The life of a Christian is built upon the presence of a spiritual father. A spiritual father is a priest who helps the Christian grow spiritually. It is to him that the Christian usually turns for advice and for the performance of…
If a family is a small church, then a Christian community is a larger family. Therefore, every Christian must have a spiritual father with whom they can discuss their problems, seek answers to pressing questions, and so on. Without necessity,…
By George Neminuschy About fifteen years ago, I ended up in the hospital. It happens! Not the most pleasant thing, of course, but sometimes it proves to be instructive — in a spiritual sense, naturally. You come into what one…
What does the common phrase “The Lord visited someone” mean? How should we understand such situations, draw the right conclusions, and avoid the necessity for such occurrences? The phrase “The Lord visited” or “the visitation of the Lord” is used…
What does the common phrase “we crucify Christ with our sins” mean? How can this be understood if Christ was crucified once, long before our time? When the Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry, St. John the Forerunner, who…
According to Christian doctrine, everything that exists, apart from God Himself, is God’s creation. All that exists has its cause in God and is therefore intimately connected with Him. Unfortunately, rational beings do not always understand this; yet, even if…
To address this, we must first ask: Why did God create humanity? God had no need to create humans. God is the Holy Trinity, and He does not experience loneliness or lack. He created humanity out of the abundance of His love.…
By Bishop Mikhail (Semyonov) The Old Believers are most frequently accused of “ritualism,” that is, of stubbornly venerating rituals even more than dogma. Their reverence for ritual is often regarded as little less than idolatry. But is ritual really something…
By I.A. Kirillov The journal Church has already noted the sorrowful phenomenon of the younger generation of Old Believers growing indifferent to their native rites and customs. This phenomenon is undoubtedly lamentable, yet entirely understandable in our times, especially among students. From…
“Such is the grace of the Spirit — it makes those of one mind to be of equal honor.”— St. Gregory the Theologian\ “For all Christian kingdoms shall come to an end and be gathered into one Russian kingdom for…