13 Dec 2025 at 5:50am
In this cold and dark season before the Nativity, we celebrate the memory of one of our great northern saints: the monk who…
In this cold and dark season before the Nativity, we celebrate the memory of one of our great northern saints: the monk who went to Valaam seeking the tradition of the holy Fathers, the missionary who went to Alaska seeking souls for Christ. As we prepare to welcome our Lord and God and Savior into the cold cave of Bethlehem – and, indeed, into the dark and chilly cave of our hearts, where the blackness of sin and the clamminess of despair make their reign – let us be guided toward salvation by the teaching and example of this great North Star of the Church of Christ. If we sincerely set out to follow the kindly guiding light radiating from St. Herman, the brightness of his holiness will surely lead us to Christ our true God, just as surely as the star once led the Magi to the place where the young Child lay.
12 Dec 2025 at 5:50am
Joyous feast of St. Spyridon! St. Spyridon is known as one of the “walking saints”: the cloth covering the feet of his…
Joyous feast of St. Spyridon!
St. Spyridon is known as one of the “walking saints”: the cloth covering the feet of his relics constantly wears down, such that his foot-coverings must be replaced more frequently than his other vestments. This miracle is a sign of a deeper reality. After all, the saints no longer need to go about on foot; they are everywhere in the Spirit. By virtue of the divine love dwelling in him, St. Spyridon is no longer bound by time and space; in love, he is everywhere present. Divine love is what connects the saints to us, and it is by attaining divine love that we, too, may transcend the bonds of mortality and live forever. May the merciful God, through the prayers of St. Spyridon, have mercy on us and kindle within us such true love.
9 Dec 2025 at 5:50am
Speaking of the most holy Theotokos, St. Maximus the Confessor writes that, “She was blessed by all and was full of all…
Speaking of the most holy Theotokos, St. Maximus the Confessor writes that, “She was blessed by all and was full of all grace, and I will say even further that she was supremely worthy of every grace, intelligent with respect to images and words, a scrutinizer of divine visions, completely removed from all restlessness, wrath, and gossip, beautiful in soul and body and ordinary in measure of stature, full of every goodness and every good deed. Nevertheless, she was in this way holy by nature and truly a virgin to the point that not even the slightest desire of any passion that would be corrupting of spiritual holiness ever came upon her.” What could we possibly add to the saint’s sublime description of the perfect holiness of the Mother of God? Marveling at his words and even more at her indescribable goodness and sanctity, we have but to cry out:
Most holy Theoto...