New Tikhvin Skete of the Holy Mother of God

06/07/2026

The Saintly life of Father Roman Braga our spiritual visionary father for New Tikhvin Skete of the Holy Mother of God.

Hosted by the Pan-Orthodox Churches of Genesee County."The Saintly...

06/07/2026

St. Nikolai Velimirovich, oversees our monastic development through the "Inner Church". Mother Elizabeth Gladky/Klipa Bacha , New Tikhvin Skete of the Holy Mother of God.

An institution of professional Orthodox Christian theological education, chartered by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America

06/05/2026

TODAY's Gospel Reading: "Resist not evil". June 5, 2026 from St. Matthew 5:39, as President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky issues an open letter to STOP THE WAR, and let's meet to President of Russia, Vladimir Putin:

"Resist not evil" (from Matthew 5:39) is the foundational principle of Leo Tolstoy's philosophy of Christian anarchism and nonviolence. He argued that Jesus' commandment is a literal, absolute injunction against all violence, meaning individuals must never use force to oppose evildoers or state authority.Tolstoy detailed this doctrine extensively in his later theological and philosophical writings—most notably in My Religion (1884) and The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894).His core arguments include:Rejection of State Violence: Because governments rely on police, courts, and militaries to enforce laws, Tolstoy argued that the State is inherently violent and incompatible with the teachings of Jesus. He advocated for a society completely free of government coercion.Evil Cannot Extinguish Evil: Tolstoy believed that using violence to stop violence only propagates more evil. The only way to defeat evil is through active, nonviolent goodness and by enduring suffering rather than inflicting it.The Power of Conscience: He posited that true human freedom lies in an individual's conscience. By refusing to participate in state-sanctioned violence (such as military conscription or paying taxes to a violent government), individuals align themselves with moral law.A Call to Personal Transformation: He argued that societal progress cannot be forced by tyrants or revolutionaries; it is achieved slowly through the personal moral choices of individuals.Tolstoy's interpretation of "resist not evil" profoundly influenced 20th-century history. His essays directly shaped Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of Satyagraha and Martin Luther King Jr.'s approach to civil rights, sparking global movements of nonviolent resistance.

06/05/2026

Father Thomas Hopko was a great friend from my early youth and in helping me come to terms with how to be an Orthodox Christian in the time of the War in Vietnam.

Tiday, June 5/May 23, 2026 we have the Gospel reading from St. Matthew in which Christ tells us to NOT RESIST EVIL.

Father Tom says this about forgiveness: 'as breaking the chain of evil'.

"But I do think that people who are not believers in God, by the fact they are made in God’s image, can have the sense that reconciliation is better than allowing the evil to go on. By definition, forgiveness is breaking the chain of evil, beginning by recognizing that evil really has been done. People tend to think forgiveness means something bad was not really done, that a person didn’t understand the consequences, or whatever. If that were the case, there would be no need for forgiveness; it could be seen simply as a mistake. Forgiveness has to admit, and rage over, and weep over a real evil, and only then say, “We are going to live in communion one with another. We are going to carry on."

06/05/2026

Matthew 5:33-41 - June 5, 2026

A clear call from God to not make war.
Prayer to stop the wars, and especially those in Ukraine and Russia.

33 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'
34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;
35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
38 You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

06/05/2026

06/05/2026

Sainted Hierarch Michael the Confessor

Commemorated on May 23/June 5

Sainted Hierarch Michael the Confessor yearned from his youthful years for the monastic life and was directed by His Holiness Patriarch Tarasios (784-806) to a monastery, located at the coast region of the Black Sea. There also entered the monastery together with him – Saint Theophylaktos (Comm. 8 March), the future bishop of Nikomedia. At the monastery both monks proceeded through the efforts of salvation and soon were glorified by graced gifts from the Lord. Once during a time of harvest, when the people were weakened by thirst, by the prayer of the monks an empty metal vessel was filled with water.
His Holiness Patriarch Tarasios ordained Saint Michael as bishop of the city of Synada. Through his holy life and wisdom, Saint Michael gained the deep love of believers and the particular notice of the emperors Nicephoros I (802-811) and Michael I Rangaves (811-813). In the year 787 Saint Michael was present at the Seventh OEcumenical Council at Nicea.
When the Iconoclast heretic Leo the Armenian (813-820) entered upon the throne, he began to expel Orthodox hierarchs from their cathedrae-seats, appointing in their place his like-minded heretics.
Saint Michael during this time firmly defended Orthodoxy, bravely opposing the heretics and denouncing their error. Leo the Armenian brought Saint Michael to trial, but not fearing torture he answered resolutely: "I venerate the holy icons of my Saviour Jesus Christ and the All-Pure Virgin, His Mother, and all the saints, and it is to them I bow down. Thine decrees about the removal of icons from churches I shall not fulfill". Leo the Armenian then banished Saint Michael to imprisonment in the city of Eudokiada, where the confessor died in about the year 821. The head of Saint Michael is preserved in the Laura of Saint Athanasias on Mount Athos, and part of the relics – are at the Iversk monastery.

© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.

06/05/2026

Saint Mary Cleopa (Wife of Cleophas) the Myrh-Bearer

Commemorated on May 23 and on the 3rd Sunday of Pascha

Saint Mary Cleopa (Wife of Cleophas) the Myrh-Bearer, by Church tradition was a daughter of Righteous Joseph, Betrothed to

Saint Mary Cleopa (Wife of Cleophas) the Myrh-Bearer

Commemorated on May 23/June 5 and on the 3rd Sunday of Pascha

Saint Mary Cleopa (Wife of Cleophas) the Myrh-Bearer, by Church tradition was a daughter of Righteous Joseph, Betrothed to the Most Holy Virgin Mary (Comm. 26 December) from his first marriage, and she was still very young when the Most Holy Virgin was betrothed to Righteous Joseph and came into his household. The Holy Virgin Mary lived together with the daughter of Righteous Joseph, and they became close like sisters [whence the terminology in John's Gospel, 19: 25]. Righteous Joseph, upon his return with the Saviour and the Mother of God from Egypt to Nazareth, gave his daughter in marriage to his younger brother Cleophas, wherefore she is called Mary Cleopa, i.e. wife of Cleophas. The blessed fruition of this marriage was the PriestMartyr Simeon, Disciple from the Seventy, kinsman of the Lord, and the Second Bishop of the Jerusalem Church (Comm. 27 April). The memory of Saint Mary Cleopa is celebrated also on the 3rd Sunday after Pascha, the Sunday of the Holy Myrh-Bearing Women.

06/01/2026

Father John Konkle: Holy Pentecost: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit brings us together as community.

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