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Fr. Peter
Miracle at Copco Road
It was the 31st day of July, 2014. I was making my usual trek to town. When I came up out of the hollow there was a plume of black smoke and it was really close… a forest fire. I immediately called 911 and they told me it was under control. I watched the fire […]
St. Mardarije of Libertyville
Archmandrite Mardarije Uskoković was Administrator of the Serbian Orthodox Church presence in North America, 1917 − 1922, initially under the omoforion of the Russian Orthodox Church. As of 1922, the Serbian Orthodox Church established a diocese of the U.S.A and Canada, with St. Nikolaj Velimirović as first Bishop. Archimandrite Mardarije resumed his role as administrator […]
On Kissing the Priest’s Hand
A few of our new inquirers have asked about the practice of kissing the priest’s hand. For people outside of the Orthodox Tradition (and even for some of the Faithful), this is one of those foreign, counter-cultural and awkward practices that can be difficult to grasp. The following article may shed some light on this […]
Using A Prayer Rope
When praying, the prayer rope is normally held in the left hand (leaving the right hand free to make the Sign of the Cross). When not in use, the prayer rope should be wrapped around the left wrist so that it continues to remind one to pray without ceasing. (This is why, if made of […]
St. Tikhon of Moscow – Enlightener of North America
Commemorated April 7 St Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Apostle to America was born as Vasily Ivanovich Belavin on January 19, 1865 into the family of Ioann Belavin, a rural priest of the Toropetz district of the Pskov diocese. His childhood and adolescence were spent in the village in direct contact with peasants […]
St. Raphael of Brooklyn
Commemorated February 27 Our holy Father Raphael was born in Syria in 1860 to pious Orthodox parents, Michael Hawaweeny and his second wife Mariam, the daughter of a priest of Damascus. The exact date of Raphael’s birth is not known, but he estimated it to be on or near his Name Day, the […]
St. Peter the Aleut
Commemorated September 24 Saint Peter the Aleut is mentioned in the Life of St Herman of Alaska (December 13). Simeon Yanovsky (who ended his life as the schemamonk Sergius in the St Tikhon of Kaluga Monastery), has left the following account: “On another occasion I was relating to him how the Spanish in […]
The Apostles’ Fast
“The Apostles almost always fasted.” – Saint John Chrysostom (Sermon 57 on the Gospel of Matthew) The Apostles’ Fast begins tomorrow (the second Monday after Pentecost) and lasts until the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul (June 29). It varies in length from year to year. If the feast of Pascha occurs sooner, then the Apostle’s Fast […]
St. Alexander Hotovitzky
Commemorated: December 4 The New Martyr of Russia Alexander Hotovitzky was born on February 11, 1872 in the city of Kremenetz, into the pious family of Archpriest Alexander, who was Rector of the Volhynia Theological Seminary and would later be long remembered in the hearts of the Orthodox inhabitants of Volhynia as a good […]