Whether it is due to the secularity of the Canadians among whom I live or whether it is a widespread North American trend, I often hear people say, “I consider myself a very spiritual person, but I don’t believe in organized religion”. I am tempted to reply, “If you don’t like organized religion then you’ll love Orthodoxy in North America. You can’t get much more disorganized than we are.” But I usually…
September 2, 1982 saw the untimely death at the age of 48 of Eugene Dennis Rose, better known to the world as the ascetic monk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Fr. Seraphim Rose. For an ascetic ROCOR monk, Fr. Seraphim had an unpromising start.  Though born a Methodist and baptized at the age of fourteen, he later declared himself an atheist, and studied Oriental philosophy at Berkley College in California,…
In scholarly circles, battles rage on over (of all things) the Book of Esther. In this boxing match, we see Liberals and Conservatives slugging it out. The Liberals deny the historicity of the Book of Esther, while the Conservatives defend it. The Liberals point out, for example, that the Queen whom Esther replaces was not Vashti (as the Biblical text says), but was Amestris (as secular history like that of Herodotus says).…
In our parish of St. Herman’s in Langley, B.C., there are many young people, and so I have the privilege of presiding at many weddings. At these happy events, the brides are all beautiful, and the grooms are all handsome, and all of those present rejoice in their unions. But when I look up and see the happy couple standing before me, I do not see a young man and a young…