Welcome!
We are a Western Rite Orthodox church located in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. As a congregation of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, we are part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East (“…the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” Acts 11:26). While we share the faith of all Orthodox Christians around the world, as a Western Rite congregation we are blessed by our bishops to use the ancient forms of Western worship. Most of us are converts from many different backgrounds who have come to Orthodoxy in search of authentic Christianity and a place where we may grow in knowledge and love of God. In the Orthodox Church we have found the “pearl of great price” and we rejoice to share what we have discovered. We hope that you will explore our web site and join us in worship.
Sermons by Fr. Nicholas Alford
A Sermon for our Feast of Dedication
(Bishop JOHN blessed and dedicated our new home on May 21st, 2017. This sermon was preached in 2009 on the anniversary of the dedication of our former building.) Today we celebrate the Sunday within the Octave of our Feast of Dedication, as it was on May 6th of the year 2007 that His Grace, Bishop THOMAS, was with us to bless and … More...
The Lives of the Saints
St. Augustine of Canterbury
(Feast Day ~ May 26th) The life of St. Augustine of Canterbury serves as a wonderful inspiration and example for any mission parish whose task is the spread of the Gospel. St. Gregory the Great, who before becoming Pope of Rome in 592 had a great desire to travel to Britain to convert the heathen Angles and Saxons, instead sent St. Augustine, … More...
Latest News
May Newsletter
We begin this month with the Finding of the Holy Cross on May 3, a feast which celebrates the discovery by St. Helena of the True Cross of Christ, as she made her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the 4th century, searching for the sites associated with the events of our Lord’s earthly life and building churches to … More...
The Good News of Orthodoxy
From the writings of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
The holy apostle Paul, warning us not to spend time in vain, lawfully instructs us to use each minute of our life wisely: “See then”, he says, “that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” In talking about “redeeming the time” the apostle makes us aware that time is used to purchase true … More...
From a Sermon by the Venerable St. Bede
The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior has consecrated the vigil of this most sacred night for us, dearly beloved, as we have heard from the Gospel reading. Rightly do we celebrate this night with watching and hymns, out of love for Him who, out of love for us, willed to spend it in the sleep of death and to be raised from … More...