Below are the directed reading guides and focus questions for the series The Orthodox Faith, 4 Volume Set by Fr. Thomas Hopko. A full set of these books can be found in the church library. This series of books are introductory handbooks on Orthodox Faith and life. Presented in brief chapters, this series is excellent for quick reference or study, and provides valuable teaching material for both teens and adults.
Volume #1: Doctine and Scripture
Questions and Reflections for Discussion to be used with Volume I, Doctrine and Scripture
Questions and Reflections for Discussion to be used with Volume II, Worship
Questions and Reflections for Discussion to be used with Volume III, Church History
Questions and Reflections for Discussion to be used with Volume IV, Spirituality
These books are all available to borrow in our church library. Please come check out these and much, much more.
Bread & Water, Wine & Oil: An Orthodox Christian Experience of God by Fr. Meletios Webber
Know the Faith: A Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers by Fr. Michael Shanbour
Welcome to the Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity by Frederica Mathewes-Green
Becoming Orthodox by Fr. Peter Gillquist
The Orthodox Church by Bp. Kallistos Ware
Books for Parents and Famililes
The Good Samaritan: A Children's Catechism by Fr. Michael Shanbour
The Little Way of a Pilgrim by Jennifer Anna Rich
A Walk Through Acts: An Overview of the Acts of the Apostles
Blueprints for the Little Church: Creating an Orthodox Home by Elissa Bjeletich & Caleb Shoemaker
An Orthodox Catechism by Patristic Nectar A broad introduction to Orthodox Christianity designed to expose catechumens to the countours of Orthodox faith and life. This series was developed to aid priests and parishes in preparing catechumens to be received into the Church, as well as edify Orthodox individuals seeking a better understanding of their faith. This is 16 part series by Fr. Josiah Trenham.
The Prayer Rule Series by Patristic Nectar This series of lectures will examine the content and order of the prayer rule, giving special emphasis to the prayers of repentance, the rule of prostrations, the giving of thanks, the use of the Jesus Prayer and spiritual reading. This is a 6 part series by Fr. Josiah Trenham
Lectures are available for free at the Patristic Nectar website. You must create a free account before you will be granted access. Patristic Nectar also has a mobile app that can be downloaded from the app store if you prefer to listen on your phone or tablet.
It’s all too easy to recite something so familiar without questioning whether we really understand it. The Lord's Prayer is God’s own instruction in how to pray. Maybe it's time we unpack this prayer to really understand how God intended us to pray.
Podcast: The Lord’s Prayer, Part One
Podcast: The Lord’s Prayer, Part Two
Being in the services, hearing the chanting and listening to the Word of God will touch their souls and leave deep impressions in their hearts. These moments will live in them and keep them in the faith throughout their lives. “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (Matthew 19:14-15)
A few years ago, I was asked: “Father Thomas, if you summarized, in the shortest form, what a practical life of a believing Christian, of a human being who believes in God and believes in Christ, what would it be like? What kind of maxims or rules or whatever that would be, what would that include?”
The 55 Maxims of Fr. Thomas Hopko (podcast)
A 10-part series on the litanies of the Divine Liturgy by Fr. John Oliver. Fr. John shows us how important our intercessory prayers are for world and it’s people.
Part 6: In the next litany of the Divine Liturgy, we pray for our Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
Part 7: Fr. John now reflects on the litany for those in civil authority and our armed forces.
"Sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church is the first Christian Church, the Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and described in the pages of the New Testament. Her history can be traced in unbroken continuity all the way back to Christ and His Twelve Apostles. For twenty centuries, she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ."
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The first Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy because it commemorates the restoration of the Holy Icons and the triumph of the Orthodox Faith against the terrible heresy of the Iconoclasts, i.e. those heretics who refused to honor the Holy Icons. For more than a hundred years the…
In the year 313 Saint Constantine the Great issued an edict granting Christians religious freedom, and officially recognizing Christianity as equal with paganism under the law. But his co-ruler Licinius was a pagan, and he decided to stamp out Christianity in his part of the Empire. As Licinius…
The Holy Martyr Urpasianus suffered in the city of Nicomedia. The emperor Maximian Gallerius (305-311) cruelly persecuted Christians serving in his army and at his court. Some of the timid of soul began to waver and worship the pagan gods, but the strong held out until the very end. The dignitary…
Saint Caesarius was the son of Saint Gregory (January 1) and Saint Nonna (August 5), and the brother of Saint Gregory the Theologian (January 25). After studying oratory, philosophy, medicine and other subjects in Alexandria, he went to Constantinople, where he became one of the city's leading…
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The Albazin Icon of the Mother of God “the Word made Flesh” is of great religious significance in the Amur River region. It received its name from the Russian fortress of Albazin (now the village of Albazino) along the Amur river, founded in the year 1650 by the famous Russian frontier…
Saint Vitalius was born in the Sicilian town of Castronovo in the X century to wealthy and pious parents, Sergius and Chrysonίkḗ, who raised him according to God's Word, and saw that he received a good education. From an early age, Vitalius loved Christ and the monastic state, which is why he…
