Father Alexander opened the meeting with a prayer, followed by Father Athanasy welcoming the parishioners and reminding them to sign in and collect the packet that included the agenda and reports for the past year. Next, Father Athanasy read the agenda for the meeting. Paul Johnson read the minutes from 2021. The minutes were accepted […]

On Memorial Day, May 30, 2022, clergy and faithful of the Western American Diocese took part in the annual trek to Fort Ross Historic Park to participate in the Divine Liturgy, process to the cemetery, and a perform a Litya for the departed who are buried at Fort Ross, who lived, labored, and reposed there […]

“But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”  —Luke 5:35 The roots of the Apostles Fast go back to the first century of Christianity. After the Lord’s Ascension, His disciples lived a lifestyle of continuous fasting and prayer until the day the Holy Spirit descended—the day […]

It was with great sadness that on May 16, 2022—the day of commemoration of Venerable Theodosius, Abbot of the Kiev Caves, and the eve of the fifteenth anniversary of the reestablishment of liturgical communion within the Russian Orthodox Church—we received the news that our beloved First Hierarch Metropolitan Hilarion had reposed in the Lord. Having […]

The Holy Week services begin with the celebration of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, where He will complete His earthly ministry and complete the second purpose of His incarnation on Earth—the redemption of mankind through His death on the Cross and Bright Resurrection. As we recall from Scripture, Jesus triumphantly entered into Jerusalem to the cheers […]

For the third year in a row, we are distracted during this most holy time of the year: Great Lent and Holy Pascha. For two years in a row, the Covid-19 pandemic had us worried about being out in public places or even coming to church. Glory be to God that we passed through this […]

“Thy grace has shone forth, O Lord, and the illumination of our souls has taken place. Now is the acceptable time; the season of repentance is here. Let us cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light that we might pass through the tempest of the Fast and reach the […]

Thomas Hopko spoke of an 88-day “winter festal season of the revelation of God in human flesh.” As an Orthodox Christian, he was speaking of the Eastern practice of observing a 40-day fast before Christmas, followed by the Feast of the Nativity, Theophany on day 52, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple on day […]

As we come to the end of another year and prepare to begin a new one, it is always appropriate for us to look back and consider the many blessings we have received from our Heavenly Father. To be sure, each year has its “ups and downs,” and this year has been no exception. The […]

Why have we, as a nation, become an incubator for political divisions and murderous anger turned violent, with rage increasing in alarming ways among our young? How have we, as a people, come to a place where we think we must arm ourselves to the teeth for our own personal survival, and where some think […]