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St. Thomas Orthodox Church

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St. Thomas Orthodox Church

A parish of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)

A parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

04/28/2026

Saint Sukhias (Greek: Hesychius, prior to baptism, Barakad) and his 19 companions served at the court of the Alanian ruler. While in Artashat, the ancient capital of Armenia, on business, they heard the priest Chrysos preaching about Christ and were baptized.

After the martyrdom of Chrysos, Sukhias and his brethren settled on Mount Jrabashkh (now Mount Kösedağ in Turkey), where they led an ascetic life. Around the year 100, the ruler of the Alans, having learned that his nobles had embraced Christianity, sent soldiers after them.

After refusing to return, Saint Sukhias and his companions were nailed to the ground in the shape of a cross. As they were dying, the martyrs sang: "But You, O Lord, do not remove Your help from me; attend unto my defense" (Ps. 21:20). After their death, their bodies were hewn to pieces and scattered all over the mountain, which is why it came to be called Sukav (derived from the name Sukhias).

04/26/2026

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

04/24/2026

The future saint, named John (Ioann) in baptism, mastered reading the Psalter and church singing while still a child. In 1512, John was taken captive by the Tatars. However, finding consolation in prayer to God, he lived there like an ascetic: he slept and ate little, was meek, worked without complaint, and moreover, mastered the Tatar language.

After being ransomed from captivity, he was tonsured a monk with the name Barsanuphius in the Andronikov Monastery in Moscow. Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow learned of the monk's strict life and made him the abbot of the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Hermitage.

In 1555, the saint was sent to Kazan, where he founded the Transfiguration (Preobrazhensky) Monastery. Knowing the Tatar language and healing the sick through prayer, Saint Barsanuphius converted many Tatars to Christianity.

In 1567, he became the Bishop of Tver, but four years later he retired to the monastery he had founded in Kazan, where he reposed on April 11, 1576.

04/20/2026

Everyone knows that the Psalter consists of 150 psalms, that is, individual short works that serve as a prayer, hymn, or instruction. But this number was not always the case. Even in the Church Slavonic Psalter, there is an additional 151st psalm, which is considered non-canonical (it is not found in the Hebrew Bible).

Furthermore, among the Qumran manuscripts in the copies of the Psalter text (dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.), other psalms are found alongside the known ones (in addition to Psalm 151, another 14 non-canonical hymns have been discovered).

This means that the canonical number of psalms was selected from a much larger collection of songs and prayers. Moreover, the division of the already known psalms was not always the same either: in the Jewish tradition, there are manuscripts of the Psalter that are divided into 147, 148, 149, and even 170 psalms, even though the overall text of the book remains the same.

A specific example of this is the difference in the division (and, accordingly, the numbering) of the psalms between the Hebrew (Masoretic) and Greek texts of the Bible.

04/17/2026

Since the 17th century in Russia, the service to the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-giving Spring" has been included in the divine services of Bright Friday. The author of this service is considered to be the 14th-century Byzantine historian and hagiographer Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos.

The title "Life-giving Spring" was first applied to the Virgin Mary in the 9th century by the hymnographer, the Venerable Joseph the Hymnographer; later, it became firmly associated with the monastery and the icon. According to Nicephorus, a monastery in a place called Pege (Greek Πηγή, "spring") was founded in the 5th century by Emperor Leo I in connection with miraculous healings from the waters of the spring.

In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian built a large church there. Evidently, after the 11th century, an image of the Mother of God was created over the spring, which would become very famous, and many monasteries and churches would be consecrated in its honor. The earliest known copies of this icon date back to the 14th century.

04/16/2026

The parish of Saint Thomas Orthodox Church announces the repose of our newly illumined sister in Christ, Debra (Olga) Baker-Brott.

October 27, 1962 – April 10, 2026

Debra was a devoted mother, grandmother, and servant to others, known for her kindness, her continual prayer, and the way she made everyone feel loved and at home.

In the final months of her life, she was drawn deeply into the Orthodox Church. She came to love the Divine Liturgy and especially Christ in the Eucharist, expressing that she had always believed in her heart that Holy Communion is truly His Body and Blood. On March 25, 2026, she was received into the Orthodox Church through Chrismation at Saint Thomas Orthodox Church.

Funeral services will be held at Saint Thomas Orthodox Church in Sioux City, Iowa:

Trisagion Service
Friday, April 17 at 6:30 PM
Visitation and time for prayer beginning at 6:00 PM

Funeral Service
Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 PM

Reverend Father Kevin Kirwan, presiding
with Father Deacon John Peskey, serving

Interment will take place at Resthaven Park Cemetery in Glendale, Arizona.

Please keep her family in your prayers.

May her memory be eternal.

04/14/2026

"Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the ark of Thy holiness" (Ps. 132/131:8), these words, where the Church understands the image of the "ark" to be the Theotokos who contained God within Herself, are used in the service for the feast of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

According to tradition, this icon belonged to a certain widow. Wishing to save the image from desecration by the iconoclasts, the woman set it upon the sea, and it miraculously floated standing upright. Many years later, the icon appeared near Mount Athos, and the Mother of God, appearing to a monk of the Iveron Monastery, the Venerable Gabriel, commanded him to take the image from the water.

The uncovering of the icon occurred on Tuesday of Bright Week. The monks placed it in the altar of the cathedral, but the icon disappeared twice and was instead found above the gates of the monastery. The Theotokos, appearing to Gabriel, explained that She would now be the guardian of their monastery. For this reason, the icon was named the "Portaitissa" (the Gatekeeper).

04/10/2026

The services of Great Friday are dedicated to the remembrance of the saving Passion of Christ. The central part of these services is the Gospel account of the Lord's Sufferings. At Matins of Great Friday, the 12 Passion Gospels are read. These readings present a detailed, sequential chronicle of the Savior's Sufferings.

The first is called the "Gospel of the Testament of the Holy Passion" and includes Christ's Farewell Discourse and High Priestly Prayer, nearly five chapters of the Gospel of John (13–17). Then, the narratives of the betrayal, condemnation, death, and burial of Christ are read.

At the Royal Hours, the four accounts of the Crucifixion from each of the Evangelists are read. At Vespers of Great Friday, the Gospel of Matthew is read, with insertions from the Gospels of Luke and John. This reading presents a single, cohesive picture of the Passion.

04/07/2026

At the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, Zacharias did not believe the glad tidings, asking: "How shall I know this?" (Luke 1:18). For his unbelief, the father of John the Baptist was punished with muteness. In response to the Archangel's annunciation, the Theotokos also asks a question: "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (Luke 1:34).

"If one does not look closely, it might seem that Mary is expressing unbelief, but it is impossible that the one chosen to give birth to the Son of God should be lacking in faith," writes Ambrose of Milan. Unlike Zacharias, who asked for a sign from God to confirm the Archangel's words, the Most Pure Virgin does not doubt the event; she only wishes to know how it will come to pass.

But "the Archangel, completely unable to explain this manner of conception, himself took refuge in God, saying: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you' (Luke 1:35)," says Gregory Palamas.

Address

1100 Jones Street
Sioux City, IA
51105

Opening Hours

Wednesday	6pm - 7pm
Saturday	5:30pm - 7pm
Sunday	8:30am - 12pm

Telephone

(712) 258-7166

Website

https://siouxcityorthodox.com/

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Who We Are

St. Thomas Orthodox Church is a community of Christians who proclaim the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as handed down by the Apostles. We are committed to bringing the Light of Christ to all of Siouxland in thought, word, and deed. At St. Thomas Orthodox Church, you will find Holy Orthodoxy-–ancient and alive.