Sermon of the Occasion of the Canonization of the New Martyr Alexander of Munich

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: Amen.

Today the Church rejoices, and today is a day on which we all should rejoice; for to the assembly of the Saints has been added a new name, in the person of the New Martyr Alexander (Schmorell) of Munich, whom our Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has canonised during today's Divine Services. Though St. Alexander's holiness is not new, and he has not been 'made' a saint today but was a saint in his life and has interceded for the world since his martyric death, today we recognise him in the dyptichs, and future generations shall hold him up as an example of true faith and piety.
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‘Their proclamation has gone out into all the earth...’

As the Church comes to the end of her long Apostles’ Fast, she approaches a most unique Feast in her liturgical life: the Feast of the All-Praised and All-Glorious Leaders of the Holy Apostles, Sts Peter and Paul. Amongst the great multitude of saints that sing from heaven to the glory of God, these two Apostles stand in a unique and incomparable place. This place is marked out by the splendour of the phrases used to cry out to them in the divine services: ...more

We Call Ourselves Christian

Soon after the teaching of Christ began to spread among the Gentiles, those who came to believe in Christ and became His followers began in Antioch to be called Christians (Acts 11:26). ...more

Sermon Given at the Funeral of Matushka Tamara Kotar

“Blessed is the way in which thou shalt walk to-day, O soul; for a place of rest is prepared for thee.” (Prokeimenon from the services for the Burial of the Dead). ...more

The Cross Preserves the Universe

In the Prophet Ezekiel (9:6), it is said that when the Angel of the Lord was sent to punish and destroy the sinning people, it was told him not to strike those on whom the "mark" had been made. In the original text this mark is called "tau," the Hebrew letter corresponding to the letter "T," which is how in ancient times the cross was made, which then was an instrument of punishment. ...more

On Repentance

"Lord, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother, for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen." (from the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian)

We have again survived, by the mercy of God, to those days in which the Church turns our thoughts and feelings to that which is most important in life: the salvation of our souls! On what, then, does it follow that we should concentrate our efforts? ...more

In Memory of the Royal Martyrs

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow (July 4/17) the Holy Church praises Saint Andrew, the Bishop of Crete, the author of the Great Canon of Repentance, and at the same time we gather here to pray for the souls of the Tsar-Martyr and those assassinated with him. ...more

Sermon on the Feast of the New Martyrs of Russia (2008)

In the Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Dear in Christ Fathers, brothers, sisters, and children,

Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, the heavenly intercessors for our parish. Their memory is precious to us for many reasons—some personal, some that relate to the entire Russian Church.

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The Most Just Scales

“Come, God-lovers all, behold the honorable Cross”

In the artistically figurative language of our marvelous Orthodox divine service, the Cross of the Lord is compared with "just scales." In the Church Slavonic language, this is expressed by the words "merilo pravednoe" ("just balance").

"In the midst of two thieves, Thy Cross was found to be a just balance."

Here before our spiritual gaze is Golgotha on the day of our redemption from sin, the curse and death. ...more

Great Lent, Our Exile

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion."

In these words of the Lenten psalm, we Orthodox Christians, the New Israel, remember that we are in exile. For Orthodox Russians banished from Holy Russia, the psalm has a special meaning; but all Orthodox Christians, too, live in exile in this world, longing to return to our true home, Heaven. ...more