Fr. Ted addresses the uncomfortable topic of how we remove ourselves from the House of God.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains why the Saints are indeed models of the Orthodox Christian faith that we should follow.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to humble ourselves and have faith in others.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to lay aside our own judgment of others and turn our focus towards repentance in light of the Final Judgment.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos preaches on the Gospel reading from the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent, reminding us that as Orthodox Christians we have been training through our prayer, fasting and almsgiving for an unusual occasion like the one we face during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos reflects on the lives of Ss. Constantine and Helen and calls all Orthodox Christians to strive to become saints.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains the importance of the First Ecumenical Council in maintaining the true Orthodox Christian faith.

Visit the "holy mountain" of Mt. Athos, and join in the quest for a spiritual elder with acclaimed poet and author Scot Cairns, who reads selections from his newly-released book and talks with two-time pilgrim to the holy mountain, Kevin Allen!

The Orthodox Church is seeing an influx of graduates from Evangelical Christian colleges and universities, exploring traditional forms of historic Christianity. In this program Kevin Allen discusses this trend with two graduates of BIOLA University (Jesse Cone and Michael Unruh) who were recently chrismated.

Join host Kevin Allen in his interview with Ancient Faith Radio founder and Chief Operating Officer of Conciliar Media Ministries, John Maddex, about his fascinating journey to the ancient faith of Orthodoxy after 30 years as a evangelical radio executive and self-professed "classic Evangelical Protestant Christian"!

Raised by the Hell’s Angel’s motorcycle gang as a youth, John Franklin lived a hell on earth before submitting to Christ and discovering The Orthodox Church while serving a third-term in prison. A story of (continuing) repentance and the grace and mercy of God, this is one you won’t want to miss!

Ex-member of the hard-core Christian rock band East West (2002 Dove Award Winner!) speaks about the Christian Contemporary Music Industry, the reality of touring life on the road, the spiritual and physical exhaustion that eventually led him to examine his faith and eventually discovery of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

This week Kevin re-conneects after 35 years with his old college dorm neighbor, Conservative Jewish Rabbi Alan J.Iser, about Judaism, the Jewish roots of Orthodox Christianity, and how religious Jews understand the Torah verses what Christians interpret christologically in this frank interview. Rabbi Iser is the spiritual leader of Congregation OR SHALOM in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. 44:05

Kevin Allen interviews Kyriakos C. Markides, author of The Mountain of Silence and Gifts of the Desert, talks about his life, his books, and his spiritual journey. This interview--you're going to want to listen to over and over...!

Kevin Allen continues his fascinating interview with Kyriakos C. Markides, author of The Mountain of Silence, Gifts of the Desert, and many more. Is it possible that Part Two could be better than Part One? You be the judge!

Fr. Alexander Goussetis, priest, comparative religion professor, and interfaith dialogue participant and advocate, speaks with host Kevin Allen about his views on the purpose of interfaith dialogue with Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians. Kevin asks: Does the Gospel call us to merely understand the faiths of non-Christians, to enter into dialogue with them with no agenda, or is the goal always to try to win those we dialogue with to Christ? Is it "Orthodox" to proselytize, or simply to be a holy witness? These and other questions will be addressed in this program.

As Great Lent begins, Illumined Heart host Kevin Allen and nutrition expert Rita Madden (MPH and RD) discuss the role of food in our Orthodox spiritual life, what the Church Fathers say about food and food quantity, and practical nutritional issues related to fasting. Can we get the protein we need from a plant-based diet? Do we need supplements? Should children fast? These and many other questions - from an Orthodox patristic perspective and Rita's expertise -are the focus of this important conversation. Be watching for Rita's new podcast on AFR about Food and Faith coming soon!!

Jeremy (Basil) Dannnebohm was an ardent young Catholic. What made him journey from his cradle Church to the Eastern Orthodox Church, only to return to Rome and then revert to Orthodoxy? His story is on this episode of the Illumined Heart.

Today we're going to be talking about the veneration of Mary and the Saints in the Holy Tradition. This topic is often misunderstood and can be a stumbling block for inquirers. Our guest is Father Patrick Henry Reardon, Pastor of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, Sr. Editor of Touchstone Magazine and author of Christ in the Saints.

Kevin and his guest, Orthodox journalist Glen Chancy, discuss the "Prosperity Gospel" and the implications of a "Gospel message" tied to material prosperity, especially in light of a failing economy.

Andrew continues from the last episode about unfaithfulness being the characteristic act of immorality by exploring how pornography is a rejection of the ultimate significance of marriage. Read a transcript HERE.

We continue our discussion of the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian and his plea for God to remove from him the "lust for power" and "idle talk". As is made clear from the sayings of the Fathers cited here, these sins are so well-rooted in our normal, everyday lives that raising our self-awareness regarding how and how often we commit them is a significant Lenten undertaking.

We begin a series on prayer which is the center of the life of the Orthodox Christian. Prayer is our connection to God who is our life. It is to be like our breathing, without ceasing. The Church provides a deep wealth of writings about prayer, but it also provides us with a daily order of services that structures the entire day around prayer. We are able to pray in the same ways the Jews prayed at set hours of the day that we see in the book of Acts. In this program Steve and Bill begin a discussion of the daily order of prayer services and then next week will move into "personal prayer" and a discussion of "The Jesus Prayer", the single most important prayer of our spiritual life.

With the reading of the Gospel and the homily that often follows it, the Liturgy of the Catechumens is concluded, and we transition to the Liturgy of the Faithful - The Communion Service. The Eucharist has always been the central focus of the life and worship of the Church from the beginning. Here we try to convey, by way of the Cherubic Hymn and the priestly prayers, the meaning of the Great Entrance - the journey of the gifts from the Prothesis table to the Altar. This is the life-journey of Christ in the world on his way to His Life-Giving Death, and the faithful are eyewitnesses to this - as the lines between heaven and earth are blurred in the mysterious and sacred space of the Kingdom.

Kevin Allen of "The Illumined Heart" podcast here on AFR interviewed Steve on lay ministry in the Orthodox Church. As usual, Kevin asks the hard questions. Join Steve and Kevin for a frank discussion of the opportunities and yes, sometimes pitfalls of trying to do lay ministry in the context of the Orthodox Church.

We continue our discussion of Great Lent by reviewing, with many quotes from the Church Fathers, the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian that is used during all the weekday services. Writing in the 4th century, St. Ephraim's hymnography captures the Spirit of the Lenten Season and has been a vital standard for the Orthodox Church ever since. In its simplicity and penetrating quality we learn that we are at once helpless and in need of God's grace to overcome our sinful nature, and yet must also pursue repentance and the virtues in faith continually, to be both emptied and filled.

We finish this Lenten series discussing the virtues of patience, love, and not judging our brother. Again, the Orthodox axiom of working out the virtues in the body is true, and we learn that patience is not merely a passive state, but also requires spiritual/bodily effort to restrain evil thoughts/actions, choosing to perform God's will instead. Love for God, neighbor, enemies and the whole of creation is our aim, cultivated with our growing awareness of God's pure and captivating eros coming down from heaven. Engulfed in this love we lose interest in the world and adopt the humble mind of Christ, whose words on the Cross, "forgive them for they know not what they do," are to become our own towards all men.

Following Chastity in the the list of virtues in St. Ephraim's prayer comes Humility. Reading from the Fathers, we find that humility is not merely a state of mind, but a mystery that comes about as the result of labors of the soul and body, mirroring the Incarnation itself, and so it is by nature incomprehensible. We look at humility and its opposite, pride and prelest. to try to gain even just a little more understanding of this virtue and why it is central to our life in Christ.

St. Ephraim begins the second half of his great prayer "Give rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant." Asking God to take our sinful passions away is followed by a petition to give us virtue, chastity being first in the order. In the Fathers, and especially St. John Climacus, we find that the virtues (which are in truth the energies of the Holy Spirit) act in our heart and are active through us through the deeds of the body surrendered to Christ. And chastity, rather than being limited to some quaint notion of sexual purity (true enough), is the virtue of wholeness in Christ which enables us to fight the passions fervently.

This is the first of a six-part series on "ICONS" from our KPXQ live radio program archives from 2004. In this program we introduce icons and what you will see in an Orthodox Church and look at the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, that seem to prohibit the making of "graven images." Are all images "idols," and are ALL images and representations of the material world prohibited by God?

In part two of "Icons" we continue to discuss the Scriptures and the post-Reformation emphasis on the "intellectual" apprehension of the rational message of the Gospel as written in the Bible. But we will see that icons are a fulfillment of the Gospel and more specifically are a logical ramification of the Incarnation of God.

How can we communicate with the departed saints if they are dead? What is the state of the departed according to the Scriptures? Are they concious, and if so, of what? Can they hear the petitions of those alive on earth? What do they do when people pray to them? These and other questions are actually answered in the Bible. Tune in and find out where.

In this program we deal with the concept of prayer and intercession. What is prayer in the scriptures? Is "prayer" worship to be given only to God? What is intercession? Why are we commanded to intercede for each other? More importantly, who can intercede for us?

In the first of a series on prayers to the saints, we begin to discuss how the Orthodox Church connects the dots of many aspects of what it means to be "in Christ" and a member of "the body of Christ." Are we worshipping the saints in prayer? Does Scripture forbid prayer to the dead? Can the living communicate with the dead? What is true prayer? These and many more issues will be discussed in light of Scripture over the next four programs.

In the final program of the series on "Prayer to the Saints" we continue the discussion of the state of the departed from the Scriptures. In many enigmatic passages we find the foundations for why the Church affirms the "Communion of the Saints" as including both those "in Christ" on earth and the "departed in Christ." Within these passages we find the rationale for believing that those who have gone before us do stand before the throne of God and intercede on our behalf because of our prayers to them.

Archpriest Michael Oleksa speaks on Orthodox cultures at Orthodox Education Day at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

Fr. Harry Pappas, priest at Archangel Orthodox Church in Stanford, Connecticut, and an adjunct professor at St. Vladimir's, leads the seminary's second annual Public Lenten Retreat. Titled "Back to Basics: Old Testament and Life," his presentation is divided into three parts, the third of which, "How New Life Appears," can be heard here.

Orthodox Christian Laity hosted an open forum at St. Vlad's on the work of the Episcopal Assembly. Speakers included Alexei Krindatch, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, and Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate.

The Very Rev. Dr. John Anthony McGuckin, renowned author of 25 books, several of which are published by SVS Press, presented the keynote address at this year's Education Day at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Fr. John outlined a brief history of St. Cyril, highlighting the point that the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox traditions agree with much of the saint's theology.

The St. Vladimir’s Seminary Octet, under the direction of Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), presented a concert of liturgical music at this year’s Education Day at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. The program included hymns in celebration of saints venerated in both the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches.

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).

Antwian (Anthony) Davis has been experiencing and witnessing God's miraculous grace from a time beyond his own memories as a small child, and seemingly at every turn since: through the profound faith of his parents; in his journey from serious illness and near death in childhood to health and adulthood; from ordained Baptist minister to seminarian at St Vladimir's Seminary; and during his encounters with the sick, suffering, and incarcerated. In this episode of Voices from St Vladimir's Seminary, Antwian shares powerful stories from his life and conversion to Orthodox Christianity—including why he's thankful to his Baptist parents, who he says "actually raised me to be Orthodox." Antwian, who currently serves as SVS Press Bookstore manager, also reveals his favorite Press books and announces the next stop in his grace-filled journey, this time away from St Vladimir's Seminary.

Carta: Heb 11: 9-10, 32-40, Evangelio Mt 1: 1-25 El Padre Nicholas predicó unirse a Cristo y hacer su voluntad. Letter: Heb 11: 9-10, 32-40, Gospel: Mt 1: 1-25 Father Nicholas preached to join Christ and do his will.

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.

Sometimes we ask, "If I die young, how many great things might I have done?" Perhaps we should ask, "If I live long, will I die a human being?"

Fr. Evan Armatas welcomes guest co-hosts Dr. Timothy Patitsas from Holy Cross Hellenic College and Thomaida Hudanish from the Metropolis of San Fransisco Mission and Evangelism Ministry. to take listener questions but also to talk about the Beauty First Films project. If listeners would like to subscribe to the Beauty First Films email news list, here is the link: https://mailchi.mp/37d8ba4d0802/beautyfirstfilms Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautyfirstfilms/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautyfirstfilms/

Fr. Nicolaie shares about the deep faith of a woman who helps at the mission.

In this episode, we hear a Christmas letter from Fr. Nicolaie about two things, no three things, St. John the Compassionate Mission can count on.

Listen to reflections and stories from Fr. Nicolaie at St. John the Compassionate Mission.

Listen to two stories from Fr. Nicolaie about people who spend time at St. John the Compassionate Mission.