St Theophan tells us that “the four weapons of which we have spoken receive their power from the forces and gifts of grace, obtained for us by the blood of Christ.” And the mystery of holy communion “is Christ’s blood itself, and His flesh itself, in which Christ is Himself present as God.” Find the transcript HERE.

What’s a good time to have such a conversation? Well, it shouldn’t just be a one-off conversation… it should be an ongoing dialogue and discussion. Listen to the podcast and read the transcript HERE.

How talking about anything — including violence and sexuality — can lead to consequences in others’ lives, intentionally and unintentionally. Read the transcript HERE.

Princeton University's Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History Emeritus Dr. Peter Brown presented the 30th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture to a standing room only crowd in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building at St. Vladimir's Seminary.

Dr. Bruce Foltz, a professor of Environmental Philosophy at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, delivers a talk titled “The Truth of Nature.” The occasion for this lecture was the ecclesiastical new year, which St. Vlad’s marked by gathering to offer praise and thanksgiving to God the Creator and to contemplate the many gifts He has bestowed.

The Very Rev. Dr. John H. Erickson, former seminary Dean (2002-2007), speaks at the first annual "Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture" at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary on September 15, 2013.

In a presentation centering on Christian identity, Archimandrite Zacharias, a monk of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights by Maldon, Essex, England, inspired an audience of more than 100 people with what he termed "domestic theology," that is, "simple things, in Church life that bear profound consequences. Father Zacharias, a disciple of Father Sophrony (of blessed memory) who was a disciple of St. Silouan of Mount Athos, emphasized the importance of each Christian becoming a living temple of God, but in particular, priests.

On Friday, September 11, 2015, the Board of Trustees and Faculty of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary bestowed a Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa, upon His Holiness Irinej (Gavrilovic), Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, and Patriarch of Serbia.

Father Ivan Moody—prolific composer, sought after conductor, editor of sacred music, and author and lecturer—speaks on "The Past, Present, and Future of Orthodox Music" in this public conversation. He touches upon everything from deciphering early musical notation written on papyri to creating fresh repertoire in sacred music, and from the “monophony and polyphony wars” in church history to the therapeutic function of music in contemporary church and society.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the first, “Autocephaly: The OCA, the Greek Archdiocese, and Antioch," Priest Anthony Roeber, the Seminary's professor of church history, delivered an eye-opening and candid lecture. He sheds light on motivations and circumstances leading up to the granting of the Tomos of Autocephaly in 1970 by the Russian Orthodox Church to the OCA (then known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America) and addressed the reaction of other Orthodox jurisdictions to the Tomos.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the second, “Autocephaly & Evangelism," Archpriest John Parker, dean of Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivered a passionate call to action and reminder that "autocephaly is an inner evangelism in reminding all Orthodox Christians that in Christ Jews and Greeks, Turks and Cretans, Romanians, Latinos, Africans, Asians all find true motherland in the nave and at the chalice."

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the third, “Autocephaly & New Saints,” His Grace, Bishop Daniel (Brum) of Santa Rosa explored the importance and canonization of North American saints including St. Herman of Alaska, who was canonized the same year the Tomos of Autocephaly was granted (but decided upon a year earlier). Excitingly, Bishop Daniel’s talk also touched upon the possibility of new North American saints, notably Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich, d. 1965) and Matushka Olga Michael of Alaska (d. 1979).

On January 30, 2021, New York Times bestselling author Rod Dreher delivered the 38th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture. Dreher’s lecture, “Living in Truth: How the Communist-Era Suffering Church can Prepare Us to be Dissidents,” defined the challenges and explored the gifts the suffering church has for a complacent West. His talk coincided with the publication of A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Vol. 1, featuring an English translation of Schmemann’s broadcasts into the Soviet Union that began in 1953. This first volume of the two-part series, being published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, features a foreword by Dreher.

In this concluding episode in the How to Be a Sinner series, Dn. Michael Hyatt interviews the author, Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

Padre Nicolás predicó que un fiel de Dios haga planes para una mañana mejor. Como en México la Iglesia ha mejorado por los siglos y también como un pescador quien necesita tener esperanza de un buen futuro nosotros como discípulos hagan lo mismo. (Efesios 4:1-7) Fr. Nicholas preached that a faithful person of God makes plans for a better tomorrow. Like in Mexico in that the Church has improved through the centuries and like fishermen who need to have hope in a better future we also need to do the same. (Ephesians 4:1-7)

Padre Nicolás predicó que Dios es el Dios de hoy. Cuidado que tu no pienses solamente que va a venir mañana y perdiendo la belleza de hoy. Dios es el Señor del presente. (Filipenses 4:4-9) Fr. Nicholas preached that God is the God of today. Be careful that you do not only think about what is to come tomorrow and loose the beauty of today. God is the Lord of the present. (Philippians 4:4-9)

Today's episode is taken from Molly's piece as a guest blog on The Orthodox Mama. With her eyes on the saints and years of raising her four children, Molly offers three big lessons she's learned about motherhood.

In this podcast Steve gives a simple way to get to know someone quickly: take them out for dinner. He discusses how both CEO's of international corporations and the scriptures tell us that how people treat waiters and waitresses says volumes about their personality, ethics and spiritual life.

Or, maybe you shouldn't... there are other people who are more authoritative. I'll tell you where to find them.

What does it mean to be mentally healthy?

Dn. Theodore describes an encounter he recently had with a man who claims to have written a quantum formula that proves the existence of God.

Paul and Naomi talk about the importance of the mission in the busyness of downtown Toronto. They also reflect on the mission's purpose of being there for those who need them.

Fr. Nicolaie shares a short story about forgiveness.

Meet Ruth, one of the treasures at the Mission. Taken from Walking Humbly: The Holiness of the Poor, by St. John the Compassionate Mission.

Reflections from St. John the Compassionate Mission about the Prodigal Son and Canada's Bill C-7.

Meet three pilgrims who frequent St. John the Compassionate Mission; written by Brother Luke.

Stories from St. John the Compassionate Mission written by Brother Luke.

Reflections written by Fr. Nicolaie.

One might say that the beauty of the poor is hard to spot. But one would be wrong... because in truth, beauty is the hospitality of holiness for the human being. And where do we find this hospitality more present than in the body of the poor? Take a look into Christine's joyful and deep blue eyes, to see for yourself.

What do you do if you're in both a recipe and prayer rut? Martha has some solutions.

What happens when we become burned out on cooking and end up in a recipe rut? Martha shares some ideas on reinvigorating your cooking and prayer life.

very sad to hear this but I'm grateful for their effort, and loved having them at XOXO to talk about their weird and special community #

the BBS goes read-only on Friday, replaced by Substack comments, and the community is not happy #

getting it to run DOOM is only a matter of time #

I didn't even realize iOS automations could do this #

How the concept of punishment in the world to come was understood at the time of Christ.

Recently I heard a very dark and serious song about the judgment of God and His wrath against sinners. It was the folk song “Great God Almighty’s Gonna Cut You Down” (accessed here). I was not aware of the song before; apparently it is an American folk song. The oracular Wikipedia informs me that it was first recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946 and issued in 1947 by the Jubalairies, and since then has been covered by a variety of singers in country, folk, electronic, and black metal genres, including such singers as Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley. It takes some imagination to contemplate someone singing both about blue suede shoes and the wrath of God, but that’s America for you.

I sometimes tell inquirers at St. Herman’s when they ask that I began my Christian life in earnest as a Jesus People—which usually results in blank stares, since most of them are too young to have heard of the cultural phenomenon known as the Jesus People Movement. The movement has recently come up again for notice in a film called “Jesus Revolution”, based on the true events of the founding of Calvary Chapel in California under Pastor Chuck Smith (d. 2013) and his long-haired hippie protégé Lonnie Frisbee. The film, a well done and positive presentation of the events, stars Kelsey Grammer and features the role of Greg Laurie (played by Joel Courtney) as a new convert to Christ at Smith’s Calvary Chapel, and as someone who would go on to found Harvest Christian Fellowship Church, with campuses in California and Hawaii. Harvest Ministries is the group which released the film.

Commenting on the epistle reading of Paul to the Colossians, the Very Rev. Dr Bogdan Bucur concentrates on the idea that the passions we struggle with also lead us into idolatry. For “when Christ who is our life appears,” we either die to the passions, or we choose them over Him.This is a battle which happens in our hearts every day, as Christ has already appeared to us through our baptism, and continues to appear to us through our every encounter with Him spiritually and physically in the sacraments and the body of the Church.

Presented for your consideration (as Rod Serling used to say): an old man dressed up as an Orthodox priest-monk who is actually neither priest nor monk, performing outrageous antics both in public and online in a furious attempt to draw attention to himself. Mr. Milton Kapner calls himself Brother Nathanael, and he is a Jewish man who has attracted a large following of online listeners to his regular virulent anti-Semitic rants. Though he was once a novice in an Old Calendarist monastery in Colorado, he was kicked out of that monastery and is now not a monk at all, despite wearing monastic garb, but “a showman with a persecution complex who likes to be the center of attention” (from “Orthodox Christianity Then and Now”).

Now that Great Lent is upon us, the question sometimes arises about where we should put our spiritual focus. There are two places we should certainly not put our focus—and only one place where we should.

Fr. Apostolos continues his homiletic series on prayer.

Fr. Apostolos talks about the dangers of confusing externalism with spiritual fruit.