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The American Dream is embodied in strength. Gen. George Patton famously said, “America loves to win and cannot abide a loser.” The spirituality of winning is probably the fastest growing and most attractive version of “Christianity” to be found on the American scene. Mega Churches, seating 10’s of thousands have sprung up as temples of success. Nobody wants to be sick. The dependence it fosters, the way it changes and shapes a life are a form of powerlessness that holds no attraction. Poverty (however it is measured) is a massive struggle against forces that steal human dignity. Most homes in...

In a village 20 km south east of Mosul in northern Iraq, Islamic State (IS) militants have burned an Iraqi Christian woman to death. Sa’ed Mamuzini, representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office in Mosul, told BasNews on Tuesday that the militants burned the 80-year-old Iraqi Christian woman, who was from Kremlis in the Nimrud area of the Hamdaneya sub district, east of Mosul. Mamuzini said that villagers told him that the woman was killed for failing to comply with the strict laws of the Islamic State.

Video from the canonization of St. Alexis of Wilkes Barre PA in 1994.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 “Such is the message of the Cross to each one of us. However far I have to travel through that valley of the shadow of death, I am never alone.” +Metropolitan Kallistos Ware Much of my young adult life has been a deep struggle with depression. One wouldn’t be too far amiss to say it is virtually a plague in today’s world; in fact, most people I know suffer from...

The “hotbed of sodomy” Eurovision Song Contest final has again been blasted by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), after the Primate called the international music event “repulsive”. The Leader of the ROC, the Patriarch of Moscow, made the comments last Thursday, echoing the remarks of other traditional religious and political figures, when he made reference to Thomas Neuwirth, the bearded ‘lady’ who won last year’s competition. Speaking of the bearded, cross-dressing performer, who performs under the name Conchita Wurst, Patriarch Kirill said: “All those bearded female singers… [are] repulsive to our soul and our culture”.

The Chinese government has allowed the ordination of Russian Orthodox priests, for the first time in 60 years, the AsiaNews service reports. Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the external-affairs department of the Moscow patriarchate, announced the ordinations after his return from a visit to China. His trip came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled to Moscow, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Metropolitan Hilarion reported “very constructive talks” with government officials in Beijing, adding that China is a society that properly values the “role of culture, traditions and the moral factor in shaping the lives of...

Nothing is as difficult as true theology. Simply saying something correct is beside the point. Correctness does not rise to the level of theology. Theology, rightly done, is a path towards union with God. It is absolutely more than an academic exercise. Theology is not the recitation of correct facts, it is the apprehension and statement of Beauty. It is this aspect of liturgical life that makes it truly theological. It is also the failure of most contemporary Christian worship efforts. Gimmicks, emotional manipulation and a musical culture that barely rises above kitsch reveal nothing of God – and embarrassingly...

The Romanian Patriarchate is calling on the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case, to “once again reject” the legislative proposal on the regulation of the civil partnership, since this represents “an attack on the enduring value of the family and the identity thereof.” The Romanian Patriarchate took this stance amid third-time attempts in recent years “to regulate the civil partnership, a bill which was every time massively rejected in Parliament.” According to the cited source, “ever since the oldest times, the Romanian people have cultivated the legacy of utmost respect towards the family, called the Church at...

The commemoration of the New Martyrs of Russia in the church dedicated in their honor at the Butovo Firing Range and mass grave. Tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians were shot or buried alive there.

On 19 may, Hellenism commemorates the extermination of 353,000 Pontian Greeks killed during a genocide. During the years 1914-1923, in the 1st World War, the Greek minority of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey's predecessor, were removed from Western Anatolia. An estimated 350 thousands Greeks were killed between 1913-1922, ending thousands of years of Hellenic civilization in Asia Minor. Pontian and Anatolian Greeks were victims of broader Turkish genocide project at all Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. More than 3.5 million Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians were killed under the regimes of the Young Turks and of Mustafa Kemal....

Bishop Thomas made me cry. I was in the chapel at Antiochian Village. It was during the St. Emmelia Homeschool Conference. The chapel was packed full of families. Families with children. Children who were happy to be there, and children who were not. Children who were quiet and well behaved, and children who were not. I was standing in the back. In front of me, the nave was like the ocean on a rocky beach: constant motion, constant noise. Sometimes it murmured. Sometimes it growled. Sometimes it crashed and roared. But the noise never stopped. The motion never stopped. Parents...

David Bentley Hart has done a lot of good work in response to the "new atheists," and he is described as an "Orthodox theologian and philosopher," but having read his recent comments in defense of universalism, I think he would be more accurately referred to as a theologian and philosopher who happens to be a member of the Orthodox Church... because he clearly has an approach to Scripture, Tradition, and the Church that is not at all Orthodox. I would have responded to his comments on that blog, but Fr. Aidan Kimel, the owner of the blog "Eclectic Orthodoxy," while...

Bishop Audo says that almost everyone would leave Aleppo if they couldThe Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria has said that the people of Aleppo are increasingly losing hope. In an interview with Catholic News Service he said that over the past two months the people seem to have been losing all hope for an end to the war and the beginning of reconciliation. Bishop Audo admitted that he, too, used to talk about his hope, “but now I have a tendency to say I am in an attitude of faith. I try to maintain myself in my faith...

Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet. – St. Pophyrios of Kavsokalyvia St. Porphyrios made this statement in the context of love and suffering: "That’s what it is! You must suffer. You must love and suffer–suffer for the one you love. Love makes effort for the loved one. She runs all through the night; she stays awake; she stains her feet with blood in order to meet her beloved. She makes sacrifices and disregards all impediments, threats, and difficulties for the sake of the loved one. Love towards Christ is something even higher, infinitely higher." This...

1. Forms and character of Dogmatics Dogmatics – as a particular ‘branch’ and ‘lesson’ of Theology – appeared in the West for the first time and was introduced in the Orthodox Theological Schools during later times. A major characteristic of this branch, as compared to other lessons of Theology, is its systematic character. While other branches of Theology are preoccupied with the dogmatic belief of the Church, Dogmatics approaches this faith by theme, and systematically expounds it. The Church’s systematic preoccupation with the faith appears during the patristic period for the first time, especially with Origen (his work “On Principles”),...

The problem of gender. People are nowadays more than ever exposed to unhealthy sexual pressure. Sexual problems have always tormented the human race. And now they are tormenting it with an even more indomitable power. That is why it is important to help Christians understand this sphere so as to avoid a spiritual catastrophe. There is only one way to master the play of our subconscious powers — that is, to illumine them in calmness and sobriety, in order to understand their hidden dynamics in the light of Christianity. First of all it is necessary to establish the fact that...

Pope Francis sends message to Coptic Pope Tawadros II to mark 'day of friendship'Pope Francis has told Coptic Pope Tawadros II that an “ecumenism of blood unites us”. Francis sent a message to the Coptic patriarch on Sunday to mark the “day of friendship” between the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches. “Today more than ever we are united by the ecumenism of blood, which further encourages us on the path toward peace and reconciliation. I assure you and the Christian community in Egypt and throughout the Middle East of my unceasing prayer, and I remember in particular the Coptic faithful...

“This is the fiercest struggle, the struggle that resists a man unto blood, wherein free will is tested as to the singleness of his love for the virtues….It is here that we manifest our patience, my beloved brethren, our struggle and our zeal. For this is the time of unseen martyrdom…” What is this struggle that St. Isaac speaks of and how can it be overcome? Is it some dread mysterious experience that only the very holy or only monastics or only spiritually advanced strugglers experience? No, not at all. St. Isaac names two specific areas or perhaps better, arenas,...

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I don't usually post conversion stories, most of which on here seem to be aimed at proselytizing, but I found this one spiritually very moving.