Orthodox Wisdom

The first Orthodox priest born in America, St. Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson is an Apostle to America for having served across its vast land in countless parishes amongst Orthodox and non-Orthodox people of all ethnic backgrounds. Born in San Francisco in 1863, he helped establish the first Serbian Orthodox parish in the Western Hemisphere in Jackson, CA in 1894. He served tirelessly in America and Serbia where he reposed in 1940 at the Zhicha Monastery. In 2007 his holy relics were transferred back to Jackson, CA and in 2015 he was formally canonized a Saint by the Orthodox Church, confirming what the faithful had known for some time--that St. Sebastian's last wish had been granted him: “the Kingdom of Heaven without end.“   This is part three of five of the Life of Saint Sebastian and has been generously offered by our brother Sergius.   1. Read the Life of St. Sebastian here (link to PDF at top of page): http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/archi... 2. Read his Catechism "The Holy Orthodox Church" here: https://books.google.com/books?id=5jJ... 3. On the canonization of St. Sebastian and St. Mardarije, including Troparion and Kontakion: https://westsrbdio.org/canonication/ 4. Akathist: https://www.stsavajackson.org/akathis...  This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

The first Orthodox priest born in America, St. Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson is an Apostle to America for having served across its vast land in countless parishes amongst Orthodox and non-Orthodox people of all ethnic backgrounds. Born in San Francisco in 1863, he helped establish the first Serbian Orthodox parish in the Western Hemisphere in Jackson, CA in 1894. He served tirelessly in America and Serbia where he reposed in 1940 at the Zhicha Monastery. In 2007 his holy relics were transferred back to Jackson, CA and in 2015 he was formally canonized a Saint by the Orthodox Church, confirming what the faithful had known for some time--that St. Sebastian's last wish had been granted him: “the Kingdom of Heaven without end.“   This is part two of five of the Life of Saint Sebastian and has been generously offered by our brother Sergius.   1. Read the Life of St. Sebastian here (link to PDF at top of page): http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/archi... 2. Read his Catechism "The Holy Orthodox Church" here: https://books.google.com/books?id=5jJ... 3. On the canonization of St. Sebastian and St. Mardarije, including Troparion and Kontakion: https://westsrbdio.org/canonication/ 4. Akathist: https://www.stsavajackson.org/akathis...   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

The first Orthodox priest born in America, St. Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson is an Apostle to America for having served across its vast land in countless parishes amongst Orthodox and non-Orthodox people of all ethnic backgrounds. Born in San Francisco in 1863, he helped establish the first Serbian Orthodox parish in the Western Hemisphere in Jackson, CA in 1894. He served tirelessly in America and Serbia where he reposed in 1940 at the Zhicha Monastery. In 2007 his holy relics were transferred back to Jackson, CA and in 2015 he was formally canonized a Saint by the Orthodox Church, confirming what the faithful had known for some time--that St. Sebastian's last wish had been granted him: “the Kingdom of Heaven without end.“   This is part one of five of the Life of Saint Sebastian and has been generously offered by our brother Sergius.   1. Read the Life of St. Sebastian here (link to PDF at top of page): http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/archi... 2. Read his Catechism "The Holy Orthodox Church" here: https://books.google.com/books?id=5jJ... 3. On the canonization of St. Sebastian and St. Mardarije, including Troparion and Kontakion: https://westsrbdio.org/canonication/ 4. Akathist: https://www.stsavajackson.org/akathis...   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Sophrony the Athonite of Essex, England (+1993, June 28/July 11) is the founder of the St. John the Baptist Monastery outside of London and spiritual son of St. Silouan the Athonite. He wrote the life of St. Silouan, along with compiling his writings, and has authored books such as “His Life in Mine” and his autobiography “We Shall See Him As He Is”. This God-illumined hieromonk was glorified as a saint in 2019 and the faithful can visit his tomb in Essex, England.   Prayer at Daybreak: http://www.saintgregoryoutreach.org/2...  Prayers of St. Silouan and St. Sophrony: https://youtu.be/80krKfNKosE This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

“Many times a temptation happens which, at first glance, does not seem to conceal anything salvific within it. Yet afterwards, we see that within it is eternal life!”   “God allows temptations so that they might rouse us to remember Him. When we call upon Him, He acts as though He does not hear us so that we multiply our supplications and cry out His holy name, in fear of the various passions. Then, through the pain of the entreaties, our heart is sanctified, and through experience we learn the weakness of our lame nature. And thus we realize in practice that without God's help we are not able to do anything.”   “Is there anyone who has entered paradise by a different path, a path without temptations, whom we can imitate? No. All the saints passed through fire and water, through various temptations and afflictions, and they glorified God with their patience and received crowns of eternal glory!”   The text is from “Counsels from the Holy Mountain” by Elder Ephraim of Arizona. The book can purchased here: https://stanthonysmonastery.org/produ...  Audiobooks from St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, including “Counsels from the Holy Mountain” can be found for free here: https://stanthonysmonastery.org/pages...  Learn more about this great Athonite Elder and Saint of America here: https://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/a... This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

This story is from the Evergetinos (Sayings of the Desert Fathers) as related by St. Amphilochios of Icononium. Take courage all who struggle with this most grievous sin, the sin of self-abuse (masturbation).  “Resist to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:4) and remember the immeasurable love God has for you. Seek a spiritual guide if you do not already have one. The fight is spiritual and we need a guide to learn from and be obedient to. Every moment you offer your will to God and obey His commandments you receive both temporal and eternal rewards.    The Lord says to satan regarding the man who again repented of his self-abuse, “You, when he turns again to sin, do not turn him away, but receive him with joy, neither chastising him nor preventing him from committing sin, out of the hope that you might win him over. Yet, I, Who am merciful and love mankind, Who counseled My laudable Apostle Peter, to forgive sins seven times seventy (Matt. 18:22), do I not show him mercy and compassion? Indeed – simply because he flees to Me – I will not turn him away until I have won him over. Furthermore, I was crucified for sinners and for their salvation; My immaculate hands were nailed to the Cross, that those who so wish might take refuge in Me and be saved. For this reason, then, I neither turn away nor reject anyone, even if he should fall many times a day and many times return to Me; such a person will not leave My Temple saddened, for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repent.”  Text: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElzfY...A different translation: https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/20... This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

"Although I had sinned a lot from when I was a small child, when I returned to the world I continued to commit sins which, today are very many. The world, however, thought highly of me, and everyone shouts that I'm a saint. I however, feel that I am the most sinful person in the world."   While at the Holy Skete of Kavsokalyvia on Mt. Athos, Elder Porphyrios had given orders for his grave to be dug. Through a spiritual child of his, he dictated a farewell letter of advice and forgiveness to all his spiritual children. It is dated June 17, 1991. It was found amongst the monk's garments that were laid out for his burial on the day of his departure. Elder Porphyrios departed in the Lord on December 2, 1991. It again indicates his profound humility.   Text: https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009...  This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

“In writing this, we are not writing either the history of Europe, of its virtues and faults, or the history of the European pseudo-Churches. We are simply setting forth the entirety of their ontology, penetrating to the heart of European conceit, its demonic underground, where its dark sources lie and with whose waters it threatens to poison the world. This is no passing of judgment on Europe, but a wholehearted and prayerful call to the only way to salvation: through repentance.”    St. Justin Popović (+1979), the great twentieth century theologian of Serbia, masterfully expounds upon the nature of protestantism, both its papal and reformed varieties, refining and preserving the dogmatic conscience of his disciples and students. Some of what St. Justin says may be shocking, but as disciples of Christ we must run to the saints, those saints the Church has glorified and recognized as authentic teachers of the Faith. St. Justin is a theologian par excellence.   The meaning of Theanthropic: divine (in Greek theos = God) and human (in Greek anthropos = man); the Theanthropos = the God-Man, i.e. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. “The supreme rule of the Orthodox philosophy of society is: We must not adapt Christ the Theanthropos to the spirit of the times, but adapt the spirit of the times to Christ's eternity, Christ's theanthropy.”  “Various pseudo-Christian humanisms fill the world with books, but Orthodoxy fills it with saints.”  “However, the tragedy of western Christendom consists precisely in its having attempted, whether by revising the image of the Theanthropos or denying Him, to reintroduce the demonised humanism that is characteristic of sinful human nature into the heart of the very theanthropic organism, the Church, the purpose of which is to liberate from it; and through the Church into all spheres of life, by pronouncing it to be a dogma, a universal dogma. Man's demonised pride, under the auspices of the Church, in that way becomes a dogma of faith without which there is no salvation. It is terrible even to contemplate, let alone say, that in this way the only 'workshop of salvation' and theanthropisation in this world is gradually being transformed into a demonised 'workshop' of violence against the conscience and of dehumanisation, a workshop of the disfigurement of God and man through the disfigurement of the Theanthropos.”  The text is from “The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism,” pages 119-126, 142-154. The first half of this text: http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/pap... The second half is found in “The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism”: https://lazarica.co.uk/bookshop/ For extra information about the divisions between sections in this episode, please go to the YouTube upload at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xXm1PfcQUw&ab_channel=OrthodoxWisdom. Glory to Jesus Christ!

The inspiring account of St. Victoria’s trial and martyrdom for assembling to celebrate the Eucharist in secret against the law of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Along with 48 others, she was arrested and put on trial for celebrating this secret Divine Liturgy. She is unwavering, holding fast to the Faith and the centrality of the worship of the true God. May this be an ongoing source of inspiration as we continue to see increased persecution of the Church in America and around the world, whether Coronavirus related or otherwise, whether from outside the Church or within.    This recording was inspired by Fr. Josiah Trenham, who in his reflection titled “Dangerous and Illegal Worship?” he recounted the words of St. Victoria “We cannot do without the Eucharist” and tells us about the centrality of Holy Communion for each Orthodox Christian. Listen to his reflection on youtube at PatristicNectarFilms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKE67...  0:19 Background on St. Victoria and those with her  4:35 The account of her trial  17:55 St. Victoria responds “We cannot do without the Eucharist.”   It was difficult to find good sources from known Orthodox websites. Therefore I have used information as best I could find. The account of the trial is the same account Fr. Josiah read from in his reflection linked above.   The Life/Background: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint... The Trial (pages 86-103): https://archive.org/details/dailylife...  St. Victoria reposed in 304 and is celebrated on February 11th.    Holy Martyr Victoria, pray to God for us!  This channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

This is bitter medicine that heals deep, often unseen, wounds. St. Dorotheos of Gaza (+565), disciple of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, plainly teaches us the necessity to cease from judging our neighbor, for we may only know the actions, but not the inner heart. He uses many examples, including the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, by saying, “Because of this he was not condemned, as I said, not even because he said, 'I am not like other men', but [he was condemned] because he said, 'I am not like this tax-collector'. It was then that he made a judgment. He condemned a person and the dispositions of his soul—to put it shortly, his whole life. Therefore, the tax-collector rather than the Pharisee went away justified. Nothing is more serious, nothing more difficult to deal with, as I say repeatedly, than judging and despising our neighbor.”   O Lord Jesus Christ, through the prayers of St. Dorotheos, forgive us and lead us on the path to love and holy discernment.   The text can be found here: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/doroth...  This channel is dedicated to sharing the prayers, hymns, teachings, and service texts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!