St. Thomas Orthodox Church

10/05/2026

Saint Theodosius of Brazi was consecrated as Bishop of Rădăuți in 1669. In 1674, the Moldavian Hospodar [Prince] Ștefan Petriceicu, having supported the Poles in the Polish-Ottoman War, was forced to seek refuge in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth along with the holy Metropolitan Dositheus (Barilă).

The new Hospodar, Dumitrașcu Cantacuzino, appointed Hierarch Theodosius to replace Metropolitan Dositheus. Dumitrașcu surrounded himself with Tatars. Metropolitan Theodosius fearlessly denounced the ruler, calling the mercenary Tatars the "seed of the Antichrist." Dumitrașcu then imprisoned Hierarch Theodosius in a monastery in Iași.

In 1675, under Hospodar Antonie Ruset, Hierarch Dositheus returned to the metropolis, and Metropolitan Theodosius retired to the Brazi Monastery. In 1694, the monastery was raided by Tatars, who cruelly tortured the hierarch and then beheaded him.

10/04/2026

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A parish of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) Please visit us online at https://stthomassiouxcity.org

10/04/2026

In 2018, work began on collecting materials about the German saints of the first millennium. In 2019, a conference was held on the theme "Saints of Germany of the First Millennium," after which a working group was created to gather information on the veneration of these ascetics and to prepare their hagiographies (biographies).

In 2022, the materials were presented to the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints, which concluded that their spiritual feats "cause no doubts." The celebration of the Synaxis of Saints who shone forth in the German land was established by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church at its meeting on August 24, 2023.

The saints of the Synaxis include the hierarchs Maximin, Maternus, Corbinian, Willibrord, Burchard, and Ansgar; the hieromartyrs Boniface and Aureus; the martyr Afra; the martyrs Maurice, Gereon, Cassius, and Florentius with their companions; and the venerables Lioba and Walpurga.

10/04/2026

Please bring your children and don’t worry.

Please be advised of our parish expectations regarding children at the Divine Liturgy:

If your kids are loud, please still come to Liturgy.
If you’re running late because getting everyone dressed and out the door was a battle, please still come to Liturgy.
If your toddler won’t sit still, please still come to Liturgy.
If your baby needs to eat, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child asks questions at the least convenient moment, please still come to Liturgy.
If someone cries, drops a toy, or has to make their third trip to the bathroom, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child doesn’t know all the prayers, responses, or exactly when to sit or stand, please still come to Liturgy.
If you feel like you spent the entire Liturgy managing your children and heard approximately 12% of the homily, please still come to Liturgy.
If Sunday morning feels messy instead of peaceful, please still come to Liturgy.
If you’re worried your children are distracting the people around you, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child has a disability or special needs, please still come to Liturgy.

Children do not learn how to be part of the Church by staying home until they can sit quietly. They learn by being here.

They learn the Sign of the Cross by watching us make it.
They learn the prayers by hearing us pray them.
They learn the Scriptures by hearing the Word of God proclaimed.
They learn reverence by watching us bow and make prostrations.
They learn that Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist by seeing the love and reverence with which we approach the Holy Chalice.
They learn that the Church is their home because we make room for them here.

The wiggles, whispers, crying babies, and little voices are not signs that children don’t belong at Liturgy. They are signs that the Church is alive.

So bring the babies. Bring the toddlers. Bring the big kids. Sit where the little ones can see. Step out when you need to, but always come back in.

At Baptism and Chrismation, these children became full members of the Body of Christ. They belong here. They need the grace of the Holy Mysteries, the example of their parents, and the love and patience of their parish family.

Children are not simply the future of the Orthodox Church. They are part of the Church right now!

10/02/2026

☦️ Our New Parish Website Is Live!

We are excited to share the new website for St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Sioux City.

You can visit us at:

siouxcityorthodox.com

The website is still growing, and we will continue adding new content and resources in the coming weeks and months. Our hope is that it will become a helpful resource for our parish, visitors, catechumens, and anyone interested in learning more about the Orthodox Christian Faith.

A special thank you to Yulia Condon of Saint Olga Russian Orthodox Church in Sioux Falls for designing and building our new website. We are very grateful for the time, talent, and care she has put into creating it for our parish. If your parish or organization is looking for help with a website, Yulia would be happy to connect with you. Please reach out to her here on Facebook.

Please visit the site, explore what is already available, and check back as it continues to grow.

Glory to God for all things! ☦️

09/29/2026

Saint Ninian, the son of a Brittonic king, having received a religious education in Rome, was ordained as a bishop and sent to Western Britain. Returning to his homeland, Ninian preached Christianity to the Britons and established an episcopal see in Whithorn.

Here he built the first stone church in Britain, which received the name "White House" and gave rise to the "Great Monastery" of Rosnat. The saint converted the Southern Picts to Christianity and became famous for his miracles. Ninian had the custom of reading the Psalter outdoors; as long as he was focused on prayer, the raindrops touched neither him nor the book.

Once, in rainy weather, the saint was traveling together with his companion Plebia. He became distracted from reading the psalms and was immediately soaked to the skin. Plebia understood the reason for what had happened and advised the saint not to think about extraneous things.

09/28/2026

Saint Symeon of Thessalonica is known for his commentaries on the divine services. He points out that the seven services of the daily cycle—the Midnight Office, Matins together with the First Hour, the Third Hour, the Sixth, the Ninth, Vespers, and Compline—were established in accordance with the words of the Prophet David: "Seven times a day I have praised You" (Ps. 118:164). "He says: 'At midnight I rose' (Ps. 118:62)—and we sing the Midnight Office with him; he says: 'O God, my God, early do I cry to You' (Ps. 62:2)—and we sing Matins; he says: 'In the morning I will stand before You, and You will see me' (Ps. 5:4)—and together with him we read the First Hour.

'Evening and morning and at noon I will tell and declare, and He will hear my voice' (Ps. 54:18)—and we sing to God the sequence of the Hours and the evening song. 'Every night I wash my bed, with my tears I water my couch' (Ps. 6:7)—and we sing Compline to the Lord."

09/23/2026

The Martyr Tatiana was born in the city of Tomsk. At the age of 16, she decided to dedicate herself to serving her neighbors. The saint spent most of her earnings on food and provisions for prisoners, among whom were clergymen imprisoned for their fidelity to Christ.

She was arrested several times and sentenced to various terms. In 1937, she was arrested for the last time and executed by firing squad at the Butovo firing range. While in confinement, the martyr wrote poems in which she often addressed God in prayer. Sometimes, the words of the Psalms can be heard in them.

For example, in the poem "Give," written in 1926, there is an allusion to Psalm 138:16: "Your eyes saw my unformed substance":
"What I have not yet done // Your eyes have seen, // So cover with the depth // Of unending love // What hides against my will // Deep at the bottom of my soul. // Grant me to pray with joy, // Extinguish all my doubts."