The Assyrian Church, otherwise known as the ‘Church of the East’, did not attend the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. Its members were later assumed into the Persian Empire. The Assyrian Church believed the teachings of Nestorius, defended him and considered him a teacher and a saint, and still remembers him in its liturgies and celebrates his life in the feast of the Greek teachers. This Church also followed the teachings of Diodore – …

With only two weeks before Christmas, there was one lady ‎in the hospital recovering from an illness. She had a large, ‎loving family who visited her regularly and attended to her ‎needs. When she came back from surgery, she awoke to a ‎room full of several cards and bouquets of flowers. She also ‎realized that she had another patient staying with her. This ‎lady was going to have surgery the next day on her foot. – …

"The Grace of God" by Saint Athanasius And that young man who went into a far country, and there wasted his substance, living in dissipation, if he receive a desire for this divine feast, and, coming to himself, shall say, ‘How many hired servants of my father have bread to spare, while I perish here with hunger!’ and shall next arise and come to his father, and confess to him, saying, ‘I have sinned against – …

Since, again, some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond ‎the pre-arranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant of the ‎methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption, they thus ‎entertain heretical opinions. For the heretics, despising the handiwork of God, ‎and not admitting the salvation of their flesh, while they also treat the promise ‎of God contemptuously, and pass beyond God altogether in the sentiments they ‎form, affirm – …

THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT St. Peter said that to lie to the Holy Spirit means to lie to God (Acts 5:4), and since He is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord, so He is God (Job 33:4, 2 Cor. 3:3; Isa. 61:1). This Comforter, the Holy Spirit descended and came upon the Apostles in the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). He is the One, God promised to send in – …

The Light of this World Again My Jesus, and again a mystery; not deceitful nor disorderly, nor belonging to Greek error or drunkenness (for so I call their solemnities, and so I think will every man of sound sense); but a mystery lofty and divine, and allied to the Glory above. For the Holy Day of the Lights, to which we have come, and which we are celebrating today, has for its origin the Baptism – …

1. The Ascension gives the spirit of hope. Who would have thought during the sufferings of the Cross, and what humiliations and scorn that were there, that He will end in that glory in the Resurrection and the Ascension and the sitting at the right hand of the Father?! Does not this give us the fullness of hope whenever we are surrounded by tribulations? Let us remember that after the sorrows of the Golgotha, there – …

As we stand at the door of the new millennium, adhering to the Scriptures, the Apostolic Tradition, the Church’s dogmas, and the patristic teachings, all may seem unreal and even “primitive” or archaic. The Orthodox Church has a reputation for incessantly clinging to Tradition, and that She has no message to bring to contemporary society. But as Orthodox Christians, how do we deal with such claims? How do we deal with a society, which can – …

Asceticism is to live with satisfaction on your minimal needs without experiencing delight and getting away from materialism,. St. Paul the Apostle reminded his disciple Timothy in his first epistle, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” ; “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” and “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction – …

Termination of pregnancy occurs for various reasons. When there are either maternal or fetal factors, which cause termination of pregnancy without human intervention, then it is referred to as “spontaneous abortion”. It can also result from trauma to the mother as a result of an accident, or due to other reasons. However, sometimes termination of pregnancy is due to human intervention because of the woman’s choice to abort by request or consent. We now pose – …

[i]Syriac Dialogue, Vienna, February 1996./[/i] Saint Cyril wrote three letters to Nestorius asking him to reconcile his teaching with the orthodox teachings of the fathers of the church, but Nestorius did not accept. The letters of Saint Cyril always began with the salutation: "To the most pious and most God-loving bishop Nestorius". His third and last letter to Nestorius was sent from "Cyril and the synod assembled in Alexandria from the diocese of Egypt". On – …

What is Intercession?‎ The formal definition of intercession is a “supplication to God in behalf of another ‎person. Christ intercedes before God the Fr. on behalf of the repentant sinner, and ‎God’s people intercede for one another.”‎ We ask the intercessions of Saint Mary, the Angels, and Archangels. We ask the ‎disciples, apostles, martyrs, fathers, and saints to pray on our behalf.‎ Not only do we intercede to the saints are in heaven, but also – …