As I continue to process my trip to Moscow this summer I thought, perhaps, to share some of my reflections with you.Over the next month or so I will write some short reflections for the bulletin that I hope will be to your benefit. -Fr John As I continue my reflections on my trip to Russia this summer I thought, perhaps, it would be worthwhile to think a bit about the idea of “Holy Russia”. In recent years, as American and western cultures have become increasingly secularized

As I continue to process my trip to Moscow this summer I thought, perhaps, to share some of my reflections with you.Over the next month or so I will write some short reflections for the bulletin that I hope will be to your benefit. -Fr John I’ve already mentioned in a previous reflection that one of the most striking juxtapositions of my recent trip to Moscow was our first Sunday with the patriarchal Divine Liturgy followed by a trip to Butovo shooting range, the site of a se

This week I’m sure sharing with you another letter from Fr Nikon Vorobiev, a Russian spiritual father of the last century. -Fr John I have received your gloomy letter. You certainly know the spiritual law saying that the way to the Kingdom of God lies through many tribulations; that you will suffer in this world; that you should strengthen your soul by endurance, etc. Every believer should know this rule by heart. The God Man has endured spitting, beating, mockery and other i

Friends, I was asked to write a reflection on my trip to Moscow and I thought I would share it with you. -Fr John An eight hour flight over the Atlantic Ocean gives one time for reflection. And coming off of a ten day, jam-packed visit to Moscow, reflection is as inevitable as it is essential. The trip was part of an exchange program in which ten OCA priests, one deacon, and Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa, were the guests of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute. For