(Commemorated April 11/24) Saint Antipas, a hieromartyr, was a disciple of the holy Apostle John the Theologian and served as bishop of the Church of Pergamum during the reign of Emperor Nero (54–68 A.D.). At that time, by imperial decree, all who refused to offer sacrifices to idols were subjected to execution or exile. It…
Dimitry Urushev Bishop Pavel of Kolomna is one of the most significant figures in Russian spiritual history of the 17th century. Alas, he was not fortunate. His name failed to attract the attention of scholars. He remained in the shadow of his more famous contemporaries—Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon, and Archpriest Avvakum. Pavel and Nikon…
In the mid-seventeenth century, Rus’ and the Russian Church stood at a historical crossroads. They faced a difficult choice: to preserve themselves as the Third Rome—the last bastion of Christianity—even if that meant isolation among the nations of the world; or to join with the rest, exchanging their spiritual birthright for a mess of worldly…
“Today is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of the eternal mystery”—so begins the troparion of the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God. In these words, “our salvation” refers to the incarnation of the Word of God—His coming into the world in the flesh, in human nature and form—as the…
By Bishop Mikhail (Semyonov) In secular art, following a tradition that nonetheless has its roots in ancient Christian iconography, the Holy Virgin or the angel in depictions of the Annunciation is often shown with lilies. The lily is a beautiful symbol of the chaste purity of the Holy Virgin—a fragrant, snow-white flower, joyfully opening itself…
The Annunciation is a joyful feast, for in it is proclaimed the coming into the world of the Saviour, who brought tidings of reconciliation between man and God. He opened the radiant gates of paradise, which had been shut to the human race because of the transgression of God’s commandments, and He declared the endless…
One of the most beloved feasts of Great Lent among Russian Christians since ancient times has been the commemoration of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, who suffered in the year 320 for their faith in Christ God. The Church commemorates their memory on March 22 (March 9 according to the old style). It is striking…
In the mid-nineteenth century, an event occurred that was of great significance for all Old Orthodox Christians: after nearly two centuries of widowhood, the Old Believer Church once again gained a bishop. In 1846, in the village of Belaya Krinitsa, near the city of Chernivtsi (then part of Austria-Hungary, now Western Ukraine), a Greek metropolitan,…
After the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, the impious queen Herodias secretly buried his honorable head in a dung heap in her garden. One of John’s myrrh-bearing disciples, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the steward of King Herod, learned of this. In secret, she unearthed the honorable head, placed it in a clay vessel,…
The future hierarch was born around the year 330 in Caesarea of Cappadocia (Asia Minor, now Turkey). His grandfather and grandmother had suffered persecution for being Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. His uncle was a bishop, as were two of his brothers—Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335–394) and Peter of Sebaste (ca. 340–391), both of…