Soglas Priestly

Understanding the Holy Trinity

God has revealed to humanity that He is one yet triune in persons. How can we understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity within our limited comprehension? What do the terms person/hypostasis/essence/nature mean? What are the shared and individual properties…

The Schism of the Orthodox Church. -Ryabushinsky

Excerpt from the book: V.P. Ryabushinsky – Old Belief and the Russian Religious Consciousness Around the middle of the 17th century, an event of tremendous significance took place in the history of Russian culture: the Russian Church was torn by…

“Old Believers”: The History and Adequacy of the Term

In recent decades, the meaning of the term “Old Believers” (староверы) has undergone a significant transformation in the public consciousness. Whereas just a few decades ago, society had a clear understanding that Old Believers were Old Ritualists (старообрядцы)—representatives of the most ancient and orthodox…

The Messianic Background of the Schism

By the 17th century, messianism had fully taken shape as a fundamental part of the Russian mentality, crystallized through the terror of Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles that inevitably followed. The sense of a providential mission before…

On the Trials of the 20th Century

Why did God allow the trials of the 20th century to befall the Orthodox state (godless rule, execution of clergy, destruction of churches)? For what sins? What needed to be corrected? “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth…