“I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed…” (2 Tim 1:12)
On December 7, 374 AD Ambrose was consecrated bishop of Milan (then known as Mediolanum), famously going from layman to bishop in a single day. Ambrose was nominated while still a…
You revealed yourself, O saint, in Myra as a priest,
For you fulfilled the Gospel of Christ
By giving up your soul for your people,
And saving the innocent from death.
Therefore you are blessed as one become wise in the grace of God.
“Give me the homeland of my heart’s desire, making me again a citizen of paradise.” (from the Funeral Service)
It’s time for me to return to normal life and work, but how hard that is after these past few days of blessings surrounding my mother’s death, funeral…
“…holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.” (1 Tim 3:9)
When a day starts you never know how it’s going to end. That’s why I love that morning prayer, “Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and the firm conviction that Thy…
“Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?” (Luke 20:2)
I met a priest a number of years ago who had started a very successful project of outreach in the community. The bishop was visiting and was impressed with what the priest and parish…
“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith” (1 Tim 1:5)
Life periodically gives us the opportunity to review what we’re doing and why. For members of the Orthodox Church in America the election of a metropolitan is one of those…
As Orthodox Christians we place great emphasis on the temple as the place of worship. We put liturgical life at the top of our priorities, lavish attention on our church buildings and devote much care to…
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:33)
The Nativity Fast that started on November 15 prepares us for celebrating Christmas. But part of that preparation is not just to look backward to Bethlehem, but forward to the Second…
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as…
This will be another very short entry. It’s after 6:00am and the shuttle bus arrives at 6:30 am to take Father Eric, Melanie Ringa, my wife Denise and me to the airport.
Yesterday the Holy Synod met after breakfast for a closed session presided over…
“But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess 4:9)
What an inspiring day it was, the liturgy, the words of Father Thomas Hopko, the peaceful council and election, the joy bringing forward…
“The Lord hears me when I call to him.” (Prokeimenon, Monday Vespers)
This is it. It’s a crucial day on the calendar for our little Orthodox Church in America. I don’t have time to write much at all. It’s 5:20 am and at 6:00 am Andrew Boyd is driving Father…
“How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…” (Luke 13:34)
This wistful hope that Jesus had for his people comes in the middle of a devastating indictment of those same people, “who stone the…
“Gideon said to the Angel, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us…
For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48)
Our Lord expects a lot from the leaders of his Church. This is why the canonical tradition in the Orthodox Church is severe when it comes to…
“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?”(Luke 12:42)
While Americans go to the polls today to elect a president, in the Orthodox Church in America we are also looking forward to next…
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)
God’s love is personal. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he promises us an undending life that grows and flourishes long after our short and—for…
I’m finally getting back to the Chancellor’s Diary after a few days of being caught in the air travel chaos caused by Hurricane Sandy. But I’m writing from Ottawa because LaGuardia airport is still closed and I couldn’t get back to New York from Chicago, where I was attending a special event organized by St Vladimir’s Seminary.
[NOTE: In the original version of this article, it inadvertently referred to Fr. Pianovich as deceased. This has been corrected in this revised text, with apologies.]
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses (martyron), commit…
“I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…” (Col 1:24)
There is something lacking in Christ? And Saint Paul is making up for it? How can this be?…