King Shapur II of Persia conducted a fierce persecution of Christians in his realm for thirty-seven years. In the final years of this persecution he gave his magi authority to torture and kill any Christians who would not renounce their faith. Acepsimas, the aged and holy Bishop of Paka, was arrested along with Joseph the priest and Aithalas the deacon. All not only refused to deny Christ, but boldly preached Him before the magi and the king. The enraged king had them viciously tortured, then, as a final indignity, made prisoners of all the local Christians and forced them to stone their own shepherds to death. With their martyrdom the great persecution in Persia came to an end.

A pagan couple, Cleitophon and Leucippe, who lived in Emesa in the reign of the Emperor Decius, were grieved that they were unable to have children. One day a monk named Onuphrius came to their door seeking alms to give to the poor, and seeing Leucippe's downcast face, asked her what was wrong. When she replied that she was barren, Onuphrius told her that this was by God's providence, to prevent their child from being given over to idolatry, and that if they accepted Christ she would bear a child. Leucippe was baptized into the Faith and bore a son not long after, which in turn brought her husband to faith in Christ. The son was named Galaction in baptism.   Years later, Galaction's father, now widowed, decided that Galaction should marry a pagan maiden named Episteme. Galaction married out of obedience, but would not approach Episteme's bed since she was a pagan. In time, he convinced her of the truth of the Faith and baptised her himself. Not long after she was told in a dream of the glory that awaits those who consecrate themselves wholly to God. When she told her husband of the dream, they both resolved to remain in virginity, settling in separate monastic communities near to one another.   In one of the Emperor's persecutions of Christians, Galaction was seized by imperial soldiers and taken away to be killed. Episteme, told in a vision of his arrest, asked the blessing of her abbess to join him in martyrdom. Receiving it, she hurried to Galaction's place of imprisonment, boldly announced her faith in Christ, and after many tortures and humiliations husband and wife were beheaded together.

He was born in Northubria in England around 638. At the age of seven he was sent to the monastery at Ripon for education under St Wilfrid (April 24), the abbot. At the age of twenty he traveled to Ireland to live among the holy monks of that land; he spent twelve years there as the spiritual child of St Egbert (also April 24). In 690 St Egbert sent Willibrord as head of a company of twelve monks to take the Gospel to the pagan lands around Frisia. The holy missionary first went to Rome to receive the blessing of Pope Sergius, then with his fellow-monks preached the Gospel throughout Holland and Zealand. In 695 Pope Sergius consecrated Willibrord Archbishop of Utrecht, instructing him to organize the Church throughout that area. As Archbishop, Willibrord continued to labor tirelessly for the spread of the Gospel in those pagan lands; his missionary travels took him as far as Denmark. He reposed in peace in 739 at Echternach Monastery (located in present-day in Luxembourg), having served for forty-four years as a bishop and for most of his life as a monastic. His tomb soon became a place of pilgrimage.

The holy Scriptures, from beginning to end, are filled with mentions and descriptions of the Heavenly Host: not to believe in angels is not to believe in the Bible. In the heavens they behold the face of God, eternally hymning His glory. They are intimately involved with mankind as well: an angel is appointed guardian over every nation, and over every individual Christian. The Archangels Michael and Gabriel, whom we especially commemorate today along with all the other bodiless powers, have served as messengers to man. "Michael" means "Who is like God?";"Gabriel" means "God is mighty." Gabriel especially was appointed to announce the coming of Christ in the flesh.   There is no reckoning the number of the Heavenly Host, though we know that they are a great multitude. They are ranked in nine orders, called Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels and Angels. "Angel" means "herald" or "messenger" and is properly applied only to those who serve as messengers from God to man; but the name is often applied to the entire host of bodiless powers.   Though bodiless, the angels are finite in knowledge, extension and power. The angel Lucifer, once the highest of them all, desired to be like God Himself, and was cast forever from the presence of God, along with countless others who followed him. These we now know as Satan and the demons. (Needless to say, they are not commemorated today).

In part two of his introduction to the new series, Fr. Andrew goes into the history of the Church and the various heresies it condemned.

Elder Paisios constantly stressed the power of positive thinking. In this episode, the listener will learn the effects of poor stress management on the body and how positive thinking is important for our health and weight management.

For it is written, "If a righteous man falls down seven times"—that is, repeatedly throughout his life—"seven times shall he rise again" (Prov. 24:16). We will fall. Relapse does occur. Setting realistic goals is a great way to handle not giving in to the passions of overeating and slothfulness. Realistic goal-setting is a way to make positive changes that last. 

When a fast is just around the corner, the fridge gets stocked with non-dairy creamer and margarine. Rita explains how these foods sabotage the very essence of fasting and are detrimental to health.

Family dinnertime goes beyond a balanced meal. This is when we sit together and are nourished both spiritually and physically. Rita shares things to do in everyday life to increase physical activity and improve stress management throughout a child's day.

Rita discusses additional ways to help children develop a healthy relationship with food.

Did you overdo it during the fast-free period of the Holy Nativity? Are you frustrated with how you ate and that lack of attention you paid to your body? Do you struggle with overindulgence on foods and beverage? Rita discusses how and why we must forgive ourselves and move forward.

This will be the last podcast for quite some time as Rita takes a break to focus on conducting food and faith workshops. Here she reminds us of the importance of allowing the traditions of our church to be the basis for our health management.

Rita introduces her new book Food, Faith, and Fasting: A Sacred Journey to Better Health, published by Ancient Faith Publishing.

Rita describes the benefits of creative almsgiving for both our spiritual and physical well being.

Many people feel they are experiencing some intolerance to foods (and for sure some people do) but some may be experiencing stress and when their body is in stressed mode it can create physical symptoms that do not feel the best. We will look at the teachings of the Desert Fathers for some wisdom to help with stress. In addition we will explore the program My Beautiful Lent (http://www.mybeautifullent.com) which is an online program being released this Great Lent (2016) to help decrease the stress that somehow appears during this time. The program aids to simplify Great Lent to allow it to be a fruitful season.

Rita provides good insights into how we can keep the fast of Great Lent, and encourages us to stay connected to others who can help us be accountable and on the right path.

Rita reflects on how physical objects can help us attain food for our soul, and how we can use physical objects to help us in prayer.

In this podcast, we see how the teachings of our holy tradition guide us in understanding our relationship to health.

In this podcast we explore how guidance from St. John of Kronstadt to handle spiritual sickness, following Holy Orthodox Tradition, gives us the answers and when we do this, we just feel physically better.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah discuss the effects of loss of control and powerlessness in the lives of those we are caring for, and how we might process our own sense of powerlessness even as we seek to be present with them.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah begin a two part conversation about the important role of self-care in preventing burnout in caregiving roles.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah continue their conversation about the important role of self-care in preventing burnout in caregiving roles, focusing on the psychological point of view and addressing how to do good self-care.

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah begin a new series of podcasts with an introduction to the topic of grief and loss. (Part 1)

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah continue an introduction of their new series of podcasts on the topic of grief and loss. (Part 2)

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah continue their discussion on the topic of death. (Part 4)

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah discuss death and the Orthodox liturgical practices in relation to a funeral or memorial service. (Part 3)

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian help us understand the first three of the Six Major Types of Losses, as described in the book "All our Losses, All our Griefs" by Kenneth R. Mitchell and Herbert Anderson, that we and others experience in life.

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian continue their discussion of the Six Major Types of Losses, as described in the book "All our Losses, All our Griefs" by Kenneth R. Mitchell and Herbert Anderson, by reflecting on types four through six.

Fr. Adrian Budica interviews Dr. Katya Hill - Associate Professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and Executive Director of the AAC Institute and clinic a non-profit organization dedicated to serving individuals who cannot talk. (Part 1 of 2)

Fr. Adrian Budica continues his interview with Dr. Katya Hill - Associate Professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and Executive Director of the AAC Institute and clinic a non-profit organization dedicated to serving individuals who cannot talk. (Part 2 of 2)

Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martelli interviews Dr. Daniel Henshaw on the topic of physician assisted suicide. (Part 1 of 2)

Chaplain Sarah Byrne-Martello continues her interview with Dr. Daniel Henshaw on the topic of physician assisted suicide. (Part 2 of 2)

Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah begin their discussion of the differences between "social" visits and "pastoral" visits. See the attached worksheet titled "Pastoral Visits and Social Visits."

Chaplain Sarah and Fr. Adrian continue their discussion about the differences between "social" visits and "pastoral" visits. Please see the attached document pertaining to their conversation.

Dr. Adrian Budica, ThM, ACPE, BCC, Director of Field Education, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood NY, and Sara Byrne-Martelli, MDiv, DMin candidate, BCC, Chaplain, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Video presentation available here.

Fr. Adrian Budica reflects upon the perennial problem of evil and suffering, offering helpful ways for us to process suffering in our own lives and in the lives of those we serve.

Fr. Adrian interviews Fr. Andrew Honoré on the topic of abandonment and his experiences in CPE.

Fr. Andrew begins his new podcast with a reflection on his home, community, and church, and tells us about the focus of this new series

Part 1 of a lecture on evangelism given on March 7, 2010, at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Bethlehem, PA, at a gathering of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians of the Lehigh Valley. Fr. Andrew references a Gospel tract which can be downloaded by clicking here.

Here is part 2 of Fr. Andrew's lecture. Be sure to download the pdf file that accompanies part 1.

Today Fr. Andrew begins part two of his Foundations series with a talk on Scripture and Tradition. This is part one of that talk.

In his continuing series on the Foundations of the Orthodox Faith, Fr. Andrew presents the second half of his second talk regarding Scripture and Tradition.

Fr. Andrew gave this talk at Cornell University on February 14, 2012.

On this Sunday when we read about the rich man and Lazarus, Fr. Andrew tells us that the difference between Heaven and Hell may be the "good left undone."

On this feast day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Fr. Andrew tells the true story of a love that is beyond our imagination.

On this Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, Fr. Andrew asks the simple, but complicated question, why are we here, why do we come to church?

On this Sunday of Pentecost we are reminded that with the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are assured that Christ has not left us.

In this sermon, Fr. Andrew reminds us to obey all of the commandments of Christ.

On this Sunday, Fr. Andrew tells us that there is no opposition between faith and good works in the writings of St. Paul.

On this Sunday, Fr. Andrew reminds us that in Orthodoxy there is a purpose for history, and with this New Year in the Orthodox Church, we can participate in the Acceptable Year of the Lord.