Great and Holy Tuesday: Cast Aside Slothfulness and Meet Christ

Christ cautions us not to liken ourselves to the five unwise virgins whose lamps faded when the Bridegroom Christ came: "keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matthew 25: 13).

Great and Holy Monday: a Call to Vigilance and Repentance

As we make our way through the Great and Holy Week, and relive the betrayal of Christ and His death on the Cross, we are called to do everything in our power to live our lives in the spirit and bear fruit.

Fasting during the Great Lent

The Great Lent is the longest fasting season of the year for the Orthodox. We all know about the importance of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. But what are the rules of fasting? Are there some things, we should not do during the Lent?

Preparing for Great Lent in the Orthodox Tradition

The Orthodox Church approaches the Great Lent which will start on March 18th according to the Julian calendar. In order to prepare for the Lenten journey, the Church gives us four pre-lenten weeks to help us understand why we fast.

Some less-known facts about the Orthodox Creed

Let us take a deeper look at the history and meaning behind one of the most important texts in Orthodox Christianity.

Chronicle of the Convent: Rare Shots, Interesting Facts and New Videos

On August 22, we will celebrate the birthday of our Convent. Twenty three years ago on this day, Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, tonsured three of our sisters to Rassophore and blessed seven…

Prayer, our plea for God's mercy for our world

Hannu Pöyhönen professor, doctor of theology and a founding member of the Panagia Monastic Centre in Lammi, Finland, addresses the anxieties, doubts and fears affecting mankind in our troubled times.

Obedience, the crown of all virtue

Obedience is the food of all saints; raised in the spirit of obedience, they rise to perfection through its practice.

Of hope, faith and purity: three stories from Mount Athos

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” Here are three stories from Mount Athos that illustrate the truth of this biblical verse.

Can a good atheist inherit the Kingdom of God?

To repent is more than naming one's sins to a priest. It is naïve to think that someone who has sinned all his life and done nothing but evil can always repent at the last moment. One needs to have a change of heart to be forgiven, but examples…

In the Remission of Our Sins – Which Sins?

At Baptism, we are forgiven all our past sins, and in a confession the sins that we confessed. But when we hear the chant "in remission of the sins" at Communion, to which sins does it refer? Archpriest Vladimir Dolgikh explains.

Humility and prayer: what the elders from Mount Athos say

One cannot become pure just by saying Jesus' Prayer. One must exercise humility and appropriate exertion. A prayer without humility or exertion, your prayer is useless.

What is the true meaning of prayer?

With prayer, we enter a conversation with the Creator to partake of His infinite love, eternity and immortality. We do not pray to have our wishes fulfilled, but to become closer to God.

Three examples of steadfast faith in Christ

Examples of how putting all our faith and trust in the Lord liberates us from the fear of suffering, humiliation and even death.

Should Every Christian Aim for Holiness?

Are there any saints among us, and who might we call a saint? Saints live a righteous life; they have the gift of God’s grace and have a connection with Him in prayer. Are these accomplishments within the reach of a rank and file Christian?

Three stories from the life of Archbishop Theophan

Archbishop Theophan (Bystrov) of Poltava and Pereyaslavl was a confessor of the Russian Royal Family, a prominent theologian and insightful missionary. He was also a man of prayer and ascetic life and a direct acquaintance of Saint John of Kronstadt.

Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Last Russian Tsar Venerated in Minsk

The prototype of the Moscow myrrh-streaming icon of the Tsar-Martyr was painted in 1996 in California, by the icon painter Pavel Tikhomirov, commissioned by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.