The notion of two Messiahs—one priestly and one kingly—is an erroneous innovation without basis in Scripture or authentic tradition. There is one Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Who is fully Priest, fully Prophet, and fully King. This is clearly set forth in the prophecy of Zacharias. “Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall spring up from his stem, and build the house of the Lord. And he shall receive power, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace…
“For this cause have I obtained mercy: that in me first Christ Jesus might show forth all patience, for the information of them that shall believe in him unto life everlasting.” (1 Timothy 1:16) As we read in this verse, no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. Saint Paul, once a blasphemer and persecutor, was shown divine long-suffering not for his sake alone, but so that his conversion might stand as a living example to all who would believe after him. If such patience and mercy were granted to one so hardened in sin, then there is hope…
The Most Holy Theotokos, Ever-Virgin Mary, is honoured in the Church as the true Mother of God, the one who bore the Word incarnate without corruption. She is not a symbolic figure nor an abstraction of idealised womanhood—she is the living Ark of the Covenant, the ladder by which God descended and through whom mankind was raised. At the foot of the Cross, Christ said to the beloved disciple, “Behold thy mother” (John 19:27). In this, the Fathers see not only the care of St John, but the entrusting of the Church to her maternal intercession.
In today’s world where the love of God is often distorted into permissiveness or sentimentality, the Holy Church proclaims a truth far older and far holier—that divine love is covenantal, cruciform, and consuming. It is not a feeling but a reality, not abstract but sacramental. This brief article reflects on the nature of God’s love as revealed in the Bible, manifested in the Incarnation, and experienced through obedience, worship, and the holy mysteries within the life of the Church. God’s love is neither indulgent nor sentimental. It is not capricious nor emotive, but unchanging, just, and wholly in accordance with…
A strong relationship with Christ cannot be hidden. It manifests itself in how we treat those around us. The Lord said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Love for Christ is not an isolated, internal affair. It flows outward. A man who claims closeness to Christ yet carries grudges, resentment, or indifference towards others is self-deceived. The Apostle John writes without ambiguity, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars” (1 John 4:20). It is impossible to love the Head while…
The Sunday of Apostle Thomas, known in Russian as Antipascha (“opposite Pascha” or “after Pascha”), is the first Sunday following the Feast of the Resurrection. It commemorates the Apostle Thomas’s encounter with the risen Christ eight days after the Resurrection, as recorded in John 20:24–29. This event is central not only to the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ but also to the Church’s proclamation of the reality of His bodily resurrection. Among the Orthodox Old Believers, this feast carries a particular depth of meaning, bound to our emphasis on continuity, physicality, and uncompromising faithfulness to the traditions handed down from the…
“All will be saved who believe faithfully in the entire Gospel and order their lives according to its saving commandments. However, those who do not fully believe in the Gospel will not be saved, as Christ declared: ‘But whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments (that is, the Gospel commandments) and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:19). By the term ‘least,’ Zlatoust instructs us to understand nothing other than Gehenna or torment (see the discourse on Matthew by St. John Chrysostom).” – St. Arseny Uralsky
In this homily I want to offer a bold and uncompromising reflection on a particular statement made by St. Arseny Uralsky, a hierarch of the Old Believers’ tradition, whose teaching stands in stark contrast to the diluted religiosity of the modern age. Citing the words of the Lord from John 3:36 and Mark 16:16, St. Arseny proclaims that salvation is inseparably tied to true faith in Christ and baptism into the life of the Church. His words reject the ecumenical pretences and relativistic theologies which dominate contemporary discourse, affirming instead the apostolic truth — that outside of Christ there is…
In an age of noise, distraction, and spiritual confusion, many have forgotten the reality of God’s presence. They chase after visions, feelings, and signs, thinking that God must be summoned or provoked to appear. But the living God is not like the idols of the nations. He does not hide behind curtains of emotion or spectacle. He is not silent because He is absent, but because He is near—too near for those who have dulled their hearts with the world. The Apostolic Church, faithful to ancient teaching and the witness of the saints, confesses that God is always present. He…
Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! Today, my beloved in Christ, we stand not at the grave of a dead teacher, not before the tomb of a fallen prophet, and not at the end of some moral philosophy. We stand before the empty tomb of the Living God. Death has been conquered, the grave has been shattered, and the ancient tyranny of sin has been undone. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is not an allegory, not a metaphor, not an invention of the weak-minded, but the central and unshakable fact of human history. If Christ is not…
