Sermons & Homilies
Today the Church celebrates the memory of St. Maximos the Confessor. St. Maximos is called the confessor because he was persecuted and tortured for proclaiming the Orthodox faith of Christ’s two wills—one divine and one human. He preached against the heresy that taught that Christ had only one will. We will see how crucial the Church’s teaching on Christ’s two wills really is.
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Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration, the day on which glory of God is revealed to us sinners in the person of the God-man Jesus Christ. Today on Mount Tabor, He Who opened the eyes of the blind now opens the noetic eyes of the apostles — hitherto blinded by sin — and, in the words of the festal troparion, “[reveals His] glory to [His] disciples as far as they could bear it.” And — as long as we ourselves are willing — He will without any doubt reveal that very same glory even to us sinners as well.
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Throughout his epistles, St. Paul often uses the image of the body to show the unity and diversity of the Church. Each of us is called for a specific task in the Church, some to teach, others to minister to the sick, some to shepherd the flock, others to support the shepherd, some to sing and conduct services, others to support the church and her mission financially.
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Today we commemorate the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most famous and beloved icons of the Theotokos in the Russian Church. In this icon, the Queen of Heaven above all manifests herself as the Protectress...
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The names of the Holy Glorious Pre-eminent Apostles Peter and Paul are sweet food to the tongue which utters them. This food is most nourishing for the heart. Through their names we remember their persons. Through their persons our hearts are impressed upon by their lives, deeds, and words. Not only this, but by their names we are able to impress upon their hearts our needs and petitions, if we invoke them with humility, faith, fervency, and honesty. Let us first remember them that we may move our hearts to call upon them and move their hearts towards us.
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