Orthodox Christian Links

• Anastasis - the Home Page of the Monastery of Saint Andrew the First Called, Manchester, England and website of Orthodox scholar and philologist Archimandrite Ephrem. Contains numerous translations of patristic and liturgical texts.
   
• BETTER THAN STARBUCKS! - The All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island, WA sells the absolute BEST coffee I have ever tasted! I include this link because they need our support - they are the only (to my knowledge) Orthodox purveyor of gourmet coffees and teas. Try them!
  

• Frequently Asked Questions about Orthodoxy
   
• Holy Week in Dostoeyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky was regarded by Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovistsky, the first Primate of the Russian Church Abroad, as the “Prophet of spiritual rebirth.” His fictional writings give descriptions not only of the inner struggles in peoples hearts, but also on occasion of spiritual renewal, and the actions of Divine Grace. Here we are presenting a short extract from his novel “The Brothers Karamazov” in which the fictional character, Staretz Zossima, gives an account of a church service in Holy Week and how it touched his soul in childhood.
  

  "My mother took me alone to mass (I don't remember where my brother was at the time) on the Monday before Easter. It was a fine day, and I remember to-day, as though I saw it now, how the incense rose from the censer and softly floated upwards and, overhead in the cupola, mingled in rising waves with the sunlight that streamed in at the little window. I was stirred by the sight, and for the first time in my life I consciously received the seed of God's word in my heart. A youth came out into the middle of the church carrying a big book, so large that at the time I fancied he could scarcely carry it. He laid it on the reading desk, opened it, and began reading, and suddenly for the first time I understood something read in the church of God. In the land of Uz, there lived a man, righteous and God-fearing, and he had great wealth, so many camels, so many sheep and asses, and his children feasted, and he loved them very much and prayed for them. "It may be that my sons have sinned in their feasting." Now the devil came before the Lord together with the sons of God, and said to the Lord that he had gone up and down the earth and under the earth. "And hast thou considered my servant Job?" God asked of him. And God boasted to the devil, pointing to His great and holy servant. And the devil laughed at God's words. "Give him over to me and Thou wilt see that Thy servant will murmur against Thee and curse Thy name." And God gave up the just man He loved so, to the devil. And the devil smote his children and his cattle and scattered his wealth, all of a sudden like a thunderbolt from heaven. And Job rent his mantle and fell down upon the ground and cried aloud, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return into the earth; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever and ever." Fathers and teachers, forgive my tears now, for all my childhood rises up again before me, and I breathe now as I breathed then, with the breast of a little child of eight, and I feel as I did then, awe and wonder and gladness. The camels at that time caught my imagination, and Satan, who talked like that with God, and God who gave His servant up to destruction, and His servant crying out: "Blessed be Thy name although Thou dost punish me," and then the soft and sweet singing in the church: "Let my prayer rise up before Thee," and again incense from the priest's censer and the kneeling and the prayer. Ever since then -- only yesterday I took it up -- I've never been able to read that sacred tale without tears. And how much that is great, mysterious and unfathomable there is in it! Afterwards I heard the words of mockery and blame, proud words, "How could God give up the most loved of His saints for the diversion of the devil, take from him his children, smite him with sore boils so that he cleansed the corruption from his sores with a potsherd -- and for no object except to boast to the devil 'See what My saint can suffer for My sake.' "But the greatness of it lies just in the fact that it is a mystery -- that the passing earthly show and the eternal verity are brought together in it. In the face of the earthly truth, the eternal truth is accomplished. The Creator, just as on the first days of creation He ended each day with praise: "That is good that I have created," looks upon Job and again praises His creation. And Job, praising the Lord, serves not only Him but all His creation for generations and generations, and for ever and ever, since for that he was ordained. Good heavens, what a book it is, and what lessons there are in it! What a book the Bible is, what a miracle, what strength is given with it to man! It is like a mould cast of the world and man and human nature, everything is there, and a law for everything for all the ages. And what mysteries are solved and revealed! God raises Job again, gives him wealth again. Many years pass by, and he has other children and loves them. But how could he love those new ones when those first children are no more, when he has lost them? Remembering them, how could he be fully happy with those new ones, however dear the new ones might be? But he could, he could. It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy. The mild serenity of age takes the place of the riotous blood of youth. I bless the rising sun each day, and, as before, my heart sings to meet it, but now I love even more its setting, its long slanting rays and the soft, tender, gentle memories that come with them, the dear images from the whole of my long, happy life -- and over all the Divine Truth, softening, reconciling, forgiving! My life is ending, I know that well, but every day that is left me I feel how earthly life is in touch with a new infinite, unknown, but approaching life, the nearness of which sets my soul quivering with rapture, my mind glowing and my heart weeping with joy.

  We can only assume that this is something Dostoyevsky himself had experienced. The service being described is the Lenten Presanctified Liturgy, at which lessons are read from the Old Testament before the compuctionate singing of a hymn taken from the Psalms:
  “Let my prayer rise up before Thee as incense, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.”
  This Liturgy is celebrated on weekdays during Lent and also on the first three days of Holy Week, when the Old Testament readings all relate to Prefigurings of Christ’s sufferings. On the Monday of Holy Week, we hear the account of the trials of Job the Much Suffering.
   
• Icons and Iconography
   
• Frequently Asked Questions About Icons - by Fr. John Whiteford. One of the best expositions of the theology and uses of Icons in the Orthodox Churches that I have ever read!
   
• "In the Holy Spirit every soul is quickened..." - From St. Seraphim of Sarov, The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit
   
• Infant Baptism - Research of and explanation for the practice of Baptism of Infants
   
• Lives of Some Orthodox Saints - One of the things that distinguishes Orthodox Christians is our respect and veneration of the saints. We do not have an organized "investigation" to "prove" a saint is a saint. Our process of Glorification is quite different from the Roman Catholic "Canonization" process.
   
• New Martyrs of Russia and China - These martyrs of the early 20th century died to preserve their Orthodox faith at the hand of the Bolsheviks and the pagan Chinese authorities
   
• On the Baptism of Infants - From St. Cyprian's  Epistle 58 - "To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants"
   
• On the Christian Life - By St. Seraphim of Sarov
   
• Orthodox Links from a Personal Homepage
   
• Parish webpage of St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church (ROCOR) - Our original and now current parish
   
• Orthodox Christian Information Center - The BEST collection of Orthodox Apologetics on the Internet.
   
• Orthodox Christian Publications, Booklets, Articles (in English, Spanish & Russian) - Excellent series of pamphlets and booklets.
   
• Orthodox Net - Many Orthodox Links
   
• Orthodox Resources
   
• St. Ephraim the Syrian (Some Writings on the Internet) (One of my personal favorite Saints): 
  • Fifteen Hymns for the Feast of the Epiphany 
     
  • Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh
     
  • Nisibene Hymns
     
  • The Pearl: Seven Hymns on the Faith
     
  • On the Departed Fathers
     
  • Sermon in Heptasyllablics
     
  • Three Short Discourses
     
  • Discourses of Exhortation to the Monks of Egypt
     
  • 55 Beatitudes
    
     

• St. Irenaeus on the Eucharist - Irenaeus on "Exhibiting to us His true flesh in the Eucharist" (Book V, Chap. II)
   
• St. John the Baptist Cathedral - Many Articles and Links
   
• St. John Chrysostom on Fasting - Homily by one of the revered and authoritative early Church Fathers about fasting.
   
• St. John Chrysostom: Catechetical Homily (Paschal Homily) - Read each year at the Paschal Matins
   
• St. Seraphim of Sarov - Conversation with N.A. Motovilov - This conversation is as recorded by Mr. Motovilov and may be found, along with other writings of St. Seraphim, in the book:
   
• What is the Orthodox Church? - From Orthodox America Website
   

Some of the Informational Pages On This Site

• Orthodox Nativity (Christmas) Celebration
   
• Orthodox Nativity (Christmas) Greetings
   
• Orthodox Pascha (Easter) Celebration
   
• Orthodox Pascha (Easter) Greetings in many languages
   
• Orthodox Pascha (Easter) Troparion in many languages
   
• Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom
   
• Orthodox Saints called upon for special circumstances