Rating: 9,7|Votes: 32

Paschal Epistle of St. John Maximovitch, 1940

St. John Maximovitch

The present night is not an ordinary night! Brighter than day, it illuminates our souls! The rays of the Sun of the world illumine us and the whole universe, enlightening all who come to His light.

Rating: 6,9|Votes: 13

Orthodox Ireland. Part II

Vladimir de Beer

It is remarkable that little historical evidence has remained about the saint who is venerated as Apostle to the Irish, while legends surrounding him abound. The only documentary sources regarding his life that are recognised as authentic are his Confession and an Epistle to a Northumbrian chieftain called Coroticus. According to these sources Patrick was born in western Britain, probably in Cumbria, as the son of a Roman official who was a Christian.

Rating: 7|Votes: 6

Orthodox Ireland. Part I

Vladimir de Beer

It is generally believed that St Patrick brought the Christian Faith to Ireland, his traditional title being Apostle of the Irish. Without wishing to diminish St Patrick’s importance in any way, it is relevant to point out that in 431 St Palladius was sent to Ireland by St Celestine I Pope of Rome, as the first bishop of the Emerald Isle, with the task of administering the sacraments ‘to the Irish who professed Christ’.

Nativity epistle of Hilarion, Metropolitan of New York and Eastern America, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral)

Each year the feast of the Nativity of Christ enters into our hearts with ineffable spiritual joy—the joy that came to earth when the angel of the Lord announced the birth of Christ the Savior to the simple shepherds of Bethlehem. The feast of the Nativity also fills us with radiant joy through the profound content of its divine services, which illumine our souls: the deeply edifying and divinely inspired hymnody of the Nativity and the readings taken from the prophecies.

Rating: 7,7|Votes: 15

May his soul dwell with the Righteous!

In memoriam of Patriarch Pavle

Yuri Maximov

He leads an ascetic life and is a living example of an evangelical pastor. He lives in Christ in the full sense of this word… As an Orthodox monk he fasts, that is, does not eat meat, and keeps a very strict fast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays… He serves the Liturgy every morning in a small chapel in the building of the patriarchate. There is no choir there, and only parishioners sing…