Clearly, the most visible thing that’s happened is that I got slightly exhausted (I know that’s impossible; I am in fact absolutely exhausted, but we cannot afford it right now, and it does no good to focus on that, so … Read More

The sure sign of closeness to glory is the closeness of humility. Rejoice in your humility – its presence in your heart testifies that Christ has found His home in there, too. We’re clearly during Lent… The more days go … Read More

We (humans) seem to have a deep fascination with hell, eternal fire and all related elements. We (the Orthodox) like to condiment our prayers with images of hell, we adorn our churches with huge icons of the Last Judgement or … Read More

I must start with an apology for not posting anything this week. My visit at Holy Cross has been simply overwhelming – I’d forgotten that people in American parishes are so (dangerously) active and involved! On Sunday, I left Linthicum … Read More

Well, this is something I’ve been looking forward to! My story with Fr Gregory and the Holy Cross parish in Linthicum Heights started three years ago. In 2011, I received a research grant at the Library of Congress, in Washington DC; … Read More

WHAT a joy my visit to the OCA Cathedral in New York has proved to be! Who would have thought that I would feel so welcome among these extreme urbanites 🙂 First, the church itself is breath-taking: not only beautiful, … Read More

The more time I spend in the US, the more obvious it becomes to me that people here have been deeply affected by the ethnic obsession of most Orthodox groups. By far, the most frequent questions I have to answer … Read More

This Sunday (March, 2nd), at Fr Christopher Calin’s invitation, I shall visit the OCA Orthodox Cathedral in New York (East Village, Manhattan). I shall deliver the Sunday sermon and make a presentation of the monastery after the Divine Liturgy. Thank God that … Read More

It’s been a while since I posted something and I apologise for that. The following months are vital for our monastery and that means I can hardly balance all the things that need to be done. The most important thing … Read More

All I can say is that it has been a wonderful experience! The first wonderful thing about it is that I’ve survived, I’m still alive to tell the story. The truth is that a Clergy Retreat is (can be) in … Read More