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The Third Friday of Great Lent: St. Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland

Authored by Orthodox Church of America Parades, wearing of the green, shamrocks, celebrations – which one of these is a true event in the life of St. Patrick? The humble bishop who helped establish Christianity in the country now known as Ireland would be surprised, and perhaps saddened, by some of the “traditions” associated with his missionary work during a challenging period in the life of the Church. A little-known fact is that Patrick was

Monasteries

By Abbot Tryphon, November 4, 2019  Centers for prayer and spiritual healing Monastics are an integral part of the Church and should not be seen as independent of the Church Universal. Monks are bound by the same Gospel as other Christians and need to avail themselves to the missionary and pastoral needs of the Church, as needed. Although a primary role of monasticism is to be found in worship and contemplative prayer, monks also have

Fourth Monday of Pascha. The Feast Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the Apostles, Illuminators of the Slavs

Cyril and Methodius must have often wondered, as we do today, how God could bring spiritual meaning out of worldly concerns. Every mission they went on, every struggle they fought was a result of political battles, not spiritual, and yet the political battles are forgotten and their work lives on in the Slavic peoples and their literature. Tradition tells us that the brothers Methodius and Constantine (he did not take the name Cyril until just