June 1/14 Troparion, Tone 4O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, thou didst shine with the rays of true philosophy and wast wisely armed against the enemy. Confessing the truth thou didst contend with the martyrs: with them ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls. By the time the apostles were preaching the Gospel…
Boston’s Patron Saint Few people are aware perhaps that the city of Boston derives its name from that of an Orthodox saint. St. Botolph, an early saint from Orthodoxy’s Western heritage, preached the gospel in England in the seventh century. There is a street in the city that still bears his name. Appropriately, an icon…
With the guarantee of religious tolerance, granted in 313 by Constantine with the Edict of Milan, a new chapter opened in the history of the Church. Along the smoother path more people were attracted to the doors of the Church, spurring its growth and bringing new challenges. Unlike the early Christians, who fully expected their…
Commemorated June 27 Saint Sampson, a Roman, was born of illustrious and wealthy parents, who gave him a good education and from early childhood instilled in him a love for God and a desire to follow the Lord’s commandments. Loving his neighbor, as the Lord teaches us, Sampson studied medicine in order to help sick…
And take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:17) St. Alexander was an archpastor (rural bishop) in the time of the most holy Mitrofan, the first Patriarch of Constantinople. [ruled as Patriarch from 315 to 325] This Alexander was richly adorned with all manner of good works. When the First…
January 3 In France 500 years after Christ’s birth, there lived a shepherd girl with a blooming faith in her heart, the very same faith which budded in the hearts of the Judean shepherds who followed the star to the Lord’s manger- bed. Born into a wealthy family, the young Genevieve watched her family’s flock as a…
April 29 One of the most beloved and popular of all Serbian saints is the holy Bishop Vasilije (Basil), the wonderworker of the monastery of Ostrov in Montenegro. St. Vasilije was born in the early half of the 17th century in a small village of nearby Herzegovina. The pious young man later entered the Monastery…
In the fourth century, the pagan Roman Emperor Maximian cruelly persecuted those who believed in Christ~ He came together with his soldiers to the city of Nicomedia in Asia Minor. There it was reported that in a certain cave Christians were hiding, and that they sang and prayed the whole night to their God. Immediately…
Orthodox America; Issue 10; Vol. I, No. 11-12 +1966-1981 What better description could be found to portray the essence of a man whose love for Christ drew him to such heights of spiritual perfection that he enkindled the faith of thousands from East to West? The life of Archbishop John Maximovitch demonstrates more vividly than…
Orthodox America; Issue 10; Vol. I, No. 11-12 In my last letter I wrote about the early false teaching called Gnosticism. I explained about St. Irenaeus of Lyons, an early Church Father (140–202 AD) who helped to combat this error, drew up a list of Holy Scriptures, and also demonstrated that the Church founded by…
