Category Archives: Blog

The Protection of the Theotokos   On October 1, 911, during the reign of emperor Leo the Wise, there was an all-night vigil in the Blachernae church of the Theotokos in Constantinople. Standing near the rear of the church was St. Andrew the Fool for Christ, and his disciple Epiphanius. At four o’clock in the morning, […]

St. John tells us, “No one has ever seen God.  The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him. (John 1:18)” Jesus is “the refulgence of (God’s) glory, the very imprint of his being, (Hebrews 1:2)” so that all we know about God has been told to us by Christ, even […]

Mini-Bible Study: Sunday of All-Saints Hebrews 11:36 ff (From today’s Epistle): Others (faithful of the Old Testament) suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword…And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since […]

Memorial Day KNOW YOUR HISTORY: Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as […]

…the devil, who hates and envies what is good, could not endure to see such a resolution in a youth, but endeavored to carry out against him what he had been wont to effect against others. First of all he tried to lead him away from the discipline, whispering to him the remembrance of his wealth, care for his sister, […]

(This document was sent to the clergy of the Eparchy of Phoenix as a pdf.  If you find any typos it is because of an error is the process of exporting the document to this format.  Please let Father Michael know if you have any concerns)     My dear friends, the secular news media […]

(Elaborating on Father Michael’s Children’s Homily from last Sunday) Every Christian is encouraged to wear a small cross after their baptism. In some Eastern Christian traditions, parish priests, bishops, monks and nuns may also wear a larger cross outside of their clothing. Generally, a priest receives a silver cross from his bishop on the day […]

“‘And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:3-4). They partook of fire, not of burning but of saving fire; of fire which consumes the thorns of sins, but gives luster to the soul. This […]

Leaving earthly care to the earth and that which is waste and refuse to the dust, come, let us arise from sleep with our eyes and hearts let us go towards higher things. Let us also lift up our thoughts and our attention from the earth to the gates of heaven, as if we were […]

Along with being the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers, this is also the feast of the Great-Martyr George.  We have an icon of the Great-Martyr on the back wall of the temple next to the stairwell.  George was a very accomplished and virtuous soldier.  The emperor was becoming very “successful” in bringing a false-peace to the […]