TEXTS IN ENGLISH

By Archbishop John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco
Source: http://www.fatheralexander.org

Many people believe that to live according to the faith and to fulfill the will of God is very difficult. Actually — it’s very easy...

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy for the feast day of Archangel Gabriel was served on July 26, 2008 by His Eminence Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb, Ljubljana and All-Italy...

The sunsets and sunrises in this rural, southern part of Holland emanate mystical shades of effervescent pink, a manifestation which has drawn many an artist to these lowlands. And if one were to search all over Holland, it would be difficult to find a place more suitable for a monastery than this patch of land, an unusual expanse in a densely-populated country.

All are called to be saints, but each person is called to do so in his or her own unique way. No two persons are the same. Each one is different. All are called to partake of God’s being and life. All are called to love as He loves, know as He knows, serve as He serves, live as He lives. But each will do it in his or her own specific manner, according to the concrete conditions and means that God provides.

My Dear Friend:
You have asked a good question: “Who are these Holy Fathers you Orthodox Christians are always speaking of, and why are they so important to you? Isn’t is enough to just have the Bible?”

In the beginning you like somebody very much and you have a strong sexual attraction to the person. People often think that this is love, but it is not. It is a natural physical attraction and when you like somebody and consider them a friend then there is a basis for a relationship, but this is only the beginning.

Whenever a fast approaches, people look at the minimum that they can do. Instead we should always look at the maximum and recognize our weakness and lack of faith. And indeed those who look at the minimum tend in the long run to abandon fasting altogether.

The “More Spacious than the Heavens” icon is very prominent in an Orthodox church., perhaps because it expresses some of our Faith’s core beliefs, principally the willingness of our Mother, the Church, to receive us with her outstretched and waiting arms.

There are moments when we also see something which is beyond us, and how much we wish we could stay, stay forever in this blissful condition; and it is not only because we are incapable of it that we are not allowed to stay in it, but because the Lord says, You are now on the Mount of Transfiguration, you have seen Christ ready to be crucified for the life of the world - go now together with Him, go now in His name, go now, and bring people to Him that they may live!

Besides the fundamental meaning which the event of the Transfiguration has in the context of the life and mission of Christ, and in addition to the theme of the glory of God which is revealed in all of its divine splendor in the face of the Savior, the presence of Moses and Elijah is also of great significance for the understanding and celebration of the feast.

Biografia Archimandrite Gabriel (Vuckovic)

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