Category: Homilies
The Christian life is not one of self-exaltation, but of service, humility, and love. At the heart of the Gospel stands the example of Christ, who said, “The Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many” (Matthew 20:28). This self-giving love is the model for every Christian, who is called not to dominate or be served, but to become a servant of others in imitation of the Lord Himself. Service is not an optional expression of charity, but an essential mark of authentic discipleship. Saint Paul…
The personal interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, when severed from the mind of the Church, has proven throughout history to be not only hazardous but spiritually calamitous. The Bible is not a private possession, nor are they a playground for subjective speculation; they constitute the sacred inheritance of the Holy Church, written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit, preserved within the life and worship of the ecclesial Body, and rightly understood only within that living Tradition. The danger does not lie in the prayerful reading of the Scriptures, but in reading it with pride—cut off from the consensus of…
Life, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, is not an accidental series of occurrences, but a sacred journey under the loving and watchful eye of Divine Providence. Every stage of our earthly existence—childhood, maturity, old age—is marked by a spiritual rhythm that points us towards the Kingdom. Joy and sorrow, triumph and defeat, peace and struggle are interwoven by the hand of God to bring about the healing of our souls. From the moment of our baptism, we are no longer our own; we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ, and all that befalls us is permitted by…
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…
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…
The words of our Saviour in Matthew 7:13-14 stand as a sharp rebuke to the easy-going spirit of this present age, and to every soft-hearted delusion which imagines that the Kingdom of Heaven is obtained without effort or cost: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” These words are not the ornamental advice of a religious teacher seeking admirers, nor…
Today we stand on the threshold of Holy Week. The Church sets before our eyes the Lord’s approach to His Passion—not in isolation, but in the context of both a great miracle and a great betrayal. The Gospel passage for Palm Sunday is not limited to the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem; it begins in Bethany, where the scent of pure nard and the stench of impending death intermingle. Let us think about each of the verses with attention to what the Church has always known, what the Fathers have always taught, and what Holy Scripture reveals without ambiguity.
