Saint Kosmas the Aetolian, the Hieromonk Who Joined Preaching to Education
The life of Saint Kosmas the Aetolian: twenty years of preaching through the Balkans, the schools he founded, and his martyrdom on 24 August 1779.
How Autocephalous Churches Came Into Being
How Orthodox Churches became self-governing, who granted their autocephaly, and why there is still no single procedure accepted by all.
The Rich Young Man and the One Thing We Truly Need
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost: the rich young man, the camel and the needle's eye, and the one thing needful at the Leave-taking of the Dormition.
Romanian Orthodoxy in North America
How Romanian laymen founded the first parishes in North America, how communism produced the break between two dioceses, and why the separation continues today.
Lending Between Christians: When It Is Right to Give, When You Must Say No, and What Happens When You Do Not Repay
How Christians can lend without losing love, when it is right to refuse, and what the borrower must do when a debt can no longer be repaid.
How the Iron Guard Borrowed the Church’s Authority
How the Iron Guard used Orthodox icons, clergy and the language of sacrifice to clothe a political programme in authority the Church had never granted.
Saint George the Pilgrim of Văratec (1846–1916)
A married layman and father of five, Saint George walked barefoot through Moldavia with the Psalter, praying by night and serving the poor.
Saint Joseph of Văratec (c. 1750–1828)
A disciple of Saint Paisius, founder and first spiritual father of Văratec, Saint Joseph carried the Philokalic tradition into a large community of nuns.
Saint Joseph the Hesychast and the School of Noetic Prayer on Twentieth-Century Athos
Saint Joseph the Hesychast left a small brotherhood whose spiritual line renewed six Athonite monasteries and carried noetic prayer across the world.
The Dormition of the Mother of God
On 15 August the Church commemorates the true death and translation to life of the Mother of God. Why the feast is called the Dormition.