Category Archives: Church Life

Benefiting the heart and soul of the parishioner.

Memory Eternal

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Funeral Arrangements for Reader Ignatius (Jeff) Constant who departed this life on Saturday, December 17.

Visitation at Farley Funeral Home 265 Nokomis Ave S, Venice, FL 34285  on Thursday, December 22 from 5-7 pm with the Memorial Service at 6:30pm.

The Funeral Service will be at HSOC at Noon on Friday, December 23 with burial to follow at Gulf Pines Memorial Park in Englewood, FL

Holy Synod of OCA Issues a Statement

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Holy Synod issues statement on same-sex relationships and sexual identity

The Orthodox Church teaches that the union between a man and a woman in marriage reflects the union between Christ and His Church (Eph. 5). As such, marriage is by this reflection monogamous and heterosexual. Within this marriage, sexual relations between a husband and wife are an expression of their love that has been blessed by God. Such is God’s plan for male and female, created in his image and likeness, from the beginning, and such remains his plan for all time. Any other form of sexual expression is by its nature disordered, and cannot be blessed by the Church in any way, whether directly or indirectly.That said, the Holy Synod of Bishops expresses its pastoral concern and paternal love for all who desire to come to Christ and who struggle with their passions, temptations, and besetting sins, whatever those might be. The Church is a hospital for the sick; Our Lord has come as a physician to heal those who are ailing. Imitating our Savior, who stretched his arms wide on the Cross, we welcome with open arms all who desire the life of repentance in Christ.Over the course of recent years, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon and the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America have made numerous pronouncements affirming the Orthodox Christian teaching on marriage and sexuality. Metropolitan Tikhon, at the 18th All-American Council in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 20, 2015, in his opening address, stated that:

“… the Orthodox Church must continue to proclaim what she has always taught: that marriage is the union between one man and one woman and the Orthodox Church in America can in no way deviate from this teaching…”

Among the Holy Synod’s affirmations of the same teaching are the “Synodal Affirmations on Marriage, Family, Sexuality, and the Sanctity of Life,” from the 10th All-American Council, Miami, Florida, taking place from July 26-31, 1992; the “Synodal Reaffirmation of the SCOBA statement titled ‘On the Moral Crisis in our Nation,’” issued May 17, 2004; and the synodal “Statement concerning the June 26 US Supreme Court decision,” issued June 28, 2015.

Therefore, in accord with the timeless plan of God our Creator, the unchanging teaching of Christ the Savior announced through his holy apostles and their successors, and the consistent witness of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, the Holy Synod affirms what the Scriptures clearly and plainly proclaim and the holy fathers unerringly confess, namely: that God made human beings in two sexes, male and female, in his own image, and that chaste and pure sexual relationships are reserved to one man and one woman in the bond of marriage.

As such, we affirm that sexual relationships are blessed only within the context of a marriage between one man and one woman. Motivated by love and out of sincere care for souls, we call those who suffer from the passion of same-sex attraction to a life of steadfast chastity and repentance, the same life of chastity and repentance to which all mankind is called in Christ.

We call upon all clergy, theologians, teachers, and lay persons within the Orthodox Church in America never to contradict these teachings by preaching or teaching against the Church’s clear moral position; by publishing books, magazines, and articles which do the same; or producing or publishing similar content online. We reject any attempt to create a theological framework which would normalize same-sex erotic relationships or distort humanity’s God-given sexual identity. The holy apostle Paul writes that such teachings will “increase to more ungodliness,” and that such a “message will spread like gangrene” (2 Tim 2:16-17), misleading the faithful and inquirers seeking the truth.Any clergy, theologian, teacher, or lay person who contravenes our directive thus undermines the authority of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America by disregarding the Holy Synod’s consistent and unwavering teaching on these matters. We call on any such persons to cease their disruptive activities, which threaten the peace and tranquility of the Orthodox Church in America, cause scandal and uncertainty, and tempt those who struggle against their disordered passions to stumble. Consequently, those who teach these errors become participants in the sin of those whom they have tempted or whom they have failed to correct, and thus should seek remission of this sin in the mystery of holy confession. Those who refuse correction open themselves to ecclesiastical discipline.

Thus, we, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, conclude by once again affirming that all clergy, theologians, teachers, and lay persons of the Orthodox Church in America should teach nothing other than the fullness of the Orthodox faith, which is the fullness of the saving truth.

We remind our faithful and clergy that every person of goodwill is welcome to visit our parishes. However, reception into the Church, and continued communion in Christ at the sacred Chalice, is reserved for those who strive to live a life of repentance and humility in light of these God-given truths, conforming themselves to the commandments of God as the only path of salvation in Christ. All of us are sinners, but it is for precisely this reason that Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to “Repent and believe in the Gospel, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk. 1:15).

The Holy Snyod of the OCA

Staying Balanced in a Tilted World

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By Priest Demetrios Makoul for Pravmir
Throughout our day, we must always return to that still, quiet spiritual desert within us. We must start our day there, we return to it throughout the day, and we then return there at the end of the day.
It is difficult to stay or feel connected to God due to our frenetic pace in which we often live our lives. We often rush from one activity to another without taking time to be still, mindful in the present, and process what we have been doing. This can often lead to us feeling out of control or like things in our life are spiralling out of control around us. There is a way however to maintain some level of peace, awareness, and calm even when living life with a hectic pace. It involves maintaining an inner stillness even when all around us seems chaotic. What keeps us grounded and what keeps us balanced throughout the day, even when everything around us seems tilted, is maintaining a constant awareness and connection with God throughout the day. Sounds great and obvious doesn’t it? The following is a reminder of a practice and way of life we all need.

Do you liken the Judean wilderness to your own spiritual desert?

First we have to assess how often, if it all, we focus our mind on God throughout the day. That focus may be in the form of simply reflecting on God, assessing how we are doing spiritually that day (with regards to our thoughts and behaviour), or deliberate prayer even. This awareness of God and of our souls must become a constant undercurrent running beneath the activities of our daily life. In essence, our main daily activity is this awareness of God and monitoring our soul, while our daily earthly activities are the brief ventures out and away from this spiritual activity. For many, this involves a complete reversal to what they are accustomed to. Most of us get lost and immersed in our daily activities, only then making a brief venture out of our earthly duties to reflect on God and our soul.
Are we prepared to make this shift? Throughout our day, we must always return to that still, quiet spiritual desert within us. We must start our day there, we return to it throughout the day, and we return there at the end of the day. God awaits us there and it is the place where we refresh our weary souls from our ventures out into the world. It is where we are replenished with God’s peace. We need to remember the Prophet Elijah’s encounter with God outside the cave on Mt. Horeb. God was not in the destructive wind, the earthquake, or the fire. The presence of the whispering breeze or still voice marked the presence of God (I kings 19). We all need our own Mt. Horeb where we seek an encounter with God.

Statement On Overturning Roe v Wade-Metropolitan Tikhon

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Statement on the overturning of Roe v. Wade

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon

Monday, June 27, 2022

To the Hierarchs, Clergy, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America:

Christ is in our midst! He is and ever shall be!

sanctity life

On June 24, the American people received the news that the Supreme Court of the United States, in its opinion concerning the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has overturned the right to abortion created by the court in its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

Undoubtedly, this should be a cause for rejoicing for all Orthodox Christians. As I affirmed in my recent archpastoral message for the feast of the Annunciation, “The Orthodox Church in America has always believed, upheld, preached, and defended the sanctity of human life from the time of conception in the womb.” From the earliest times, the shepherds of the Church

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