February 20, 7534
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,…
Salvation can only be attained by uniting with Christ. And one can unite with Christ only by becoming part of His mystical Body—the Church. The Heavenly Church and the earthly Church together form one single Body. Such a Body can only be one. “He is the head of the body, the Church.”(Colossians 1:18) Just as…
The first thing every believer must understand is that Christ is our Savior. We call Christ the Savior because no one but Him can save us. The Church is the Body of Christ. Our task is to find the Church that is inseparably connected to the ancient Church of Christ, which is the true Body…
The schism began with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov’s desire to reform the Russian Church through Patriarch Nikon, modeling it on contemporary Greek and Ukrainian practices. The 17th-century reforms affected not just a narrow circle of specialists but every member of the Church. They touched upon familiar and deeply ingrained elements: the sign of the cross,…
Every Christian arranges the fingers of their right hand for the sign of the cross as follows: three fingers (thumb, ring finger, and little finger) are joined together, symbolizing faith in the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The other two fingers (index and middle) represent the two natures of Christ—divine…
Indeed, while other commandments are relatively straightforward—”Do not kill” means you must not kill, and “Do not steal” means you must not steal—what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Why is this sin unforgivable, even though Christians are called to emulate God and forgive their offenders? Furthermore, God is the Holy Trinity,…
How can a person develop sound judgment, a stable psyche, and a calm, clear mind? Many people today seem to have “chaos” in their heads, muddled thinking, and a restless, scattered mind. Qualities such as sound judgment, a stable psyche, and a calm, clear mind are essential to the Christian virtue of chastity. The word chastity derives…