Old Calendar Orthodox Church Archangel Diocese

06/10/2026

HOMILY ON BURDEN BEARING AND THEOSIS
Beloved in Christ,
The Apostle commands us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” This is not merely a moral instruction. It is the revelation of the very path of theosis, the way by which the human person is restored to the likeness of God.
For the life of God is self emptying love. The life of Christ is the bearing of the burdens of all. And the life of the Church is the communion of persons who carry one another into the Kingdom.
To bear the burdens of our brother is therefore not optional. It is the very mode of existence of the deified person.
Theosis is the restoration of communion. Sin isolates, but grace unites. The fallen man says, “His burden is his problem.” The renewed man says, “His burden is mine, for we are one Body.” Theosis is not the perfection of the isolated individual; it is the healing of communion, the restoration of the human person to the Trinitarian way of being.
Christ bears the burdens of all, and we share His life. He enters our wounds, our griefs, our sins, and our death. He carries the lost sheep on His shoulders because this is who God is. To bear another’s burden is not only to imitate Christ but to participate in His very life and work.
Burden bearing is the daily kenosis of the Christian. Theosis requires self emptying. Kenosis is not a feeling but the willingness to carry weight that is not ours. When we take on the burdens of another, we lay aside our self will and allow grace to reshape our hearts. Love is the measure of deification, and love is proven in sacrifice.
Theosis is always ecclesial. No one is saved alone. No one is deified alone. The Church is the place where we learn to carry one another: the strong lifting the weak, the joyful comforting the sorrowful, the repentant encouraging the fallen. As St. Silouan said, “My brother is my life.”
For the bishop, burden bearing is fatherhood and martyrdom. The shepherd of souls assumes the wounds of his clergy, the struggles of his flock, and the sorrows of his brother bishops. The episcopal throne is a cross, and on this cross the bishop is conformed to Christ and enters most deeply into the mystery of theosis.
Theosis is the transfiguration of suffering into glory. When we bear the burdens of others, we do not become less ourselves; we become more ourselves, because we become more like Christ. Theosis is not the removal of suffering but its transformation through love.
Beloved, let us therefore embrace this holy work. Let us bear one another’s burdens in patience, humility, forgiveness, prayer, and sacrificial love. In doing so, we fulfill the law of Christ and walk the path of theosis, the path that leads from the cross to the empty tomb, from self love to divine love, from the old Adam to the New.
May the Lord grant us strength to carry one another, that He may carry us all into His Kingdom.
Amen.
All glory to God.
✠ Archbishop Alexios
June 2026 (New Calendar) 27 May 2026 (Old Julian Calendar)

06/07/2026

Eve of the Apostles fast
Beloved in Christ,
As we stand on the eve of the Apostles’ Fast, the Church places before us the words of the Apostle Paul and the commandments of our Lord so that our hearts may be strengthened for the days ahead. The Epistle reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, men and women who lived by faith, endured trials, conquered temptations, and remained steadfast even unto death. Their lives proclaim to us that faith is not an idea but a way of living, a way of enduring, a way of trusting God in all things. Therefore, the Apostle urges us to lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and to run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
The Apostles’ Fast is given to us for this very purpose. It is not a burden but an invitation to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles, to share in their spirit, and to renew within ourselves the zeal they had for Christ. We fast because they fasted. We pray because they prayed. We preach Christ because they preached Him to the ends of the earth. This fast calls us to remember that the Gospel was handed down to us through their labor, their tears, and their blood.
In the Gospel, the Lord speaks directly and without compromise: Whoever confesses Me before men, I will confess before My Father. Whoever denies Me before men, I will deny before My Father. And again He says that whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter more than Him is not worthy of Him, and that whoever does not take up his cross and follow Him is not worthy of Him. These are not words of rejection but words of invitation. Christ is calling us to place Him at the center of our lives, to measure all things by Him, and to love Him above all earthly attachments. To confess Christ is not only to speak His Name but to shape our lives around His commandments.
The Apostles’ Fast teaches us three things. First, it is a fast of mission. The Apostles did not keep the Gospel for themselves but carried it to nations, cities, islands, deserts, and prisons. We are called to renew our own apostolic mission by living the Gospel in our families, workplaces, and communities. Second, it is a fast of courage. The Apostles faced storms, rejection, persecution, and death. We face smaller storms, but the same Christ strengthens us. This fast teaches us to say no to ourselves so that we may say yes to God. Third, it is a fast of renewal. After Pentecost, the Apostles did not rest but immediately went forth to labor for the salvation of the world. Likewise, after the feast, the Church gives us this fast so that the fire of Pentecost may not fade but be purified and directed.
The Lord ends today’s Gospel with a word of comfort: The very hairs of your head are numbered. Nothing in your life is unseen by God. Every effort you make in this fast, every prayer, every act of restraint, every moment of repentance is known to Him and strengthened by Him. You do not fast alone. You fast with the Apostles. You fast with the whole Church. You fast with Christ Himself, who fasted forty days for our salvation.
As we begin the Apostles’ Fast, let us run with patience, confess Christ boldly, look to the Apostles whose footsteps we follow, and fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. May this fast purify our hearts, strengthen our confession, and renew in us the apostolic spirit, so that like Peter and Paul and all the Apostles, we may proclaim Christ not only with our lips but with our lives.
Amen. All glory to God.

+Archbishop Alexios

06/03/2026

https://www.holyarchangelsorthodox.org/

The Old Calendar Greek Orthodox church Archangels diocese, is committed to preserving the ancient traditions of the True Orthodox Church.

06/02/2026

“Who We Are”
We are the Archangel Diocese of the True Orthodox Church of the Diaspora.
A canonical Old Calendar Orthodox jurisdiction, we are committed to preserving the fullness of the Orthodox faith, the integrity of Holy Tradition, and the spiritual life of the faithful throughout the diaspora.
Rooted in the witness of the Holy Fathers and the New Martyrs, we uphold the ancient liturgical tradition, the Old Calendar, and the unbroken apostolic succession entrusted to our hierarchs. Our mission is simple and unwavering:
to proclaim the Gospel, to celebrate the Divine Mysteries with reverence, and to build communities grounded in prayer, charity, and the ascetical life of the Church.
Through our parishes, missions, and charitable ministries, we serve Christ by serving our neighbors—feeding the hungry, supporting families, and strengthening Orthodox Christian identity in a rapidly changing world.

Under the archpastoral care of His Eminence, The Most Reverend Archbishop Alexios, the Archangel Diocese stands as a spiritual refuge for all who seek traditional, uncompromised Orthodoxy.
Faithful to Tradition.
Rooted in the Old Calendar.
Alive in the Diaspora.
With archpastoral blessing,
+ Archbishop Alexios
Archangel Diocese
True Orthodox Church of the Diaspora

05/31/2026

Homily for Holy Pentecost
Archangels Chapel, Weatherly PA
Beloved in Christ,
Today we stand before the great mystery of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in the form of a mighty wind and tongues of fire. The same Spirit who moved over the waters at creation now renews the face of the earth by creating the Church.
In the Acts of the Apostles we heard that people from every nation under heaven each heard the Gospel in their own language. This is the miracle of Pentecost: the Spirit does not erase our differences, but He unites us in one faith, one Body, one Lord. What was scattered at the Tower of Babel through pride is gathered today through humility and grace.
In the Gospel, the Lord cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” He speaks of the living water of the Holy Spirit, the gift that would be poured out once He was glorified. This living water is not only for the Apostles. It is for every believer. It is for us today.
The Holy Spirit comes to make Christ present in our hearts. He gives courage where there is fear, clarity where there is confusion, unity where there is division, and life where there is dryness. He is the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the Giver of Life.
Pentecost is not only a feast we remember. It is a reality we enter. The same Spirit who filled the Upper Room now fills the Church. The same fire that rested on the Apostles is given to us in the mysteries of the Church. The same breath that gave them boldness is breathed upon us.
Let us therefore open our hearts to the Spirit. Let us allow Him to burn away bitterness, to soften what has grown hard, to heal what is wounded, and to strengthen what is weak. Let us ask Him to make our lives a living witness to the wonderful works of God.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Where the Spirit is, there is light. Where the Spirit is, there is the Church. And where the Spirit is, there is Christ, the Light of the world and the Lover of mankind. All glory to God!
Amen.
+Alexios

05/31/2026

HAPPY HOLY AND BLESSED PENTECOST!

05/30/2026

Kneeling Prayers of Pentecost Archangels Chapel, Weatherly PA
Beloved in Christ,
We now stand at the threshold of a holy moment. For fifty days we have not knelt. For fifty days the Church has stood upright, proclaiming the victory of Christ over death. Today, at the feast of
Pentecost, we bend our knees again. This is not a small gesture. It is a return to the posture of Adam, a confession of our need for mercy, and an opening of the heart to the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is the feast of the Spirit’s descent, but it is also the feast of our restoration. In the Upper Room, the Apostles were not simply enlightened; they were changed. The Spirit did not come to
decorate their lives, but to transform them. He made fishermen into apostles, the timid into the bold, and ordinary men into bearers of divine fire. What happened to them is meant to happen to us.

The Kneeling Prayers we are about to hear are among the most profound in the entire liturgical year. They speak of forgiveness, renewal, healing, and the restoration of the fallen. They remind
us that the Spirit is not only the Giver of gifts, but the One who raises us from the dust and breathes life into what has grown dry.
Why do we kneel today? Because Pentecost reveals the truth about God and the truth about us.
God is the One who descends, who comes close, who fills all things. And we are the ones who thirst, who long, who need to be renewed. Kneeling is not humiliation; it is honesty. It is the posture
of the heart that says, “Come, Holy Spirit, and make me new.”
In the Gospel today, the Lord cries out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” This is the invitation of Pentecost. The Spirit is the living water that flows from Christ into the hearts of believers. But water can only fill what is open. Kneeling is the opening of the soul. It is the door through which grace enters.
The prayers we will offer ask the Spirit to cleanse us from hidden sins, to heal the wounds of our conscience, to restore what has been broken, and to guide us into all truth. They ask for the renewal of the whole world, for the departed, for the living, for the Church, and for every soul that seeks God. These prayers are not only words; they are the cry of the human heart lifted to the throne of God.
Pentecost is the reversal of Babel, the healing of division, the restoration of unity. When we kneel together, we confess that we are one Body, one people, one Church. We kneel not in despair, but
in hope. We kneel not in darkness, but in the light of the Spirit who renews all things.
Beloved, let us enter these prayers with reverence. Let us kneel with humility, with repentance, and with expectation. Let us ask the Spirit to descend upon us as He descended upon the Apostles.
Let us ask Him to burn away what is sinful, to strengthen what is weak, to enlighten what is dark, and to fill us with the life of Christ.
May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the Giver of Life, come and dwell in us, cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls.
All glory to God
+Alexios

05/30/2026

05/19-05/31
The Feast of Pentecost
Tone 8: Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, / Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise, / by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, /and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. // O Lover of mankind, glory be to Thee.
Glory… Both now…
Tone 8: Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, / the Most High divided the nations; / and when He divided the tongues of fire, / He called all men into unity; // and with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.

05/29/2026

https://www.holyarchangelsorthodox.org/archangels-diocese

The Archangels Memorial Garden, founded in 1989 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, stands as a quiet sanctuary of prayer, remembrance, and Christian hope. Established under the pastoral care of the Archangel Diocese, the Garden was created as a sacred place where the faithful may honor their departed loved....