Monasticism is basically a way to live the Christian life with a total commitment to renouncing the world and self-dedication to God. From this point of view, monasticism is the same everywhere, and each monastery, skete or hermitage is a privileged place, a center of reference for the monastic life and for Christian way of life. To a great extent, what can be said of monasticism can be said of

Today, December 7th, we celebrate the memory of our Father Among the Saints Ambrose of Milan. The Life of the Saint, written by his close disciple Paulinus, relays important information on the state of the Church at the time and the way in which the Saint was elected bishop which is quite relevant to our contemporary situation and very instructive for us vis-a-vis how the Fathers of the Church dealt with...

"It is a time to . . . Focus on the most important thing in life, the reason for our existence: the Origin of everything, our Lord."

The idea of full and partial communion, so central to the new ecclesiology, is inconsistent with this understanding of the organic un ity of the Church. Once again, in this regard as well, Vatican II was not a return to the patristic vision of the Church, but rather a further step away from it. As Metropolitan Kallistos Ware has written:...

Metropolitan Paul of Siatista says that anyone who has only been legally married at the county office but not married in the church cannot commune of the holy mysteries and cannot become a sponsor in baptisms or marriage. Of course, the metropolitan is only repeating the standard position of the church, but it bears repeating for few are employing it and many are neglecting it.

He says,...

Would it surprise you to know that in Orthodox countries around the world, people are growing their own food, and doing so like crazy. They are producing massive amounts of food in small areas, which benefit themselves, their neighbors, and their economies on a broad scale.

Russians growing their own food.

Did you know that most food in Russia comes from backyard...

Christ is Risen!

Witness of the Holy Light in Jerusalem:

"I opened the camera, and I saw a barrage of bright lightning which I originally took for the flash. These simultaneously spread throughout the temple such that the light played off of the walls, even off of the roof of the temple...
Seconds later, I just caught a bright orange ball of fire, coming from the left side of the...