(Feast Day ~ September 24) One of the joys of visiting an ancient, foreign land is the knowledge that saints have walked the streets there in ages past, that great events in the life of the Church have occurred there, or – as is true of the Holy Land – our Lord himself hallowed this […]

The news is filled with stories of wayward youth – those who have rebelled against the rules of society and their families and who have begun lives of crime, or at the least, irresponsibility. In the Church, however, we hear of youth on a different path, of those who have seen the beauty and truth […]

(Feast Day ~ September 22) We are once again living in dangerous times. In so many parts of this world, persecution – and even death – are the fate of those who call themselves Christians. Our Lord warned us of these times: ..you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who […]

(Feast Day ~ September 22) The Orthodox path for converting others to Christianity is one of example and teaching rather than coercion. During the first centuries, as the power of government was being exercised to coerce people away from the faith, the example of faithful Christians brought about the rapid spread of the church throughout […]

(Feast Day ~ September 19) The history of our salvation is a story of preparing the way, of laying groundwork, of taking advantage of right conditions and making the best of others: God gave Moses the law to prepare a particular people for giving his Son; the prophets gave those people the expectation of a […]

(Feast Day ~ September 17) The process of bringing Christianity to a pagan world was a slow, arduous one. Our liturgical calendar is full of celebrations for those who accomplished this task – from the holy Apostles and their disciples, to the numerous martyrs during the persecutions in the early days of the church, and […]

(Feast Day ~ September 16) From Saints of the British Isles by Andrew Bond and Nicolas Mabin St. Ninian was born in Scotland about the year 360, the son of a Christian chieftain. Having been baptized as a child, before he was five years old, St. Ninian could read and write, and had learnt to […]

(Feast Day ~ September 16) January in the year 250 was not a safe time for Christians. The Emperor Decius, whose harassment of those who followed Christ had been sporadic at first, suddenly began zealously carrying out persecution. He ordered all Christians, beginning with the hierarchs, to offer incense to the Roman gods or be […]

Feast Day ~ September 15 True persecution is usually preceded by less severe forms of harassment – limits on freedom, paying of “tributes”, relegation to second-class position in society, loss of legal protection – and it usually begins with ridicule. In some places around the world today, Christians are being killed by those who believe […]

(Feast Day ~ 13 September) The holy saints of God surround us with their prayers, with the examples of their earthly lives (and sometimes courageous deaths), with wise writings of benefit to their own time and to later generations. We do well to learn of these saints, these victorious warriors in the struggle for salvation, […]