Author: Abbot Tryphon

The Church is holy because her founder is holy During each and every celebration of the Divine Liturgy, we, as the people of God, recite the Nicene Creed. This ancient declaration is the very core of our common faith, and connects us to the teachings of the Ancient Church. In

The Veneration of the Holy Virgin in the Ancient Church All the early reformers, including Luther and Calvin, believed Mary to be Ever Virgin. The practice at the time was to refer to all cousins as siblings, and none of the early Christians believed Mary had born any children other

We Orthodox are not Always Perfect, but We Stay the Course Orthodoxy is not always easy, and there are many parishes that seem to make living our Orthodox faith far more difficult than it needs to be. The lack of joy in some quarters is not about Orthodoxy, but about

Humans are as Priests before the Altar of Creation Everything that lives and breathes is sacred and beautiful in the eyes of God. From the heart of our Orthodox faith, the whole world is a sacrament, and the entire created cosmos is a burning bush of God’s uncreated energies. All

Saved for participation in the Life of the Trinity The idea that Christ would have incarnated in the flesh, even if Adam and Eve had not fallen, was taught by a number of early Church Fathers. Although not a formal teaching of the Orthodox Church, the understanding comes from the

The Aggressive Secularization of America As an American I have watched with sadness, the eroding of our Christian values and standards of living. When I was in grade school, each day began with the reading of the Bible, broadcast over the intercom system (yes, we had the technology when I

We must take up our cross and follow Christ.

The Cure for Our Disordered State Man is living in a perpetual state of disorder, far from the ordered life God intended for him. The cure for this disordered state is to be found in prayer. It is in the foundation of prayer that we seek out the healing that

If we are not willing to be marginalized, we are unworthy to call ourselves Christians The Church Militant, which is the Church of Christ here on this earth, is in the midst of a battle. Our enemy is not one of flesh and blood,but one of darkness and evil. The

As many of you already know, I had applied for a religious exemption regarding the Washington State governor’s requirement that any state employees be vaccined against Covid, or be fired. Although chaplains do not receive a salary, we were coming under this same requirement. Many of my chaplain friends around