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Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Mount Athos, in northern Greece, is the beating heart of the Orthodox Christian faith and home to 2,000 monks. But for the past year, it has also become a place of refuge and pilgrimage for Ukrainian soldiers. For these men, wounded at war and suffering from deep trauma, Mount Athos's retreats offer them a respite from the front lines. The goal is to heal their trauma through faith and soothe their invisible wounds before returning to battle. Eric de Lavarène and Alexandros Kottis report.
Listen to Fr. Timothy's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Introducing the first of a series of panel talks with fellow Orthodox Christians to discuss the intersection of Orthodox Christianity, politics, and culture. It's like Meet the Press...but BLESSED!Join Jay Dyer, Buck Johnson and Jim Jatras as we discuss Cultural Shifts and Superficial Faith, Orthodox Conversions and Growth, Ecumenism, Church Divisions, and Schisms, Geopolitics and Religion's Intersections, Technocracy, Perennialism, and Future “Religion”, Spiritual Priorities Over Politics, and Impending Crises and Optimism. Please remember to Like, Subscribe, and SUPPORT this show and channel anyway you can - God Bless! Help Cooper Brooks pay his medical bills: https://www.givesendgo.com/GKB8F?utm_source=sharelink&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=GKB8FSTOP PAYING YT! Send Tips via Stream Labs: https://streamlabs.com/mironchucknow/tipOR Send me PayPal Bucks! https://paypal.me/2BITPODCAST?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AUFOLLOW AND WATCH ON KICK:https://kick.com/mironchucknowTales of the Shadow Empire: https://mironchucknow.gumroad.com/l/ShadowempireSupport the Show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/2BitPodcastGO BUY SOME COFFEE AT FOX AND SONS! www.foxnsons.comUse Coupon Code NOW to get 15% off all orders over $30 Follow Me:X: https://x.com/MironchuckNOWSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46drg48IIT4W4lDyRfkHFH?si=sAE_dgo5T_G10UpPnqHb_ASubstack: https://mironchucknow.substack.comContact: Mironchucknow@gmail.com
A Bible Study for Orthodox Christians on the Bible as Story in Miracles. This session was originally LIVESTREAM in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on October 28, 2025. Study guide available at https://liveanewlifeinchrist.org/bible-studies/back-to-bible-basics/bbb07
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "[re]Learning to Pray" a 6-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
This talk was given at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (UOC-USA) in Charlottesville, VA. In it, Fr. Anthony presents Orthodoxy's sacramental view of creation and uses music as an example of how the royal priesthood, in Christ, fulfills its commission to pattern the cosmos according to that of Eden. My notes from the talk: I'm grateful to be back in Charlottesville, a place stitched into my story by Providence. Years ago, the Army Reserves sent me here after 9/11. I arrived with a job in Ohio on pause, a tidy life temporarily dismantled, and a heart that didn't care for the way soldiers are sometimes told to behave. So I went looking for an Orthodox church. I found a small mission and—more importantly—people who took me in as family. A patient priest and his matushka mentored me for six years. If anything in my priesthood bears fruit, it is because love first took root here. Bishops have a sense of humor; mine sent a Georgian convert with no Slavic roots to a Ukrainian parish in Rhode Island. It fit better than anyone could have planned. The Lord braided my history, discovering even ancestral ties in New England soil. Later, when a young man named Michael arrived—a reader who became a subdeacon, a deacon, and in time a priest—our trajectories crossed again. Father Robert trained me; by grace I was allowed to help train Father Michael; and now he serves here. This is how God sings His providence—melodies introduced, developed, and returned, until love's theme is recognizable to everyone listening. Why focus on music and beauty? Because they are not ornamental to the Gospel; they are its native tongue. Beauty tutors us in a sacramental world, not a "God of the gaps" world—where faith retreats to whatever science has not yet explained—but a world in which God is everywhere present and filling all things. Beauty is one of the surest ways to share the Gospel, not as salesmanship or propaganda, but as participation in what the world was made to be. The Church bears a particular charism for beauty; secular beauty can reflect it, but often only dimly—and sometimes in ways that distort the pattern it imitates. Beauty meets the whole human person: the senses and gut, the reasoning mind, and the deep heart—the nous—where awe, reverence, and peace bloom. Music is a wonderfully concrete instance of all of this: an example, a symbol, and—when offered rightly—a sacrament of sanctifying grace. Saint John begins his Gospel with the Logos—not a mere "word" but the Word whose meaning includes order, reason, and intelligibility: "All things were made through Him." Creation, then, bears the Logos' stamp in every fiber; Genesis repeats the refrain, "and God saw that it was good"—agathos, not just kalos. Agathos is goodness that is beautiful and beneficial, fitted to bless what it touches. Creation is not simply well-shaped; it is ordered toward communion, toward glory, toward gift. The Creed confesses the Father as Creator, the Son as the One through whom all things were made, and the Spirit as the Giver of Life. Creation is, at root, Trinitarian music—harmonies of love that invite participation. If you like, imagine the first chapter of Genesis sung. We might say: in the beginning, there was undifferentiated sound; the Spirit hovered; the Logos spoke tone, time, harmony, and melody into being. He set boundaries and appointed seasons so that music could unfold in an ordered way. Then He shaped us to be liturgists—stewards who can turn noise into praise, dissonance into resolution. The point of the story is not that God needed a soundtrack; it is that the world bears a pattern and purpose that we can either receive with thanksgiving or twist into something self-serving and cacophonous. We know what happened. In Adam and Eve's fall, thorns and thistles accompanied our work. Pain entered motherhood, and tyranny stalked marriage. We still command tools of culture—city-building, metallurgy, and yes, even music—but in Cain's line we see creativity conscripted to self-exaltation and violence. The Tower of Babel is the choir of human pride singing perfectly in tune against God. That is how sin turns technique into idolatry. Saint Paul describes the creation groaning in agony, longing for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. This is not mere poetic flourish; it is metaphysical realism. The world aches for sanctified stewardship, for human beings restored to their priestly vocation. It longs for its music to be tuned again to the Logos. Christ enters precisely there—as the New Adam. Consider His Theophany. The Jordan "turns back," the waters are sanctified, because nothing impure remains in the presence of God. He does not merely touch creation; He heals it—beginning sacramentally with water, the primal element of both life and chaos. In our services for the Blessing of Water we sing, "Today the nature of the waters is sanctified… The Jordan is parted in two… How shall a servant lay his hand on the Master?" In prayer we cry, "Great are You, O Lord, and marvelous are Your works… Wherefore, O King and Lover of mankind, be present now by the descent of Your Holy Spirit and sanctify this water." This is not magic; it is synergy. We offer bread, wine, water, oil; we make the sign of the cross; we chant what the Church gives—and God perfects our offering with His grace. The more we give Him to work with, the more He transfigures. And then Holy Friday: the terrible beauty of the Passion. Sin's dissonance swells to cacophony as the Source of Beauty is slandered, pierced, and laid in the tomb. Icons and hymns do not hide the scandal—they name it. Joseph and Nicodemus take down a body that clothes itself with light as with a garment. Creation shudders; the sun withdraws; the veil is rent. Liturgically, we let the discomfort stand; sometimes the chant itself presses the dissonance upon us so that we feel the fracture. But the dissonance does not have the last word; it resolves—not trivially, not cheaply—into the transcendent harmony of Pascha. On the night of the Resurrection, the church is dark, then a single candle is lit, and the light spills outward. We sing, "Come receive the Light from the unwaning Light," and then the troparion bursts forth: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death…" The structure of salvation is musical: tension, longing, silence, and a resolution that is fuller than our peace had been before the conflict. Here is the pastoral heart of it: Christ restores our seal. Saint Paul says we are "sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." Think of a prosphora seal pressed into unbaked dough; the impression remains when the loaf is finished. Sin cracked our seal; everything we touched bore our corruptions. In Christ, the seal is made whole. In Baptism and Chrismation, that seal is pressed upon us—not only on the brow but on the whole person—so that our very engaging with the world can take on the pattern of the Logos again. We do not stop struggling—Paul's "what I would, I do not"—but we now struggle inside a music that resolves. Even our failures can become passing tones on the way to love, if we repent and return to the key. This is why the Church's common life matters so much. When we gather for Vespers and Liturgy, we enact the world's purpose. The Psalms give us perfect words; the Church's hymnody gives us perfected poetry. Music, rightly offered, is Logos-bearing—it is rational in the deepest sense—and love is the same. Music requires skill and repetition; so does love. Music benefits from different voices and timbres; love, too, is perfected when distinct persons yield to a single charity. Music engages and transfigures dissonance; love confronts conflict and heals it. Music honors silence; love rests and listens. These are not analogies we force upon the faith—they are the way creation is built. The world says, "sing louder," but the will to power always collapses into noise. The Church says, "sing together." In the Eucharistic assembly, the royal priesthood becomes itself—men, women, and children listening to one another, matching pitch and phrase, trusting the hand that gives the downbeat, and pouring our assent into refrains of "Lord have mercy" and "Amen." The harmony is not uniformity; it is concord. It is not sentimentality; it is charity given and received. And when the Lord gives Himself to us for the healing of soul and body, the music goes beyond even harmony; it becomes communion. That is why Orthodox Christians are most themselves around the chalice: beauty, word, community, and sacrament converge in one act of thanksgiving. From there, the pastoral task is simply to help people live in tune. For families: cultivate attentiveness, guard against codependence and manipulation, and practice small, steady habits—prayer, fasting, reconciliation—that form the instincts of love the way scales form a musician's ear. For parishes: refuse the twin temptations of relativism and control; resist both the shrug and the iron fist. We are not curators of a museum nor managers of a brand; we are a choir rehearsing resurrection. Attend to the three "parts" of the mind you teach: let the senses be purified rather than inflamed; let the intellect be instructed rather than flattered; and let the nous—the heart—learn awe. Where awe grows, so does mercy. And for evangelization in our late modern world—filled with distraction, suspicion, and exhaustion—beauty may prove to be our most persuasive speech. Not the beauty of mere "aesthetics," but agathos beauty—the kind that is beautiful and beneficial, that heals what it touches. People come to church for a thousand different reasons: loneliness, curiosity, habit, crisis. What they really long for is God. If the nave is well-ordered, if the chant is gentle and strong, if the icons are windows rather than billboards, if the faces of the faithful are kind—then even before a word is preached, the Gospel will have begun its work. "We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth," the emissaries of Rus' once said of their time at worship in Hagia Sophia. Beauty did not close their minds; it opened them to truth. None of this bypasses suffering. In fact, beauty makes us more available to it, because we stop numbing ourselves and begin to love. The Scriptures do not hide this: the Jordan is sanctified, but the Cross remains; the tomb is real; the fast is pangful. Yet in Christ, dissonance resolves. The Church's hymnody—from Psalm 103 at the week's beginning to the Nine Odes of Pascha—trains us to trust the cadence that only God can write. We learn to wait in Friday night's hush, to receive the flame from the unwaning Light, and to sing "Christ is risen" not as a slogan but as the soundtrack of our lives. So: let us steward what we've been given. Let us make the sign of the cross over our children at bedtime; let our conversations overflow with psalmody; let contended silence have a room in every home; let reconciliation be practiced before the sun goes down. Let every parish be a school for choir and charity, where no one tries to sing over his brother, and no one is left straining alone in the back row. If we will live this way, not perfectly but repentantly, then in us the world will begin to hear the old pattern again—the Logos' pattern—where goodness is beautiful and beauty does good. And perhaps, by God's mercy, the Lord will make of our small obedience something larger than we can imagine: a melody that threads through Charlottesville and Anderson, through Rhode Island and Kyiv, through every parish and prison and campus, until the whole creation—long groaning—finds its voice. Let God arise. Let His enemies be scattered. Christ is risen, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
Lead your family by first leading the spirit of your home.In this short talk Paul — founder of Path of Manliness and an Orthodox Christian husband and father — explains why leadership begins with emotional tone, how men should stop “unloading” burdens onto their wives, and how brotherhood and spiritual practice equip a man to bring harmony and stability into family life.This is practical, tested, and grounded in Orthodox practice — not a quick fix but a way of life. If you want a proven process to build strength, habits, and a faithful brotherhood that helps you lead at home, join our Genesis Workshop: https://pathofmanliness.notion.site/genesis-workshop — limited places, men only.Subscribe to our channel to stay updated on our latest content.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPMCOblA-vdnIpE-4BR8PA?sub_confirmation=1Read more about our work:http://pathofmanliness.com#tradition #orthodoxChristianity #fatherhood #familyleadership #menandfaith #husbandship #leadership
In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute for Orthodoxy & Liberty, about his new book, The Kingdom of God & the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought. What is the state of contemporary Orthodox Social Thought? What is […]
Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
A Bible Study for Orthodox Christians on the Bible as the Source of Tradition. This session was originally LIVESTREAM October 21, 2025, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Study guide available at https://liveanewlifeinchrist.org/bible-studies/back-to-bible-basics/bbb06
This week on the podcast, I'm excited to feature Nicholas Mamey, an Orthodox Christian and psychotherapist. Nicholas joins me to discuss the positive and negative aspects of therapy and self-healing through an Orthodox Christian lens. In a world filled with pop-psychology "white noise" and self-obsession, Nicholas offers a unique perspective on what true healing entails. Tune in for this important conversation. Learn more about Nicholas here: https://www.ngmtherapy.com/about Support our friend Cooper Brooks in his time of need: https://www.givesendgo.com/GKB8F Sponsors: Fox n Sons Coffee: https://www.foxnsons.com Code: BUCK15 Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Donate to the show here: https://www.patreon.com/counterflow Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com Audio Production by Podsworth Media: https://www.podsworth.com Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!
As we continue our discussion of the difficulty in integrating the journey on the way of the life of faithfulness to the evengalion of Jesus, The Christ, the Orthodox Christian way of life, into contemporary western culture, Jim & Fr Symeon take the opportunity to discuss "the other side". Last conversation we defined & critique "woke" as the civil religion of the so-called Left. This time we will define & critique "Make America Great Again" as the civil religion of the so-called Right. The reason we wish to critique it is because it uses Christian language but is not Christian. In fact, by the end of this first half of the conversation Fr Symeon will straight up ask "...what religion are you following?!"Scripture citations for this episode: - Genesis 1 & 2 - Creation as a battle against chaos & death - Genesis 11 - Tower of Babel - Galatians 5:16-26 - Fruits of The Spirit#nostalgia #maga #goldenage #conservativeThe Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon KeesParadosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://twitter.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcastIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these imagesPrints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2023
Fr. Evan answers your questions on whether or not Orthodox Christians should celebrate Halloween, why the Holy Spirit might call protestants to Orthodoxy when they are already engaged in fruitful ministry elsewhere, how the Orthodox interpret biblical references to Peter as the rock, possible solutions to the clergy shortage, and more on this week's episode of Orthodoxy Live!
(2:48) Bible Study: Luke 12:13-21 What are the dangers of a lot of wealth? Romans 4:20-25 Trusting Jesus is an action (21:18) Break 1 (23:37) Letters: How are Orthodox Christians different from Catholics? How does science in archeology fit in with the creation story in Genesis. Father answers these and other questions, send him a letter at simon@relevantradio.com (39:01) Break 2 (40:56) Word of the Day Arbitrator (43:08) Phones: Ann - Did David practice circumcision. Josiah said that it hadn’t been practiced since the time of the judges. Arkaan - Genesis 1 takes about the creation about heaven and earth. What is the water 'above'? Ray - Can you recommend any good readings from the crusades?
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "[re]Learning to Pray" a 6-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
Listen to Fr. Anthony's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "The God Who Isn't," a 5-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
Thousands of people are becoming Orthodox Christians. It's an amazing journey of discovery and growth. But what happens after we join? Is the journey over?
A Bible Study for Orthodox Christians on the Bible as the Source of Tradition. Study guide available at https://liveanewlifeinchrist.org/bible-studies/back-to-bible-basics/bbb05 This session was originally LIVESTREAM in Tarpon Springs, FL October 14, 2025.
This week, we are featuring one of the most unique interviews I've ever conducted. My guest, Justine Alter (a pseudonym), is an Orthodox Christian and author of the book *Outside of the World*. In her book, Justine shares her incredible journey from a difficult childhood through the occult, her experiences as a psychic medium, and even her time as a cult leader, ultimately finding her way to the Orthodox Church. During the interview, Justine uses a voice augmenter to disguise her identity due to multiple death threats she has received from individuals within occult circles. You can order her book directly at: https://www.newmartyrpress.com Sponsors: Fox n Sons Coffee: https://www.foxnsons.com Code: BUCK15 Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Donate to the show here: https://www.patreon.com/counterflow Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com Audio Production by Podsworth Media: https://www.podsworth.com Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!
Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Listen to Fr. Anthony's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Listen to Fr. Anthony's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Orthodoxy on the Line: Russian Orthodox Christians and Labor Migration in the Progressive Era (NYU Press, 2025) is an Immigration and labor history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants from the borderlands of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires built a transnational church in North America. The community that church leaders called American Orthodox Rus' was created by and for working people, and transformed believers' identities as Eastern European migrants, as Orthodox Christians, and as American workers. Given how strongly the Russian Orthodox Christian community was tied to working class industrial life, this book makes the case that we cannot understand the scope of working class and immigrant religion in the United States without understanding American Orthodox Rus'. The work Russian Orthodox immigrants did in the Progressive Era United States occurred in factories, foundries, and mines; they lived mainly in industrial cities and mining towns; and they almost immediately got caught up in the most pivotal—and sometimes violent—political and social crises of their times, both nationally and internationally. To address their needs in these contexts, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its missionary efforts in North America, forming a network of social and material aid for working-class believers. This book traces the rapid growth of this transnational religious world, then explores its unexpected collapse under the weight of the First World War, a global pandemic, and the transnational reach of revolutionary political change in Russia. A story of challenge and resilience, Orthodoxy on the Line complicates dominant paradigms in the study of labor and North American Religions. Guest: Aram G. Sarkisian (he/him) is a historian of religion, immigration, and labor in the United States. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: here Linktree: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Orthodoxy on the Line: Russian Orthodox Christians and Labor Migration in the Progressive Era (NYU Press, 2025) is an Immigration and labor history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants from the borderlands of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires built a transnational church in North America. The community that church leaders called American Orthodox Rus' was created by and for working people, and transformed believers' identities as Eastern European migrants, as Orthodox Christians, and as American workers. Given how strongly the Russian Orthodox Christian community was tied to working class industrial life, this book makes the case that we cannot understand the scope of working class and immigrant religion in the United States without understanding American Orthodox Rus'. The work Russian Orthodox immigrants did in the Progressive Era United States occurred in factories, foundries, and mines; they lived mainly in industrial cities and mining towns; and they almost immediately got caught up in the most pivotal—and sometimes violent—political and social crises of their times, both nationally and internationally. To address their needs in these contexts, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its missionary efforts in North America, forming a network of social and material aid for working-class believers. This book traces the rapid growth of this transnational religious world, then explores its unexpected collapse under the weight of the First World War, a global pandemic, and the transnational reach of revolutionary political change in Russia. A story of challenge and resilience, Orthodoxy on the Line complicates dominant paradigms in the study of labor and North American Religions. Guest: Aram G. Sarkisian (he/him) is a historian of religion, immigration, and labor in the United States. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: here Linktree: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
Orthodoxy on the Line: Russian Orthodox Christians and Labor Migration in the Progressive Era (NYU Press, 2025) is an Immigration and labor history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants from the borderlands of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires built a transnational church in North America. The community that church leaders called American Orthodox Rus' was created by and for working people, and transformed believers' identities as Eastern European migrants, as Orthodox Christians, and as American workers. Given how strongly the Russian Orthodox Christian community was tied to working class industrial life, this book makes the case that we cannot understand the scope of working class and immigrant religion in the United States without understanding American Orthodox Rus'. The work Russian Orthodox immigrants did in the Progressive Era United States occurred in factories, foundries, and mines; they lived mainly in industrial cities and mining towns; and they almost immediately got caught up in the most pivotal—and sometimes violent—political and social crises of their times, both nationally and internationally. To address their needs in these contexts, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its missionary efforts in North America, forming a network of social and material aid for working-class believers. This book traces the rapid growth of this transnational religious world, then explores its unexpected collapse under the weight of the First World War, a global pandemic, and the transnational reach of revolutionary political change in Russia. A story of challenge and resilience, Orthodoxy on the Line complicates dominant paradigms in the study of labor and North American Religions. Guest: Aram G. Sarkisian (he/him) is a historian of religion, immigration, and labor in the United States. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: here Linktree: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/russian-studies
Orthodoxy on the Line: Russian Orthodox Christians and Labor Migration in the Progressive Era (NYU Press, 2025) is an Immigration and labor history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants from the borderlands of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires built a transnational church in North America. The community that church leaders called American Orthodox Rus' was created by and for working people, and transformed believers' identities as Eastern European migrants, as Orthodox Christians, and as American workers. Given how strongly the Russian Orthodox Christian community was tied to working class industrial life, this book makes the case that we cannot understand the scope of working class and immigrant religion in the United States without understanding American Orthodox Rus'. The work Russian Orthodox immigrants did in the Progressive Era United States occurred in factories, foundries, and mines; they lived mainly in industrial cities and mining towns; and they almost immediately got caught up in the most pivotal—and sometimes violent—political and social crises of their times, both nationally and internationally. To address their needs in these contexts, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its missionary efforts in North America, forming a network of social and material aid for working-class believers. This book traces the rapid growth of this transnational religious world, then explores its unexpected collapse under the weight of the First World War, a global pandemic, and the transnational reach of revolutionary political change in Russia. A story of challenge and resilience, Orthodoxy on the Line complicates dominant paradigms in the study of labor and North American Religions. Guest: Aram G. Sarkisian (he/him) is a historian of religion, immigration, and labor in the United States. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: here Linktree: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Orthodoxy on the Line: Russian Orthodox Christians and Labor Migration in the Progressive Era (NYU Press, 2025) is an Immigration and labor history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants from the borderlands of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires built a transnational church in North America. The community that church leaders called American Orthodox Rus' was created by and for working people, and transformed believers' identities as Eastern European migrants, as Orthodox Christians, and as American workers. Given how strongly the Russian Orthodox Christian community was tied to working class industrial life, this book makes the case that we cannot understand the scope of working class and immigrant religion in the United States without understanding American Orthodox Rus'. The work Russian Orthodox immigrants did in the Progressive Era United States occurred in factories, foundries, and mines; they lived mainly in industrial cities and mining towns; and they almost immediately got caught up in the most pivotal—and sometimes violent—political and social crises of their times, both nationally and internationally. To address their needs in these contexts, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its missionary efforts in North America, forming a network of social and material aid for working-class believers. This book traces the rapid growth of this transnational religious world, then explores its unexpected collapse under the weight of the First World War, a global pandemic, and the transnational reach of revolutionary political change in Russia. A story of challenge and resilience, Orthodoxy on the Line complicates dominant paradigms in the study of labor and North American Religions. Guest: Aram G. Sarkisian (he/him) is a historian of religion, immigration, and labor in the United States. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: here Linktree: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies
Natalia Moskvitna, founder of Women for Life, shares how Russia's dramatic turnaround, from 2.5 million abortions annually to under 500,000, was born out of personal resistance to Soviet-era abortion pressure. Her organization has since saved over 9,000 children, offering women financial, legal, and emotional support while pushing for protections against abortion coercion. Unlike Western pro-life movements often detached from religious roots, Russia's revival is openly faith-based, bolstered by Orthodox Christian values and state initiatives that honor large families. For Natalia, abortion is not freedom, it's psychological and spiritual bondage. Her vision of a culture that celebrates motherhood as national strength offers a challenge and inspiration to the pro-life movement worldwide.U.S. residents! Create a will with LifeSiteNews: https://www.mylegacywill.com/lifesitenews ****PROTECT Your Wealth with gold, silver, and precious metals: https://sjp.stjosephpartners.com/lifesitenews +++SHOP ALL YOUR FUN AND FAVORITE LIFESITE MERCH! https://shop.lifesitenews.com/ ****Download the all-new LSNTV App now, available on iPhone and Android!LSNTV Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lsntv/id6469105564 LSNTV Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lifesitenews.app +++Connect with John-Henry Westen and all of LifeSiteNews on social media:LifeSite: https://linktr.ee/lifesitenewsJohn-Henry Westen: https://linktr.ee/jhwesten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the final installment of our Sacred Secular Syncopated series, Emily Austin and theologian-writer Femi Olutade dive deep into the sacred undercurrents of hip-hop — from The Message to To Pimp a Butterfly. Drawing on scripture, Orthodox theology, and the language of transformation, they explore how artists like Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar turn lived struggle into spiritual reflection.What begins as a discussion of protest music becomes an invitation to rethink repentance (metanoia) — not as punishment, but as change of mind, heart, and being. Through examples from good kid, m.A.A.d city, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Femi unpacks how Lamar's art embodies an ongoing conversion — personal, communal, and divine.Femi Olutade is a theologian, writer, and father whose work explores the intersection of faith, art, and culture through an Orthodox Christian lens. He is best known for authoring the script of Season 5 of the Dissect podcast, a 20-episode analysis of Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music.Find Femi's work:
How should Orthodox Christians share their faith? As an Athonite who spent many years as a priest in a busy Greek city, St. Porphyrios points us in the right direction.A reading from "Wounded by Love" p. 186-188
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "The God Who Isn't," a 5-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Our ongoing discussion of the difficulty in integrating the journey on the way of the life of faithfulness to the evengalion of Jesus, The Christ, the Orthodox Christian way of life, into contemporary western culture continues as Jim & Fr Symeon talk about the tower of babel as the proto-story of humanity's quest for control over our own destiny & God, repeatedly, making us aware we're not, He is.In this second half of the conversation we began in S7E9, Go Ahead & Lose Control, we focus more on what is involved in breaking free from civil religion, human ideology, & the distraction of politics by pursuing the authentic spiritual life, which breeds humility, which allows us to see ourselves not as those who are capable of changing the world, but as the chief of sinners.Let us know what you think!Particularly let us know if you prefer this video format to the side by side.Reference materials for this episode: - Sherlock Holmes' “ideal reasoner” speech - The Five Orange Pips, the “ideal reasoner” monologue - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1661/1661-h/1661-h.htmScripture citations for this episode:Martyrdom - 2 Maccabees 6 & 7Voluntarily constraining our freedom - Romans 14The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon KeesParadosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://twitter.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcastIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these imagesPrints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2023
Listen to Fr. Timothy's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
This topic has resurfaced in the media continually from the 1940s to the present. What do our sure guides, the Holy Fathers, teach us about this phenomenon? In this lecture, we explore how such matters must be understood first and foremost from an Orthodox Christian perspective—one embodied in the lives of the modern saints and their lived experience of divine revelation. Support the showVisit Our Site // Grab Some Merch // Become A Patreon Member
What if the world's brightest engineers aren't just building smarter tools—but opening a door to something older, darker, and more sinister? In this episode of The Russell Moore Show, RDM sits down with Paul Kingsnorth—novelist, essayist, and former pagan turned Orthodox Christian—to talk about his searing new book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity. Kingsnorth argues that the technologies we treat as neutral conveniences may, in fact, be spiritual weapons. The internet as a giant Ouija board. AI not as invention, but as invocation. It sounds insane—until you realize the people creating these systems admit they don't fully understand them either. In this conversation, Kingsnorth tells the unlikely story of his journey from Wiccan witchcraft to baptism in the Orthodox Church, why he believes our cultural obsession with screens, sex, and selfhood is a trap, and why Christians in particular must stop treating technology as just another tool. What if it's more than that? What if, in chasing progress, we've been summoning something we cannot control? This isn't your average hand-wringing about iPhones or social media. It's a bracing, unsettling, and oddly hopeful dialogue about how to remain human in an age increasingly hostile to humanity itself. Listen in if you've ever wondered: Why AI feels less like a tool and more like a presence How paganism and environmentalism can point toward, but never satisfy, the longing for God What the “four pillars of the machine” are—and how they're shaping us without our consent Whether resistance to the machine is possible, and how communities of faith might embody it Resources mentioned in this episode: Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity by Paul Kingsnorth Savage Gods by Paul Kingsnorth Buccmaster Trilogy by Paul Kingsnorth Paul's Essay, “The Cross and the Machine” Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "The God Who Isn't," a 5-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
Yet another failed prediction of the supposed "rapture of the church" has come and gone. What's the Orthodox Christian teaching on the rapture? What about the great tribulation? The third temple? The millennial reign of Christ? We're talking all things last things!
A Bible Study for Orthodox Christians on the format, use and inspiration of the Scriptures. Session 1 was originally livestream September 30, 2025, in Tarpon Springs, FL.
In this episode, Fr. Peter Heers reflects on Charlie Kirk's legacy following his public execution, viewing it through an Orthodox Christian lens. He emphasizes that many will now turn to the Church, so believers must be prepared with love, truth, proper catechism, and vigilance against personal pitfalls. Sponsors: Fox n Sons Coffee: https://www.foxnsons.com Code: BUCK15 Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Donate to the show here: https://www.patreon.com/counterflow Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com Audio Production by Podsworth Media: https://www.podsworth.com Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!
Fr. Evan chats with Fr. David Lowell about his upcoming service retreats, and answers your questions on proper etiquette when visiting a parish, communing combat veterans, how faithful Orthodox Christians can appreciate aspects of other faith traditions, and more on this week's episode of Orthodoxy Live!
This episode introduces our series on Orthodox Christian virtue, beginning with the call to authentic masculinity. Fr. Anthony explains that true manhood is humble, courageous, and sacrificial, and can only be formed through living a life in fellowship with others. ------------- Introduction to our Series on Orthodox Christian Virtue Men's Group, Christ the Saviour in Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins, 28 September 2025 Etymological note: the word “virtue” is from the Latin virtus, which means strength, manliness, and moral excellence. The trick is not to redefine moral virtue around fallen concepts of manliness, but to regain the sort of masculinity that is, by its nature, both strong and godly (ie, holy). Why a Series on Orthodox Christian Masculinity? · Men struggle with the development of a proper goal and worldview that would allow them to thrive, specifically as Christian men. · Men increasingly lack sound role models and guides, but there are many influencers who would fill that role for all the wrong reasons and give bad advice. · This combination of high demand and unreliable supply means that everyone suffers; men who are called to be part of the solution to the problem of the world's pain instead increase it. · The Orthodox Church is the fullness of the faith, but has addressed this problem inconsistently (Note on the book “Why Men Hate Going to Church”). It is great to have Orthodox influencers addressing the issue, but this happens at the expense of building the kind of community would and should naturally foster community. Men can watch videos, listen to podcasts (do men even read books anymore?!), and increase their tribal commitment to virtue, but unless they are in the trenches with other men committed to the same goal and part of a system that blesses and supports the goal and its pursuit, this is idle posturing. o This is the problem of superficial mentorship: ideas without connection or skin in the game. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology). It is both gnostic (because it is anti-incarnational) and Protestant (in that each person becomes their own guide, moving to the idea/guru that matches their inclinations rather than joining and submitting to something substantial and real). o The temptation of clericalism. Leaving all teaching and mentoring to the parish priest. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology) o As on the internet, the men who might want to step up and fill this void may not be suited for it because they lack the proper temperament, manner of life, experience, or training. (Self-selection is bad ecclesiology.) Remember Matthew 15:14b on the blind leading the blind. · This is NOT a series that is going to present THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF MASCULINITY ™ so that we can all adjust our minds to its reality. Lord willing, it will teach the right ideas, but that is not how real spiritual formation happens. · It is a series that is part of our effort to create a community of men who not only understand masculine virtue and commit themselves to its achievement, but also one where we train and work towards that standard together. So it includes NOT JUST ideas of manliness but intentionally develops scalable ecclesial institutions that incarnate the living of those ideas through the brotherly support, mentorship, encouragement, and accountability. Your role in the process: commitment to living a life of virtue in community with others. My role in the process and why I am the leader of our local chapter · Long-standing commitment to Christian virtue and all the sacrifices that entails; as well as the many blessings that have followed. · Married thirty-five years. · A respected and decorated leader in the Army, community, and Church. o Retired Military Intelligence Chief Warrant Officer with deployments throughout the world, to include two to Afghanistan. o Three master's decrees: political science, divinity, and special education. o Ordained as a priest in 2007, have been teaching seminary since 2008; and have served in multiple leadership positions in the national church and at seminary. · Trained and experienced in the concepts of teamwork, spiritual development, community, and theology. · A lifetime of experience teaching these concepts and discipling others to teach them in the military, academia, parishes, seminary, and on the internets. If I were into self-promotion or social media, these might get me a following; but the real reason that I am the leader of the process is ontological, that is to say baked into our reality: I am the legitimately and canonically ordained priest assigned by our bishop to the priest – that is to say the “elder” and pastor – of this parish. This would be true even if I had never served in the military, taught at seminary, or enjoyed the benefits of a healthy marriage. It is accepting the fact that we “go to war with the army and leaders we have, not the ones we want” that allows us to get traction in doing the work we are called to do. We might gain a rudimentary understanding of what we are called to do and be as Christian men from our favorite Orthodox influencers on the internet, but if we are more attached to them and their virtual communities than the leaders and community in which we actually live, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. The Church has been perfecting the saints for many centuries without the internet; it is foolishness to jettison that system in favor of one that has not been tested and is known to be skewed towards narcissism and exaggeration. So here are the objectives of this series: · To provide a deeper understanding of Orthodox Christian Masculinity that each of us can defend and commit ourselves to. · To provide tools that will allow us to grow in personal holiness, first by dealing with our fallen “manly” temptations (anger, lust, gluttony, manipulation, and just checking out) and second by the acquisition of a peaceful, confident, and humble spirit. · To provide the tools – and not just the ideas! – to lead our family, communities, and parish. · To develop and intentional community of men, with mentorship, discipleship, and accountability. · That mentorship includes o The expectation that every man will go to confession regularly and schedule meetings with his priest as necessary. We should be going to confession AT LEAST FOUR TIMES A YEAR; the ideal is once a month. o The development of horizontal friendships with other men IN THIS PARISH for encouragement, accountability, and the deepening of Christian love. o Each of us will develop and maintain a relationship with a mentor. You can have more than one mentor, just like you can go to more than one priest for confession, but the point is that salvation is LOCAL. Again, you don't go to war with the army and leaders you want, but with the one we have. The temptation is to Americanize ecclesiology through the internet and to turn the local stable of churches and paraliturgical communities into our very own spiritual buffet. Didn't we say we wanted to give that way of thinking up when we became Orthodox? These mentors are: § [NAME] § [NAME] § [NAME] § [NAME] o Why these? § They are old. Let no man despise your youth, but a healthy culture has a special place and respect for gray beards. Younger men are wonderful spiritual brothers and we should rely on them for such. They can certainly be leaders in other ways, AND it is our job (and especially mine and the mentors) to disciple them so that they are able to do a better job than us when their beards turn gray. This is within the spirit of having age requirements for formal ordination. § They have been committed Orthodox Christians for a while. This is important because it takes time for Orthodoxy to gain traction. No one doubts the novice's commitment, but experience is required for mentorship. Again, this is in line with the spirit of ecclesial norms: Canon Law prohibits the ordination of novices. · Think of it as a kind of apprenticeship, but one where we are all already active life-smiths, but need a good system to help us improve the quality of our work. So what is Orthodox Christian Masculinity? · The way of a man committed to living out his faith humbly, courageously, and sacrificially in service to God, family, and community. o Humble o Courage (confidence) o Sacrificially: DUTY!!! Get up and do something! Reliability. “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt We are doing great deeds together. To the glory of God and the transformation of the world.. Future classes: Mentors are going to lead. Spiritual discipline and asceticism. How to build a strong and safe home. Financial asceticism. How to protect and serve the weak and vulnerable. In the meantime, commit yourself to being a reliable and godly man. Peaceful and strong. Give up things that distract you and build up habits that will make you better. Lead your family in prayer, lead them in going to church; encourage your friends to be godly and hold them accountable in private when needed, and live the kind of Cross-carrying life that transforms your souls towards perfection and brings peace and joy to those around you.
Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
Listen to Fr. Timothy's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church
There is a widespread assertion, even among certain Orthodox Christians, that the so-called traditional or nuclear family is not a Christian concept and is even denounced by Jesus. What's the truth about family according to the Orthodox tradition?
Join Fr. Anthony Messeh for "The God Who Isn't," a 5-part series at The Well.https://www.youtube.com/stsachurchhttps://www.stsa.church/the-well
Listen to Fr. Abraham's Sunday sermon.www.stsa.church