(Feast Day ~ August 30) And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. [Gen. 2:8] Holy Scripture abounds in references to gardens, beginning with that most perfect garden, Eden, where men still “walked with God.” Our Savior spent the last night […]

(Feast day ~ August 28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28] In the beautiful unfolding story of man’s salvation, God has raised to holiness people in many different times and places and in […]

(Feast Day ~ August 28) Of all those holy men and women who have been declared saints by the Church, there is perhaps no other who has left as voluminous a written testimony as St. Augustine. His sermons, treatises on Scripture, refutations of heresies, and personal reflections provide an entire library of material for anyone […]

(Feast Day ~ August 27) Anyone who tries to lead the Christian life will, of necessity, be concerned with discipline. In order to strive for perfection, we must learn to reign in selfish passions, to curb the appetites, and to set our minds on heavenly things. In the saints, the Church has given us models […]

(Feast Day – August 25) We have heard much lately about synod meetings and councils of the Church – those of the Holy Synod of Antioch meeting in Damascus, meetings of our local synod of North American bishops, meetings of SCOBA (the Synod of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America), and the bishops of the “mother” […]

(Feast Day ~ August 18) Helena came on a pilgrimage to the holy places. For the Holy Ghost had inspired her to seek the wood of the Cross. Wherefore she came to Golgotha; and there she spake within herself on this wise: ‘Behold the battlefield! Where is the sign of victory? I seek the Standard […]

Feast Day ~ August 13 Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 made it possible for Christianity to exist as a legal religion in the Roman Empire and, although there continued to be sporadic outbursts of persecution in some places, the age of martyrdom was essentially ended. Thereafter, if martyrdom occurred, it was usually that […]

(Feast Day ~ August 10) It is in times of persecution and hardship that the godliness of the saints is most clearly revealed. St. Laurence, 3rd century deacon of Rome, is an example from the early years of the Church of those qualities which make one a saint. Although history does not record details of […]

Feast day ~ August 5   We are reminded many times in Holy Scripture and in the witness of the saints that the Christian way of life is for all people and that God makes no distinctions among his children. There is neither rich nor poor, high or low estate, “neither slave nor free, there […]

(Feast Day ~ July 31) The early life of Germanus was the ordinary one expected of the son of prominent Romano-Gallican parents in the fifth century. He studied law, married, and was appointed governor of Amorica (Brittany), a border province of the Empire. But his life changed completely when, in 418, the Bishop of Auxerre […]