St. Tikhon visits Oklahoma
Visitation by His Grace Bishop Tikhon (Bellavin), Bishop of the Aleutians and North America to the Orthodox parish in Hartshorne, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) as related in the Russian Orthodox American Messenger, May 1904 Our Orthodox Visitor: On April 6 (19), Bright Tuesday, Hartshorne had the good fortune to receive His Grace, Vladyka Tikhon. Meeting the […]
Tilling the Earth
On this day, for the Church new year, the appointed gospel passage is Christ reading the scriptures in the local synagogue. What does he read? The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives […]
Service for Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth
We will soon be commemorating the New-martyr Elizabeth, martyred by the Bolsheviks along with the Romanov royal family. This service to the Grand Duchess Elizabeth was obtained from with the website of St. Elizabeth Convent in Minsk, but some editing was needed. Changes were needed, not because of any inadequacies in the original text, but […]
The Monk Who Never Judged Anyone and Died Joyfully
Coming up on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we might feel a stirring of some of those fears we have, deep down, of that Judgment Day. But there is a trick. We actually have a large amount of control over how we are judged. Christ says, Judge not, and you will not be judged. […]
Zephaniah – Zechariah – same difference
In the process of preparing text to be sung in our services, I often run across questions about the meaning. I try my best to reword unclear passages so they will make sense to the hearer, who, in almost all cases, will only get one chance to hear that particular text, and that, sung by […]