"The Holy Martyrs of China were native Chinese Orthodox Christians brought up in piety at the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking, which had been founded in 1685. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the foreign powers occupying China, native Chinese Christians were commanded by the Boxers to renounce Christianity or be tortured to death. Two hundred and twenty-two members of the Peking Mission, led by their priest Metrophanes Tsi-Chung and his family, refused to deny Christ, and were deemed worthy of a martyric death." ( Great Horologion)

He was born in Iconium during the reign of Aurelian, and knew St Thecla. He was arrested, tortured and condemned to death for his Christian faith. But before his execution was carried out, the cruel Emperor Aurelian died, and Chariton was freed. He travelled to Jerusalem and took up the ascetical life in the Palestinian wilderness. Monks gathered around him, and in the course of his life he established three monastic communities in the Holy Land. He died in peace at a great age. According to the Prologue, the practice of tonsuring monks originated with St Chariton.

He was born in Palestine to pagan parents who sent him to Alexandria to be educated. There he learned of the Christian faith and was baptized. Hearing of the fame of St Anthony the Great, he met the great "Father of monks," and determined to devote himself to the ascetical life. For the rest of his life he traveled from place to place, engaging in the most austere life of solitude, prayer and fasting. But wherever he went, his holiness shone like a beacon, and he became known to the people, who flocked to him for counsel, nurture and healing. He would then flee to another place and begin again. His travels took him to Egypt, Libya, Sicily, and finally Cyprus, where he reposed at a great age. As he lay on his deathbed, he cried out 'Go forth, O my soul. What do you fear? Go forth! Why are you disquieted within me? You have served Jesus Christ for almost seventy years and do you fear death?' Speaking these words, he died.   The Synaxarion gives an excruciatingly thorough description of his ascetical labors, which may be instructive:   "From his sixteenth to his twentieth year, Hilarion's shelter was a simple cabin made of bulrushes and marsh grasses. Afterwards, he built a little, low cell that looked more like a tomb than a house. He lay on the hard ground, and washed and cut his hair only once a year, on Easter day. He never washed the coat of skin that Saint Anthony gave him, and wore the same tunic until it fell to pieces. He knew all of Holy Scripture by heart and recited it aloud, standing with fear, as though God were visibly present. From his twenty-first to his twenty-seventh year, a few lentils soaked in cold water was, for three years, his daily food, and for the next three he took nothing but bread, sprinkled with salt. From his twenty-seventh to his thirtieth year, he lived on wild plants; from the age of thirty to thirty-five, on six ounces of barley bread and a few vegetables, cooked without oil. Then, falling ill and with failing eyesight, he added a little oil to his food but did not increase his allowance of bread, even though he saw his body grow weaker, and believed his death was near. At an age when others tend to decrease their austerities, he kept to this diet with redoubled fervor, like a young novice, until his death. He never ate until after sunset and relinquished his fast neither for the greatest feasts nor the gravest illnesses."

He was born early in the seventh century in the East. His birthplace is unclear: the Great Horologion says that he was born in eastern Arabia (present-day Qatar); the Synaxarion that he was born in Kurdistan. While still young he entered the Lavra of St Matthew with his brother, but after a few years of monastic life, having advanced far in obedience and the practice of prayer, he withdrew into the desert. His reputation for holiness reached the city of Nineveh, where the people prevailed on the hierarchy to consecrate him as their bishop in 670. Reluctantly but obediently, St Isaac took up the duties of shepherd of his flock in Nineveh. After a few months, he was called on to settle a dispute between two of the faithful, but they rejected his counsel and said 'Leave your Gospel out of this matter!' The holy bishop said, 'If they are not prepared to obey Our Lord's commandments, what need have they of me?', and retired to live as a hermit in the mountains of Kurdistan. Later, he settled in the monastery of Raban Shapur, where he wrote his Ascetical Homilies and other jewel-like works on the spiritual life. There he reposed in peace.   The fame of St Isaac' Homilies spread, and about one hundred years after their writing they were translated from Syriac into Greek by two monks in Palestine. In this form they spread throughout the monastic world, becoming a treasured guide to those who seek the fullness of the life of prayer. The Synaxarion says, "The book of Saint Isaac is, with the Ladder of Saint John Climacus, the indispensible guide for every Orthdox soul to journey safely toward God. Hence, not many years ago, a holy spiritual father, Jerome of Egina (d. 1966), recommended begging, if necessary, in order to be able to purchase a copy." We are blessed to have a good translation of the Ascetical Homilies available in English.   Saint Isaac is a very unusual case of an Orthodox Saint who lived outside the canonical boundaries of the Church: he was a bishop of the "Nestorian" communion, now sometimes called the "Oriental Orthodox." The purity of his own Orthodox faith is so clearly evident in his writings that the Church has nonetheless recognized his sanctity.

'Saint Barsanuphius the Great, who was from Egypt, and his disciple, Saint John the Prophet, struggled in very strict reclusion during the sixth century at the monastery of Abba Seridus at Gaza of Palestine, and were endowed with amazing gifts of prophecy and spiritual discernment. They are mentioned by Saint Dorotheus of Gaza, their disciple, in his writings. Many of the counsels they sent to Christians who wrote to them are preserved in the book which bears their names. Once certain of the Fathers besought Saint Barsanuphius to pray that God stay His wrath and spare the world. Saint Barsanuphius wrote back that there were "three men perfect before God," whose prayers met at the throne of God and protected the whole world; to them it had been revealed that the wrath of God would not last long. These three, he said, were "John of Rome, Elias of Corinth, and another in the diocese of Jerusalem," concealing the name of the last, since it was himself.' (Great Horologion)   Saint Barsanuphius lived in such reclusion that only Abbot Seridus ever saw him: once a week the Abbot would bring him three loaves and some water, and would write down the Saint's counsels. Some of the brethren came to suspect that Barsanuphius was an invention of the Abbot, and to relieve their minds he came out of his cell for the only time, greeted them, washed their feet, and withdrew again.   It is unknown when St Barsanuphius reposed. When it was suspected that he had died in his cell, the Patriarch of Jerusalem ordered that it be opened, but fire blasted forth from the door, preventing any from entering.

"The life of this saint is wonderful beyond measure and is worth reading in full. What did he not endure to fulfil the Law of God? At the age of eighteen, he went off into a mountain in Cappadocia called the Ark and spent 25 years in fasting, vigils and prayer, and struggling with manifold temptations. When a woman came to tempt him and he saw that he would fall into sin with her, he leapt barefoot into the fire and stood in it until the pain brought forth tears from his eyes and he had killed all lust within himself. When other temptations arose, he fled to a lonely rock in the sea and lived there. When, though, in a shipwreck, a woman swam to the rock, he leapt into the sea intending to drown himself. But a dolphin took him upon its back and brought him, by God's providence, to the shore. He then decided to make nowhere his permanent home but to travel incessantly. Thus he passed through 164 towns in two years, exhorting and advising the people. He finally arrived in Athens, where he died in 422." (Prologue)

These twelve holy Martyrs suffered in the reign of Diocletian.   "The first of these, Pamphilius, was priest in the church at Caesarea in Palestine; a learned and devout man, he corrected the mistakes of various copiers in the text of the New Testament. He himself copied this saving Book and gave it to any who desired it. The second was a deacon, Valentine, old in years and white with wisdom. He was a great expert in the Holy Scriptures, knowing them by heart. The third was Paul, a respected and eminent man, who had on a previous occasion been cast into the fire for the sake of Christ. With them were five Egyptians, brothers both in blood and soul, who were returning to their native land from serving a sentence in the mines of Cilicia. As they reached the gate of the town of Caesarea they said that they were Christians, and were therefore brought to trial. When asked their names, they replied: 'We have cast away the pagan names given us by our mother, and are called Elias, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Samuel and Daniel.' when asked where they were from, they replied: 'From Jerusalem that is above.' They were all beheaded, and a young man called Porphyrius, who had searched for their bodies to give them burial, suffered soon afterwards. Him they burned. An officer, Seleucus, who had come up to the martyrs and embraced them before the sword descended on their heads, was also burned, and an old man, Theodulus, a servant of the Roman judge, who had embraced one of the martyrs while they were under escort. Lastly Julian, who had kissed the dead bodies of the martyrs and honoured them, followed them in death. So they exchanged the small for the greater, the tawdry for the precious and death for immortality, and went to the Lord in 308." (Prologue)   The Synaxarion concludes, "After the martyrdom of Pamphilius, the leader of the glorious cohort, the impious governor gave orders that his body and those of his companions should be left where they lay as food for carnivorous animals. However by God's Providence, no animal came near their holy relics, which the Christians were able to lay to rest with due honour." The account of these Martyrs was written by Eusebius of Caeserea, Pamphilius' disciple.

This is the monk who met St Mary of Egypt in the desert and preserved her story (See April 1). He reposed in peace at the age of 100, sometime in the sixth century.

These nine holy Martyrs were from various places, but when they refused to offer sacrifice to idols or to deny Christ, all were beheaded together in Cyzicus, a city in Asia Minor on the coast of the Sea of Marmara. Their names were Theognis, Rufus, Antipater, Theostoichus, Artemas, Magnus, Theodotus, Thaumasilas and Philemon. During the reign of the Emperor Constantine a church was built in Cyzicus in their honor, and their incorrupt relics were deposited there.

Saint Constantine was born in 272, the son of Constantius Chlorus, ruler of the western part of the Roman Empire, and St Helen. When his father died in 306 he was proclaimed successor to the throne. The empire was ruled at that time by several Caesars, each with his own territory. When Constantine learned that the Caesars Maxentius and Maximinus had joined against him, he marched on Italy. It was there that, on the eve of a decisive battle outside Rome, he saw in the sky a radiant Cross with the words "In this sign conquer." He ordered that a battle-standard be made bearing the image of a cross and inscribed with the Name of Jesus Christ. The following day he and his forces attacked and won a spectacular victory. He entered Rome in triumph and in 312 was proclaimed "Emperor of the West" by the Senate. (His brother-in-law Licinius ruled in the East.) Soon thereafter he issued his "Edict of Milan," whereby Christianity was officially tolerated for the first time, and persecution of Christians ceased. (Many believe, mistakenly, that the Edict made Christianity the only legal religion; in fact, it proclaimed freedom of religion throughout the Empire).   Licinius, though he pretended to accept the Edict, soon began persecuting Christians in his domain. In response, Constantine fought and defeated him in 324, becoming sole Emperor of the entire Roman Empire. In 324 he laid the foundations of a new capital in the town of Byzantium; in 330 he inaugurated the new capital city, naming it "New Rome" and "Constantinople." In 325 he called the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, attending its sessions himself. Shortly before his repose in 337, he received Holy Baptism; he died on Holy Pentecost, at the age of sixty-five, and was interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.   St Constantine's holy mother Helen, in her role as "Augusta" of the Empire, founded countless churches. She traveled to Jerusalem and found the True Cross on which the Lord was crucified. In the Holy Land she established churches at the sites of Christ's Nativity and burial, which still stand today in much-modified form. She died at about eighty years of age.

In his day there was great disorder among the princes of Russia and in the Russian Church. One of the rival princes appointed a monk named Kim as Metropolitan of Kiev without seeking the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople, as was still done at that time. The Patriarch sent Metropolitan Constantine to investigate, and he deposed Kim and banished the priests whom Kim had ordained. This led to strife among the people, some of whom supported Constantine, some Kim. Finally, at the request of the princes, the Patriarch sent a third Metropolitan, and both Kim and Constantine were removed.   When Constantine died in 1159, his will ordered that he not be buried, but cast out to be eaten by dogs, since he felt that he was guilty of sowing discord in the Church. Horrified, but unwilling to go against his last wishes, the people threw his body outside as he had ordered. During the three days that it lay exposed, Kiev was wracked with thunderstorms and earth tremors, in which eight people were killed. Finally the Prince of Kiev ordered that the Metropolitan's body be buried in the church, and the weather immediately became calm.

"The Holy Martyrs of China were native Chinese Orthodox Christians brought up in piety at the Russian Orthodox Mission in Peking, which had been founded in 1685. During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 against the foreign powers occupying China, native Chinese Christians were commanded by the Boxers to renounce Christianity or be tortured to death. Two hundred and twenty-two members of the Peking Mission, led by their priest Metrophanes Tsi-Chung and his family, refused to deny Christ, and were deemed worthy of a martyric death." ( Great Horologion)

He was born in Iconium during the reign of Aurelian, and knew St Thecla. He was arrested, tortured and condemned to death for his Christian faith. But before his execution was carried out, the cruel Emperor Aurelian died, and Chariton was freed. He travelled to Jerusalem and took up the ascetical life in the Palestinian wilderness. Monks gathered around him, and in the course of his life he established three monastic communities in the Holy Land. He died in peace at a great age. According to the Prologue, the practice of tonsuring monks originated with St Chariton.

He was born in Palestine to pagan parents who sent him to Alexandria to be educated. There he learned of the Christian faith and was baptized. Hearing of the fame of St Anthony the Great, he met the great "Father of monks," and determined to devote himself to the ascetical life. For the rest of his life he traveled from place to place, engaging in the most austere life of solitude, prayer and fasting. But wherever he went, his holiness shone like a beacon, and he became known to the people, who flocked to him for counsel, nurture and healing. He would then flee to another place and begin again. His travels took him to Egypt, Libya, Sicily, and finally Cyprus, where he reposed at a great age. As he lay on his deathbed, he cried out 'Go forth, O my soul. What do you fear? Go forth! Why are you disquieted within me? You have served Jesus Christ for almost seventy years and do you fear death?' Speaking these words, he died.   The Synaxarion gives an excruciatingly thorough description of his ascetical labors, which may be instructive:   "From his sixteenth to his twentieth year, Hilarion's shelter was a simple cabin made of bulrushes and marsh grasses. Afterwards, he built a little, low cell that looked more like a tomb than a house. He lay on the hard ground, and washed and cut his hair only once a year, on Easter day. He never washed the coat of skin that Saint Anthony gave him, and wore the same tunic until it fell to pieces. He knew all of Holy Scripture by heart and recited it aloud, standing with fear, as though God were visibly present. From his twenty-first to his twenty-seventh year, a few lentils soaked in cold water was, for three years, his daily food, and for the next three he took nothing but bread, sprinkled with salt. From his twenty-seventh to his thirtieth year, he lived on wild plants; from the age of thirty to thirty-five, on six ounces of barley bread and a few vegetables, cooked without oil. Then, falling ill and with failing eyesight, he added a little oil to his food but did not increase his allowance of bread, even though he saw his body grow weaker, and believed his death was near. At an age when others tend to decrease their austerities, he kept to this diet with redoubled fervor, like a young novice, until his death. He never ate until after sunset and relinquished his fast neither for the greatest feasts nor the gravest illnesses."

Fr. Andrew begins Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy 2.0 with this first revised episode. Why is doctrine and truth so important?

The Holy Apostle’s fast is upon us. Fasting is not legalistic; rather, it is a medicine we choose to take to deepen our communion with God. Rita focuses on approaching the fast from a willing heart. She also discusses how joyful fasting can lead to health benefits.

Rita explores the use of modern day medicine and how it lines up with our Holy Orthodox Tradition.

Dr. Adrian Budica, ThM, ACPE, BCC, Director of Field Education, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood NY, and Sara Byrne-Martelli, MDiv, DMin candidate, BCC, Chaplain, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Video presentation available here.

Fr. Andrew points out there are three disciplines of Orthodoxy—doctrine, piety, and morality. However he is concerned that the first—doctrine—occupies a back seat in many Orthodox circles.

Fr. Andrew continues his discussion about the importance of doctrine and challenges a popular saying attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.

Just the word environmentalism tends to put people in a fighting mood. Fr. Andrew helps us sort through the issues of ecology from an Orthodox perspective. This is part 1 of a two-part talk.

In part 2, Fr. Andrew talks about the spiritual answer to both the environment and the economy.

How can we know God? A question that has been pondered through the centuries. In this special episode, Fr. Andrew delivers a talk at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Harrisburg, PA.

On this feast day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Fr. Andrew tells the true story of a love that is beyond our imagination.

Using Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians to imitate him as their father in the Gospel, Fr. Andrew expands this outward to discuss the role of spiritual fathers and mothers in our lives.

In Christ's telling of the parable of the vineyard and its wicked tenants, Fr. Andrew connects the story directly with our own lives in the Church.

Using the image of the vineyard placed in a hedge by a householder, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick preaches on all the elements of the placing of that vineyard, and then expands his thoughts on what it means to be separate from the world and why that is a positive experience for Orthodox Christians.

Kassiani Mamalakis interviews Caroline Retzios on her OCF Story and journey as an Orthodox Christian.

Does Christianity begin with a rational, doctrinally defined picture of God? Matthew explores the sacramental nature of the Church and how it relates to our experience of God.

Fr. Barnabas Powell joins Fr. Nicholas and Dr. Roxanne Louh to talk about the importance and significance of the Divine Liturgy.

Fr. Nick and Pres. Roxanne host a special guest, Dr. D, a physician in Manhattan at one of the hardest hit hospitals dealing with coronavirus.

Join Fr. Nicholas and Dr. Roxanne Louh for a special episode of the Healthy Minds Healthy Souls radio show titled "Choosing Joy Over Happiness." The Louhs share some practical ways to create lasting inner joy in your lives.

As we begin the Advent Fast, Fr. John Oliver reflects on the chasm that divides us from the Divine and the uniqueness of Christianity in bridging that gap.

"The branches are unique but all attached to the one Vine who gives them life."

Fr. John shows how, like the ecosystem of Guam was damaged by an unseen predator, so also what we keep hidden within us can destroy our relationships without repentance.

Fr. John Oliver describes the purpose of our ascetic disciplines as believers - to be set free and partake in the glory of God!

Take a trip in the time machine with Fr. Joseph and travel back to the 4th Century (with a brief musical stop in the 1970s).

Thanks to a superb pair of handlers/chauffeurs, Fr. Joseph goes a house blessin' in Houston.

Fr. Joseph was part of a delegation that traveled to Syria, September 13-18, 2011, on a fact-finding mission, especially regarding the three million Christians in that country. This episode of the Orthodixie podcast includes the one question he asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as other observations.

Just back from five weeks in the United Kingdom, Fr. Joseph shares from his travelogue on the Saints—and others—he encountered there. In other words, what do Joseph of Arimathea, Patrick of Ireland, Elder Sophrony, King Arthur, and Ron Weasley all have in common?

In this episode, Fr. Anthony expresses how much he looks forward to having his old friend hunger back around, laments the lack of discernment on social media, and gives the short and long answer to the question of whether it is ever okay for a priest to seek a new assignment.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Hans Jacobse (American Orthodox Institute) lament a culture that denigrates manliness and talk about how priests (and other manly men) can help boys of all ages tame their passions and become the Christian warriors they were called to be. Note: this conversation includes a frank (but not explicit) discussion about pornography.

This year I (Fr. Anthony) decided to take a unit of "Clinical Pastoral Education" at a local hospital as part of my professional development. While the scheduling has been difficult, it has been well rewarded. In this episode I talk with my CPE supervisor, Mary Catherine Cole (M.Div. Candler School of Theology; Network Director of Pastoral Care and Library Services at St. Luke's University Health Network) about why CPE is so effective and how it can make help make all of us better at whatever we are called to do.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony interviews Met. Antony, the rector of St. Sophia's, about his path to the episcopacy, the primary challenges the Orthodox face in America, and how St. Sophia's trains priests to address those challenges. The culture at St. Sophia's is designed to help reinvigorate the sense of parish as a healthy family, with the priest as that family's spiritual father. He laments the distance that has grown between parishioners and between parishioners and their priests, but says that he has already begun to see the first fruits of St. Sophia's pastoral focus in the form of vibrant church communities led and loved by well-formed priests. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony next to his back porch in Hartwell, Georgia, as he talks with scientist, theologian, professor, Associate Dean, and evangelist, Gayle Woloschak, PhD, DMin (Northwestern University) about COVID, vaccines, and discernment. This is a recording of Fr. Anthony's livestream. Enjoy the show!

Listen to find out which of the many conspiracies is occupying space in Fr. Anthony's fool head. Without it, he argues that the other problems (e.g. injustice, riots, elections, presidential narcissism) would have been handled as normal rather than extra-ordinary problems. We should have seen it coming! From his YouTube Livestream of 1/16/2021.

Fr. Michael shares the song of the vineyard, from the Prophet Isaiah.

Fr. Michael talks about charismatic Protestant Christianity.

Fr. Michael continues his discussion from last week. "We should not teach our children that anything outside us can defile us.... The defilement is already in our hearts and what we avoid, we avoid because it stirs up the disordered passions of my heart."

Mother Alexandra, formally Princess Ileana of Romania, back in 1960 wrote a little booklet called “Our Father: Meditations on The Lord’s Prayer.” The booklet is divided into fourteen prayers each focusing on a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer and arranged to be prayed with one’s morning and evening prayers over a week (so there’s a morning and an evening prayer for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.). In the very last prayer, the prayer for Sunday evening, the prayer contains this sentence: “Only this have I to recommend me, that Thou has made me; nothing have I to give Thee, for all I have has come of Thee; only my love is mine to give or to withhold.” “Only my love is mine to give or to withhold.” What a powerful thought.