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Today, we read the Gospel of the Prodigal Son, and hear how, when the lad “was still a great way off,” his father rushed to embrace him. At the beginning of the penitential season, this scene reminds us that, even as we take our first steps toward repentance, the Father of all is already close at hand, ready to receive us in his embrace. Indeed,…
Today, as we take leave of the Meeting of the Lord, we mark the beginning of the Lenten Triodion with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Thus, today is both the last day of the Nativity cycle and the first day of the Lenten-Paschal cycle. In fact, according to the vision found in our liturgical books, these two cycles always overlap. We…
Today, St. Simeon receives the long-awaited Messiah in his arms, and he sings, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!” As Orthodox Christians, we end each day with these same words, which are read or sung at the conclusion of Vespers every evening. Thus, we seal the days of our life, and our life as whole, with an expression of…
Three Hierarchs Chapel
January 30, 2025
I welcome all of you with the joy of the feast and especially welcome His Grace Bishop Irinej of the Eastern America Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Your Grace is no stranger to Saint Vladimir’s Seminary and we are grateful not only for your concelebration today but also for your love and support of…
Richmond, Virginia
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It goes without saying that the Gospel of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ is a serious matter, the most serious matter there is. However, even so, the Gospel is not without its humorous moments, and there is certainly something humorous about the end…
Wappingers Falls, New York
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today the Lord exclaims, in response to a centurion’s message, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
What exactly did the centurion say to elicit such high praise from the Lord? When the people of Capernaum…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In today’s Gospel, we hear that a village of Samaritans refused to receive the Lord, “because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.”
This is easy to understand on a historical, or literal, level. The Samaritans were Israelites who, during the Babylonian…
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary
September 14, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joyous feast! С праздником!
In the Old English poem, “The Dream of the Rood,” the precious and life-giving Cross appears to the lyric persona in a dream. It appears to him not as an ordinary piece of wood, much less…
Saint Tikhon’s Seminary
September 8, 2024
Greetings to one and all, and especially to you seminarians who have just begun your school year.
Each new school year starts full of excitement and promise, and it is a blessed coincidence, a gift of providence, that the start of the school year here in the United States corresponds, more or less, with…
Saint Tikhon’s Monastery
September 8, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joyous feast!
“The barren woman bears the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life.”
“Dread wonder: she who sustains our life, who received within her body the Bread of heaven, feeds at her mother’s breast.”
“O marvelous…
Midlothian, Virginia
August 31, 2014
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today this holy temple celebrates its patronal feast in honor of that great Father of the Church, Cyprian of Carthage. Perhaps above all Saint Cyprian is known as a defender of the unity of the Church. He proclaimed that unity to be both in…
Glory to Jesus Christ!
As the Primate of Orthodox Church in America, the ruling hierarch of this Institution, this seminary and its chapel, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, I welcome all of you incoming students to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
St. Vladimir’s is a place with a storied history: names such as Florovsky,…
Saint Nicholas Cathedral
June 23, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today is the glorious day of Pentecost, the consummation of the entire Paschal movement. On Holy Thursday night, the night on which he was given up, the Lord told us that he was going away so that he could send another Comforter, and…
June 2, 2024
Your Beatitude,
Your Eminences,
Your Graces,
Reverend Fathers of the Monastery,
Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy,
all you faithful who are gathered here to celebrate:
Christ is risen!
During this glorious Paschal seasons, it is my joy and honor to join Your Beatitude at Bancheny Monastery. It is my understanding that the…
Chernivtsi Cathedral
June 1, 2024
Your Beatitude,
It is a joy for me to be here with you and all the brother bishops, priests, and the faithful who have gathered here during this Paschal season at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
The rich cultural heritage of the city is a microcosm of the rich culture of Ukraine, a cultural richness which the…
Monastery of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
May 2, 2024
As we conclude the liturgy, I would like to address with my greeting and my gratitude all those hierarchs and other clergy who have traveled here as visitors in order to participate in the consecration of the holy chrism.
Your Eminences, Your Graces, Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers,
During the…
Saint Vladimir Seminary
April 21, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, is the final Sunday of the fast. We will soon put the forty days behind us; this coming Friday, the last day of Lent proper, we will sing, “Having completed the forty days that bring profit to our…
Saint Tikhon’s Monastery
April 20, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today Saint Paul offers us a sobering reminder: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”
If we have engaged in the Lenten struggle with even a modicum of authentic effort, then we know, to some small…
Saint Gregory Palamas is famed for articulating the distinction between God’s essence and his energies and for his discussion of the uncreated Light. His doctrines are an indispensable part of Orthodox Christian dogma. However, it must be remembered that he was not articulating these doctrines in response to abstract problems: he was defending the…
Today, an angel stands in fear and awe in the presence of woman, she who is “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim.” This is not Byzantine hyperbole: the Mother of God contained within herself the one before whom the angels merely tremble, immeasurably surpassing every other creature by her total…