St. Theophan the Recluse: In the Footsteps of Abraham

More great content, memes, commenting and community not available on this site.

We are also on Facebook and Instagram which have been designated terrorist organizations by the Russian government.

12.04.2024, 01:03

Friday, April 12 (March 30), 2024
No Liturgy ─ no New Testament reading appointed

“The Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee” [Gen. 12:1]. This is a clear image of that conversion of the heart which is wrought in true believers when they earnestly take their cross and follow Christ.

They leave their father ─ their selfishness, crucifying it by self-denial; they leave their kindred ─ their sinful inclinations, passions and habits, crucifying them by an unflinching resolve to follow Lord’s commandments which slay evil passions; they leave their country ─ the entire domain of sin, the sinful world and its encroachments, crucifying it by their courage to be different and alien to the world, no matter what the price would be: loss of wealth, of social standing, or even death.

Read more about the author

More great content, memes, commenting and community not available on this site.

We are also on Facebook and Instagram which have been designated terrorist organizations by the Russian government.

Publications

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: Fruitless Fig Tree

The fig tree means people who look good, but in truth are wi...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: Good Works and Faith in Union

When faith enters into the heart, repentance never leaves it...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: The Worship of the Trinity

All mysteries of the Christian faith shine here with a divin...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: The Spirit of Scorn

Think carefully about the object of your displeasure and you...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: Full-Hearted Sacrifice

She put her money right where her tongue was, committing her...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: Doing Good Without Love

Attitude towards doing good, without faith and desire to ple...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: Breathing Life into the Hidden Man

It means to develop awe and reverence before Him, always kee...

Daily Reflections

St. Theophan the Recluse: New Year’s Resolutions in Spirit

A living example of that is given to us in the person of St....

Related Publications

St. Theophan the Recluse: Fruitless Fig Tree
The fig tree means people who look good, but in truth are without merit.
St. Theophan the Recluse: Good Works and Faith in Union
When faith enters into the heart, repentance never leaves it, but joins the faith and stays forever, together with the resolve to...
St. Theophan the Recluse: The Worship of the Trinity
All mysteries of the Christian faith shine here with a divine light, enlightening our hearts and minds.

Patriarch

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill's Christmas interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel

On January 7, 2025, the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the traditional Christmas interview of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was shown on the Rossiya 1 TV channel. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church answered questions from TASS Director General A.O. Kondrashov.

Heritage

Anatoly Torkunov: «What’s really important is how many students are blood donors»

On August 26, Mr Anatoly Torkunov, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, rector of the Moscow State Institute for International relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chairman of Trusteeship Council of the Foma Magazine, turns 70. Mr Torkunov is talking with Parsuna on Spas TV about happiness, forgiveness, normal young people, and a university church.

Patriarch

The word of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the 15th anniversary of the enthronement after the Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

On February 1, 2024, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. This day marks the 15th anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness. At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Church addressed the worshippers in the temple with a word.

Heritage

Alexey Savvateev: "Wisdom is you take on exactly the problems that you can solve"

Life is not equal to mind, life is an irrational and a very chaotic thing, and if these bastards ever design a homo sapiens, I mean, turn a man into a robot — this will be the end of history.

Patriarch

Thank you all for your prayer

I sincerely thank all of you for praying for me. I know that this prayer is daily, the whole Church prays, and, probably, without this prayer it would be impossible to carry out the Patriarchal ministry. But when they pray for me on this day, a personal day, with which the very appearance of a person in life is connected, then, I think, this prayer is heard by the Lord, and help is poured out on the one for whom they pray. And through those present here, I thank all of you now, my dear bishops, fathers, brothers and sisters, who today, all over the face of our earth, in all the fullness of our Church, have been offering up prayers for the Patriarch.

Heritage

Cancel reporting, teachers’s pay and my math program, – three solutions by mathematician Alexei Savvateyev, if he were to become Minister of Education

Why mathematics is a language of God and what miracles happen in a scientist’s life? Why proof of unscientific nature of homeopathy is unscientific, and why lack of forgiveness is dangerous? These and many other very extremely interesting issues were discussed by mathematician Alexei Savvateyev and Vladimir Legoida in Parsuna TV show.

Patriarch

Russia an Island of Freedom in Raging Sea of Cancelled Morality

Indeed, Russia is capable to resist alien, godless, anti-Christian forces. Those forces which aim their sting at human hearts, so that we lose our ability to tell good from evil. Gone from the political vocabulary is the concept of sin: they enforce a new model of behavior, claiming that good is what they please. But when so-called civilized world, by and large, picks up this idea, Russia, just as in the past times, has the guts to disobey. We must stick to the notion of good and evil, not from political interests or someone's ambition, but from that moral law which God has placed in our souls, in the human nature.

Heritage

Russian State Duma deputy Yevgeny Primakov: «I'm not a forgiving guy»

People who did wrong and were unjust simply cease to exist for me. Let me give you an example. One of the instigators of that campaign recently died in a tragic accident. TV channels called me on the strange assumption that I would want to comment. I said I wouldn't, what was done was done. I leave my personal feelings to myself.

Patriarch

Russia Is Fighting Against Global Evil

Powerful propaganda forces in the world today are working to destroy the concepts of good and evil, and Russia here is fulfilling a special mission to preserve the traditional worldview, which allows people to remain truly free. This opinion was expressed on Thursday by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in a sermon after the liturgy at the Donskoy Monastery.

Heritage

Russian State Duma deputy Yevgeny Primakov: «I'm you hired employee»

Yevgeny Primakov joins Vladimir Legoida on Parsuna Show to discuss the origins and projects of the Russian Humanitarian Mission, his work as a member of parliament, and how faith found its way into his life.

Patriarch

The Church and clergy on social media

Any clergyman who participates in discussions on Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal and other online communities must constantly remember the responsibility that is imposed on him by speaking in a public space. People look at you primarily as priests. The careless and sometimes outrageous statements of individual clergy cast a shadow on the entire Church of God, causing waves of reciprocal discussions in the blogosphere, in which the subject of attacks becomes not so much the author of the lines him-self as the Russian Orthodox Church as a whole. Nobody forbids you to participate in the life of Internet communities and leave your comments in the topics, but it is necessary to act with judgment and discretion.

Heritage

Artem Oganov: «A scientist who is dishonest is a dead scientist»

Science does not forgive dishonesty. Unfortunately, the category of scientists engaged in fraud and forgery is not so rare. There are people who made a brilliant career using this trick. But then their schemes were exposed, since there is a time all cats eventually get out of the bag. In such a situation, nothing will save the fraudster. Science will be merciless.

Opinion