Science

Spiritual Lecture night in Wacol

Serbian Orthodox Youth Association of Queensland (SOYA - QLD) since August of last year has organised spiritual lectures in English. The idea is that each month a member of Orthodox clergy from all Canonical Orthodox jurisdictions presents a lecture on a topic relevant to our Orthodox faith. Before each talk the faithful gather in the church for prayer, sometimes the Akathist to the Mother of God or the Evening prayer is served in English.

Sts. Sebastian & Mardarije Orthodox Institute Iii - Day One

Sts. Sebastian & Mardarije Orthodox Instistute III - Day Three

How can psychological knowledge assist in spiritual life?

Following Orthros and a continental breakfast on Thursday morning, on the feast day of the Holy and Righteous Simeon the God-receiver Anna, the final plenary session began, entitled: How Can Psychologic Knowledge Assist in Spiritual Life?

Sts. Sebastian & Mardarije Orthodox Institute Iii - Day Two

Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy

The second full day of the Sts. Sebastian and Mardarije Orthodox Institute began early in the morning Wednesday, February 15, 2017, the feast day of the Meeting of the Lord, with the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy officiated by His Grace Bishop Irinej of Eastern America and His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America, the host hierarch and the concelebration of a number of diocesan and visiting clergy. In his homily following the liturgy Bishop Irinej spoke of the gift of the encounter with Christ that we are given in the Holy Liturgy, mirroring the encounter of St. Symeon with Christ celebrated in the Feast. It is because of this encounter which we have now in the liturgy that we have the hope –even a foretaste – of that great and final encounter with Christ at His second and glorious coming.

Homily on the Meeting of the Lord

What a tender scene the Meeting of the Lord shows us! The venerable elder Simeon, holding the infant God in his hands, on either side of him are the righteous Joseph and the Most Holy Mother of God. Not far away is the Prophetess Anna, an eighty-year-old faster and woman of prayer. Their eyes are all directed toward the Savior. Their attention is absorbed by Him and they drink in spiritual sweetness from Him, which feeds their souls. You can judge for yourself how blessed was the state of these souls!

However, brethren, we are called not only to think about this blessedness, but also to taste it in reality, for all are called to have and carry the Lord in themselves, and to disappear in Him with all the powers of their spirit. When we have reached that state, then our blessedness will be no lower than that of those who participated in the Meeting of the Lord. They were blessed who saw it; we shall be blessed who have not seen, but believed. Pay attention. I will show you briefly how to achieve this. Here is what you should do.

Martyr Tryphon of Campsada Near Apamea in Syria

The Martyr Tryphon was born in Phrygia, one of the districts of Asia Minor, in the village of Lampsacus. From his early years the Lord granted him the power to cast out demons and to heal various maladies. He once saved the inhabitants of his native city from starvation. Saint Tryphon, by the power of his prayer, turned back a plague of locusts that were devouring the grain and devastating the fields.

Saint Tryphon gained particular fame by casting out an evil spirit from the daughter of the Roman emperor Gordian (238-244). Helping everyone in distress, he asked only one thing from them: faith in Jesus Christ, by Whose grace he healed them.