Orthodox Wisdom

This article traces the life of St. Justin Popović of Ćelije, Serbia in the context of his grace-filled writings, showing the depth of his love and wisdom. St. Justin, spiritual son of St. Nikolai Velimirović, produced various dogmatic works and also a tome on the Lives of Saints. St. Justin writes, “The lives of saints are, as a matter of fact, dogmatics incarnate, because in them all the eternal and holy dogmatic truths come to life in all their life-giving and substantive force.” This same truth was witnessed to not only by St. Justin’s pen, but by his very life. Since St. Justin was both born and reposed on April 7th, the feast of the Annunciation, his feast day was moved to June 1st, the same day as his patron, St. Justin the Philosopher (also called: St. Justin Martyr). O holy Father Justin, pray to God for us!This article was originally published in Russian in 1984, five years after the repose of St. Justin: http://www.pravmir.com/through-the-pa...This channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Justin Popović gives the quintessential teaching on the Saints and the meaning of their Lives for us today. He writes, "The Lives of the Saints are in fact the life of the Godman Christ, which is poured out into His followers and is experienced by them in His Church." Everything good and holy in the Saints finds its beginning, middle, and end in Christ. St. Justin also points out that the Lives of the Saints are "applied dogmatics" and are nothing less than the continuation of the Acts of the Apostles. And at a basic, pastoral level, "If you are suffering for your faith in Christ, the Lives of the Saints will console you and encourage you and make you bold and give you wings, and your torments will be changed into joy."O holy Father Justin, pray to God for us!This text is the introduction to the Synaxarion as compiled by St. Justin, a collection of many Lives of Saints organized by day of commemoration. The text of this reading can be found here: http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/stjus...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

“Everything in the Church must be heavenly.”“In truth the church is an earthly heaven, where God’s altar is, where the awesome Mysteries are celebrated, where the Angels minister with men, where there is uninterrupted glorification of the Almighty - there heaven truly is, and the heaven of heavens.” –St. John of Krodstadt“In church, everything is different:  there one’s particular world is not earthly, but heavenly; there one’s rules, customs, one’s regulations and customs are prescribed by the church order.  And he who loves the church, for whom it is the way to heavenly sanctity, such a one must know all this, and, if he does not know it, he must strive to learn it.”“And so, see the characteristic sign of our times: the true Church of Christ with her preaching of the spiritual life must needs be abolished, and exchanged for a certain false likeness, one with exclusively worldly working principles, aims and tasks.But isn’t such a mentality the very clearest sign of the approach of that dread time, of which the Saviour and Lord spoke: “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)? Already many have no faith in God, no faith in Christ and no faith in the Church; and in the place devoid of faith, they set up other idols, among which the proponents of the new “false Church” have the idol of “organization” and that of “administration.”  But why, and what for, if the most important thing, faith, is not there, if it is unknown?“Organization” and “administration,” without real faith, without a genuine spiritual life, are but a body without a soul, a dead, lifeless corpse!”Archbishop Averky was a righteous shepherd of the 20th century who served as Abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY. He was spiritual son of the great 20th century theologian and holy hierarch, Archbishop Theophan of Poltava, Russia, who himself was a disciple of St. Theophan the Recluse, and therefore is a living link in America to the Faith of Pre-Revolutionary Russia. Archbishop Averky was so esteemed that before his repose, St. John Maximovitch told Fr. Seraphim Rose that if he had any theological questions to ask Archbishop Averky. The honorable Archbishop reposed in 1976 and his relics lie in a small chapel for veneration at Holy Trinity Monastery.Full text: https://orthodoxethos.com/post/standi...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Hilarion of Verey (+1929), New Martyr under the Soviet yoke, was an Archbishop, bold confessor, and shining star of the Russian, before and after the 1917 revolution. This text was written in 1914. Read his life here: https://www.orthodox.net/russiannm/hi... “I have only wanted to show what moral ugliness socialism is, what an abyss of falsehood lies within it, and, therefore, how mistaken is any attempt to reconcile socialism and the divine Christian Faith.  Such attempts are being made not only by Christians who have lost their faith, who have “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:23); certain among the socialists, or better to say, workers seduced by socialism, are also naively convinced that it is possible to combine socialism and Christianity.”“If one could conceive the full satanic evil of socialism, which is expressed in the socialists’ own words, one’s heart would die of horror.” –St. HilarionNOTE: It is false to think that just because the Church stands against socialism and communism that it therefore supports capitalism and democracy. Often we are presented with this dichotomy, but both, either explicitly or implicitly, aim for a utopia on earth apart from God. Neither socialism nor capitalism are natural to Orthodoxy for they do not have the eschatological stance we see in the Saints of God.St. Theophan the Recluse writes: “When royal authority falls, and the people everywhere institute self-government (republics, democracies), then there will be room for the Antichrist to act. It will not be hard for Satan to prepare voices in favor of renouncing Christ, as experience showed during the French Revolution. There will be no one to pronounce the authoritative veto. And so when such regimes, suitable for disclosing the Antichrist’s aspirations, are instituted everywhere, then the Antichrist will appear.”In his journal, dated February 3, 1961, Eugene (Fr. Seraphim) wrote: “Christ is the only exit from this world; all other exits – sexual rapture, political utopia, economic independence – are but blind alleys in which rot the corpses of the many that have tried them.”Holy New Martyr Hilarion, pray to God for us!00:00 Introduction and words from Fr. Seraphim Rose, Archbishop Averky, and St. Theophan the Recluse04:15 “Christianity and Socialism” by St. HilarionText of “Christianity and Socialism” from Orthodox Life, May-June 1998: http://orthodoxlifemagazines.blogspot...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Seraphim said, “My joy, I beg you, acquire the spirit of peace.”St. Seraphim of Sarov (+1833) is one of the most beloved Saints on recent times, truly a Saint of God cleansed and illumined, whose life and teachings overflow with divine energy. You may have heard his words: “Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.” If you are not yet familiar with St. Seraphim please buy the book linked below or find more online. He is a wonderful Saint to learn from, from inquirer to holy elder.This is the second recording for Orthodox Wisdom by our brother Sergius. Please pray for us.Text from The Orthodox Word, Issue #10, 1966; “The Teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarov on: The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit”: https://archive.org/details/100101V17...To read more from St. Seraphim, there is quite possibly no better place to start than “Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. 1” which includes the Life of St. Seraphim, his “Spiritual Instructions to Laymen and Monks,” his soul-saving conversation with Nicholas Motovilov “On the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit,” and his prophetic “Great Diveyevo Mystery.” Buy here: https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Aflame with Apostolic zeal, the young Hieromonk Juvenaly brought thousands into the Faith before his martyrdom in 1796 at age 35. He joined St. Herman of Alaska and others on the first official Orthodox mission to the Americas, landing in Kodiak, Alaska in 1794.While there are various stories of the Saint's life and death, I have done my best to draw from multiple resources and give a reliable account. My main source for the account of his death is from Fr. Michael Oleksa who documented the native Yup'ik oral tradition.Sources:1) https://orthodoxhistory.org/2010/05/1...2) https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2016...3) https://www.oca.org/history-archives/...4) https://deathtotheworld.com/articles/...7:45 - Troparion and Kontakion to St. Juvenaly and St. Peter the AleutHoly Protomartyr Juvenaly, pray to God for us!This channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Blessed Olga said, "God can create great beauty from complete desolation and nothingness." These words of healing came during an appearance of Mat. Olga to a woman who had suffered sexual abuse, and this account is recorded here. During her life on earth Mat. Olga selflessly cared for her husband, Fr. Nikolai, and their eight children. She helped others as a midwife, knit and made clothes for many people in her town and beyond, and battled two bouts with cancer, the second leading to her blessed repose on November 8, 1979 in Kwethluk, Alaska.As seen in the life and early miracles of Mat. Olga, she is truly a Saint blessed of God and continues to show her love for others, especially women who have suffered trauma. In God's time, the Church may officially recognize her as a Saint of God. Until then, may we follow her steps and ask her for prayers, along with the rest of the Saints of North America. O Blessed Mother Olga, pray to God for us!This is a reading of the following text from OrthoChristian.com : http://orthochristian.com/86554.htmlThis channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Hear over a dozen modern Orthodox Holy Fathers teach about the beginnings of God’s creation and the theory of evolution. This collection of teachings is specifically from Orthodox Holy Fathers of the 19th and 20th centuries. By no means is this meant to deemphasize the earlier Holy Fathers in any way; it is simply meant to highlight Fathers of our times who were familiar with the “enlightenment” of modern man, bound up with atheism and evolutionary theory. While their focus was on a true and authentic understanding of the origins of man and creation, and this apart from and beyond humanist theories like evolution, they nonetheless offered an Orthodox appraisal of evolution and other modern theories in order to guard the Faithful against soul-destroying heresy.I encourage you to read the early Fathers and gain their understanding of Genesis and creation, which stands firmly on its own and which was not ignorant of the truth about creation. Just as Moses was a prophet not only of the future, but of the past, the early Patristic writers were also inspired by the same Spirit to perceive reality as Moses did.Lastly, this recording is not meant to stir up further debates between “creation vs evolution” and “science vs religion.” These binary discussions are often fruitless and miss the point. What this recording aims to show is that not only do Orthodox Saints regard the theory of evolution as false and incompatible with Orthodoxy, as well as notions of theistic evolution (since “by man came death” -1 Cor 15, verse 21), but that their vision of Creation is not a reaction to the theory of evolution, rather it is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and retains fundamental presuppositions that allow for a truly God-inspired understanding.Wrestle with these words. They are spoken by men illumined by God, and can help lead a humble man to the Kingdom of Heaven.00:00 - Introduction00:38 - Fr. Seraphim Rose, Hieromonk of Platina, California (+1982) – Basic presuppositions for knowledge of creation and early man.04:33 - St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Bishop of the Caucasus and Stavropol (+1867) – The state of creation before the Fall of Adam.06:55 - St. Hilarion (Troitsky), Hieromartyr and Archbishop of Verey (+1929) – The Church’s view leads to humility, the secular view leads to pride.10:38 - St. Nikolai (Velimirovic), Bishop of Zica (+1956) – “Death is Unnatural”13:32 - St. Justin (Popovic) of Celije (+1979) – How man and the rest of creation are inseparable. When man fell, all of creation fell.15:22 - St. Ambrose of Optina (+1891) – “Don’t believe at face value all kinds of nonsense…”15:46 - St. John of Kronstadt (+1908) – True knowledge and the over-educated.16:49 - St. Vladimir, Hieromartyr and Metropolitan of Kiev and Gallich (+1918) – Do not listen to teachings of unbelief for they “promise you nothing but despair and an inconsolable life.”18:44 - St. Theophan the Recluse, Bishop of Tambov (+1894) – Evolution is anathema, along with other secular Western philosophies, and only a pure nous can accurately contemplate divine reality.29:19 - St. Barsanuphius of Optina (+1913) – The moral ramifications of evolutionist philosophy.30:05 - St. Nectarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis and Wonderworker of Aegina (+1920) – “Without the acceptance of revealed truth, man will remain an insoluble problem.”31:42 - Fr. Seraphim Rose (+1982) – Knowledge of creation and early man can only be obtained by divine illumination. (Note: This essentially repeats his teaching from the beginning, but it is kept here since it is so key to our understanding.)34:26 - St. Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopol (+1961) – Evolutionary theory is not only contradictory to the Scripture, but to nature itself.35:54 - St. Sophrony (Sakharov) the Athonite (+1993) – The absurdity of evolutionary theory.36:57 - St. Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994) – Monkeys are far from humans; evolutionary theory is blasphemy.41:31 - St. Justin (Popovic) of Celije (+1979) – His letter to a theolog

A short recording meant to emphasize how vital receiving Holy Communion is for Orthodox Christians. St. Nicodemus, the great 18th century ascetic of the Holy Mountain, draws upon Scripture, the Fathers, and the Canons of the Church to persuade us that in order to have life in Christ, true life, we must receive the Eucharist, and often. Otherwise, we give openings to the devil and eventually may fall from the Church. Fr. Michael Pomazansky was a priest in Russia and the United States and professor at Holy Trinity Seminary in New York. In Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, he explains the “The Necessity and Saving Nature of Communion of the Holy Mysteries” by drawing on Christ’s teaching in John 6 and adding emphasis and commentary. This book was used as a textbook at the Seminary and was first translated into English by Fr. Seraphim Rose.“Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath eternal life” (John 6:53-54).If you are listening to this and have not recently received the Precious Body and Blood of Christ, make a plan to go to Confession and then receive Holy Communion. This is medicine of immortality. This is our proper worship and saving grace of Christ.On Holy Communion, the Purifying Treasure by St. Nicodemus: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/commun...To purchase Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/...This channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

“From the second chapter of St. Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians it is clear that the teaching about the Antichrist enters into the content of the earliest apostolic evangelization.”“But why is it so important to know this teaching?Because, as the Holy Fathers warn us beforehand, he who ignores this teaching, considering it unimportant and not essential in Christianity, will not recognize the Antichrist and will worship him.But is it really possible not to recognize the Antichrist? Yes, it is possible!”“Remembering Bishop Ignatii's words that "the Antichrist will be logical, just, and the natural result of the general moral and spiritual direction of mankind", we leave it to the reader attentive to surrounding life to draw his own conclusions from what has been said above, while, on our part, we can only repeat: "Let him who is being saved save his soul!"Archbishop Averky was a righteous shepherd of the 20th century who served as Abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery and Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY. He was spiritual son of the great 20th century theologian and holy hierarch, Archbishop Theophan of Poltava, Russia, who himself was a disciple of St. Theophan the Recluse, and therefore is a living link in America to the Faith of Pre-Revolutionary Russia. Archbishop Averky was so esteemed that before his repose, St. John Maximovitch told Fr. Seraphim Rose that if he had any theological questions to ask Archbishop Averky. The honorable Archbishop reposed in 1976 and his relics lie in a small chapel for veneration at Holy Trinity Monastery.Text: http://archbishopaverky.blogspot.com/...This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!