The words of Monk Simeon of Athos. Wisdom. Which teacher is the best? Suffering. Which teacher is the worst? Pleasure. What is the most rare skill? Ability to give. What is the best skill? The ability to forgive. What is the most difficult skill? The ability to keep quiet. What is the most important skill? The […]
Eating Food that has Blood in it According to Canon Law
January 16, 2018 By
Q: I wonder if it is ok to eat food that has blood in it? What about Acts 15 where the Apostles forbid it and what about blood transfusions? A: Actually – and this is not well-known – the Orthodox position is that the Apostolic Council is still binding, and this includes the prohibition on […]
St. Photius the Great, The Photian Council, and Relations with the Roman Church
November 12, 2017 By
by Dr. David Ford Introduction There is considerable discussion today within the worldwide Orthodox Church about the status of the so-called “Photian Council,” held in Constantinople in 879-880. This is an exceedingly important council in the history of the Orthodox Church, and therefore deserves to be much more widely known among the Orthodox faithful. […]
How do you know that the Orthodox, not the Iconoclasts, preserved the more ancient Christian view of Icons?
November 6, 2017 By
For one thing, Iconoclasm would have thrived in Islamic dominated territory… but it didn’t. The first out break of Iconoclasm began in Moslem territory, though this was not Christians destroying images, but Moslems destroying Christian images (Pelikan, p. 105). There is also reason to think that Moslem influence inspired the Iconoclastic Emperors (for one, all […]
Can the Dead Repent?
November 1, 2017 By
If someone dies without repentance, is it possible for such a person to repent after death? Fr. John Whiteford answers this question through the writings of the holy fathers of the Church. by Fr. John Whiteford Scripture, as explained by the Fathers of the Church, states that this is not possible. Psalm 6:5 says: “For […]
The Reason Orthodox Christians Cross Themselves from Right to Left
September 27, 2017 By
Orthodox cross themselves from right to left. first we will describe the mechanics of making the cross, then explain why it is indeed important that we make the sign of the cross correctly. Placing the cross on oneself 1) We place our thumb and first two fingers together in a point, and our last we […]
Why Should Reading in the Orthodox Church be Unemotional?
August 24, 2017 By
By Fr. Andrew Chizhenko I remember the words of Alexander Griboyedov from his play “Woe from Wit”: “Read it not like an altar server, but with passion”. For centuries, that aphorism was the reason of sarcastic mockeries about church readings in intellectual circles. In fact, they do not correlate with the truth and ancient thousand […]
Prayers for the Dead in the Bible and in Tradition
August 20, 2017 By
From Fr. John Whiteford’s blog, originally titled ‘Stump the Priest: Prayers for the Dead in the Bible and in Tradition’ by Fr. John Whiteford Question: “Where do we find any evidence that praying for the dead is a biblical? From what I have read it appears that the Bible almost says the opposite of this […]
