Elissa shares the wisdom of the newly canonized St. Porphyrios with regard to raising up children.

Elissa tells the complete story of Noah's Ark to demonstrate how doing so can be used to teach children about why we go to—and participate in the disciplines of—the Holy Orthodox Church.

Fr. Michael gives some answers to the age-old question of why life is hard.

"Truly, O Lord, if we do not humble ourselves, You do not cease to humble us. Real humility is the fruit of knowledge; and true knowledge, the fruit of trials." St. Isaac the Syrian Homily 36

As we prepare with God’s help to enter the arena of the Great Fast, let’s not mistake the means for the end. Let’s use the tools the Church gives us wisely. Let’s push ourselves. Let’s deny ourselves that we may know ourselves. Let’s pray with the Publican, the Harlot and the Thief. And let’s together long for the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.

Indeed, from whence does the strength of God and the knowledge of God come? I think I have always imagined a kind of magic wand that God waved over those He loved so that they would be full of His virtue. Even the Apostle Paul tells us that his own humility came from a messenger of Satan sent to beat him up (2 Cor. 12: 7). If St. Paul had to learn humility through suffering for Christ’s sake, should we expect anything less? No, there is no magic wand. We grow in Christ as we love what He loves, especially in the midst of suffering.

In homily 69, St. Isaac reminds us that temptations to sin come upon all people, even the “perfect.” Quoting freely from St. Macarius of Alexandria, St. Isaac reminds us that our inner state is rather like the weather. “There is cold, and soon after, burning heat, and then perhaps even hail, and after a little, fair weather.”

When we celebrate the Cross, we are not so much remembering the Crucifixion of Christ, as much as we are remembering the salvation that Christ’s Crucifixion has brought us and all the ways that we too are crucified with Christ. You see Christ did not suffer so that we would not have to suffer. Rather, Christ suffered on the Cross to be with us in our suffering, to lead us to the Resurrection through our suffering.

It is time for a public confession from the chief hypocrite.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the study of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of St. Paul's First Epistle to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of St. Paul's Second Letter to St. Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses St. Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy, Chapter 2.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of St. Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of St. Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy.

We know that Jesus is the Healer of soul and body, and the New Testament is replete with accounts of his miraculous works. But how do we differentiate between Jesus as the Healer and Jesus as the Physician?

Grab a pipe and a cup of coffee and join Steve and Christian as they sit in Christian’s backyard and discuss Pixar’s latest installment, The Good Dinosaur, exploring some of the themes of death and life, fear and love, and of course, how these relate to our life in Christ in the Orthodox Church. WARNING: If you’re as a big a softy as these two, you’re going to need Kleenex. They sure could have used some.

Fr. John discusses the life and activities of St. Pulcheria, as well as how the Trisagion came into Orthodox worship.

Fr. John introduces the principle of heavenly orientation and then explores actual forms of art, beginning with iconography.

Fr. John discusses the development of Christian hymnography.

Fr. John looks at some of the actual texts of early Christian hymns and the way in which they gave expression to the vision of early Christendom.

In this episode, Fr. John discusses ways in which papal supremacy led to the growing sense of crisis that preceded the Protestant Reformation.

In this, the first episode of the Paradise and Utopia video edition, Father John provides a video lecture from his office in Puget Sound, showing, with the use of powerful, full-color icons such as those of Andrei Rublev, how hesychasm inspired some of the greatest art in the history of eastern Christendom.

Fr. John Parker begins a short series showcasing the lives and impact of OCMC missionaries, especially the role of mission work in Africa.

We consider the formation and exemplary service of the Holy Apostle Timothy, as is foreshadowed in the instructions of 1 Timothy 4:9-15. We may range this great martyr alongside other leaders who are overshadowed by their mentors in the Old Testament (Joshua by Moses; Elisha by Elijah), and by considering our call to the cruciform life, rather than to notoriety or status.

Remembering the apostles, we consider Jesus’ words from Matt 9:13 concerning God’s mercy, and the Resurrection hymns in the fourth tone, in the light of 1 Cor 1:26-31, Hosea 6:6-7, Genesis 3:1-5, and Wisdom 2:23-24.

What is meant by the phrase “He was not tempted by Hades”, and is it the case that Jesus appeared first to the Theotokos? We look to the Scriptural teaching on the despoiling of Hades, to the cultural associations of Hades in the Greek and Roman mind, and to the prophet Isaiah for help in understanding the joy of Holy Saturday’s conquest.

We are helped to reflect upon that mysterious tour of Christ (from the heavens, to the grave, and back to glory) described in the Tone 8’s Resurrectional Hymns by looking to Psalm 67/68:17-19, Ephesians 4:7-11, John 20:19-31, and 1 Corinthians 3:9-17.

We consider the astonishing resurrectional hymns in the second tone, and understand their dramatic language in the light of the book of Job, the prophecy of Isaiah, and the Transfiguration narratives.

Dr. Edith M. Humphrey returns after nearly a year to resume her blog and podcast on how the Old Testament illumines our reading of the New Testament and our worship. This week we consider the resurrectional hymns in the first tone (used the second Sunday after Pentecost), in the light of the OT, especially the prophet Hosea.

This week we meditate upon the resurrectional hymns in tone three, rejoicing in our solidarity with the righteous of the Old Testament. God’s ancient people saw His mighty arm outstretched for them, understood themselves to be the first-born of the LORD, and were vouchsafed glimpses of the great release from Hades. We look especially to Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Wisdom for these insights.

This week’s troparion (apolytikion) and kontakion in tone five range from the foundational to the ineffable, as they focus on the nature of the God-Man. We are helped in understanding them by considering Psalm 117 LXX (118 Hebrew) and the consequences of the fall in Genesis 3.

This week we understand the depths of Christ’s demolition of death, and the great reversal, in the light of Ezekiel 7, Jeremiah 7, and Psalm 125 (MT 126).

This week we unpack the reading from Hebrews 11-12 for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Looking to Exodus, Judges, 1 Kings 17, and Daniel, we fill in the stories of Moses, Barak, Gideon, Sampson, Jephthah, Daniel, and Elijah with the woman whose son was resurrected. We see that, though exemplifying weakness and sin, they show us the importance of dependence upon God and hope in His promises. For this faith and hope, they are rightly celebrated as righteous, and are part of God’s covenant family.

"Saint Martin of Tours" and "Saint Dorothy" from Saints: Lives and Illuminations, written and illustrated by Ruth Sanderson, read with permission by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2007.

"Saint Timothy," from The Co-Workers for the Gospel, Illustrated Biographies, Book 5, by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

Fr. Ted reminds his fellow priests that they can easily fall into hypocrisy along with the Pharisees.

Fr. Ted urges us to embrace all of our Orthodox brothers and sisters, despite ethnic origins.

Fr. Ted tells us that we need to use the rhythm of prayer to remove those things from our lives that get in the way of our relationship with Christ.

Fr. Ted reminds us that Hades is not a place, but rather a state of being away from God that we can experience even here on earth.

Fr. Ted calls us to know the truth about ourselves through the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

The Orthodox Church is seeing an influx of graduates from Evangelical Christian colleges and universities, exploring traditional forms of historic Christianity. In this program Kevin Allen discusses this trend with two graduates of BIOLA University (Jesse Cone and Michael Unruh) who were recently chrismated.

In this section, Metropolitan Kallistos addresses the question of music adaptation to the culture and modern ears.

Pornography has become a social, spiritual, and physical epidemic in the world. Andrew's first podcast is part one of a series of conversations which will identify the real issues we must face in dealing with pornography from an Orthodox Christian perspective. This first episode in that series talks about pornography, iconography, and idolatry. A transcript of this episode is available HERE.

That which calls me to embrace the icon and that which calls me to embrace pornography is at root the same thing. Read the transcript HERE.

Andrew continues from the last episode about unfaithfulness being the characteristic act of immorality by exploring how pornography is a rejection of the ultimate significance of marriage. Read a transcript HERE.