Reflection on the Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt
According to her vita, written by Saint Sophronius, from her youth Saint Mary devoted her life to the pursuit of pleasures. Reading her life, as we did in church this past Thursday, we might…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
According to her vita, written by Saint Sophronius, from her youth Saint Mary devoted her life to the pursuit of pleasures. Reading her life, as we did in church this past Thursday, we might…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
In the sacred tradition of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church, the importance of the Akathist hymn to the Mother of God can scarcely be overstated. As the lives of many saints…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
The end of Great Lent is in sight—the final day of the holy Forty Days is a week from tomorrow. Already we turn our eyes toward the Passion starting from next Monday, when…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
As we reach the fourth Sunday of the Fast, we may find ourselves already flagging, tiring of the Lenten effort. By sins of omission and commission, by failure in the outward…
by Metropolitan Tikhon
There is only one feast in the year that can match the grandeur of Pascha, and it is the Annunciation. No matter what day of the year it falls, Annunciation is…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
In the middle of Great Lent we celebrate the Sunday of the Cross, and this reminds us that the entire Lenten effort, our whole Lenten struggle, is cruciform. The Great Fast is our via crucis…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
On this second Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate the feast of St. Gregory Palamas and renew the triumph of Orthodoxy. How unbearable the pressure must have been…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
Today we celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy—the veneration of the holy icons. And truly, the image is the triumph of the Prototype. Christ died not so that he could remain alone…
by Metropolitan Tikhon · by Lenten Reflections
Liturgically, today is known as the Expulsion of Adam; popularly, it is known as Forgiveness Sunday. This reminds us that, as soon as we sin, the Lord forgives us—provided that…
by Metropolitan Tikhon
With this Sunday of the Last Judgment, we arrive at the end of the world. As we stand before the Lord at his dread tribunal, we realize that we have no righteousness, no…