by upwards of a...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · February 05, 2012
We recite it so simply and quickly, as though it is so obvious that it needs no discussion; however, we live in a world that challenges that fundamental truth and imposes the implications of its significance throughout...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · January 29, 2012
Funeral homes – as they are called nowadays – are not literally “homes,” but more like way stations; or put in a more contemporary phrase, “terminals.” They are a stopping place on the way from life to life...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · January 22, 2012
Leonardo Da Vinci wrote: “A great love is the child of a great knowledge.” I wonder why he phrased it that way. He was himself an illegitimate child. He knew firsthand abuse and rejection. Among the greatest geniuses of...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · January 15, 2012
Note the passive voice [is given to N] deacon, laity, and to himself, because all comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, as in some of the back walls of churches where it is Christ Himself communing the apostles. This format is...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · January 08, 2012
The Divine Liturgy from the opening through the sermon is called “Liturgy of the Word.” We mean by Word the living Word who is the Son of God having come into the world as Jesus Christ in order to save sinners, the first...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · January 01, 2012
What gift can we offer to You which is truly ours to give? Even the awareness of our poverty is a gift that comes from Your Holy Spirit. Like the Little Drummer Boy of the Christmas carol, we have no gifts to bring, unless...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · December 25, 2011
On the Sunday before Christmas the Church recalls the ancestry of the Messiah Jesus. Indeed, the whole holy history of salvation, the Old Testament, is completed by the bridge, this recall of humanity’s salvation. Here is...
Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky · December 18, 2011
Orthodox Christianity claims to be the Church of the Holy Spirit – and we are. Unlike other Christian communions, we baptize soon after birth; following at the same service, we bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the...