From Conversations With Elder Dionysius Ignat From the Editor: Elder Dionysius (1909-2004) is a Romanian monk who was recently canonized as Saint Dionysius of Colciu. He was "from Botoșani, became a monk on Mount Athos at age 17, living 78 years as a hermit and spiritual father at the Cell of Saint George – Colciu. He was canonised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2025 and is commemorated for his humility and wisdom on May 11" (from here ). Below we offer inspiring and in

From the Editor: There is a monastic practice to read through St. John of Mt. Sinai's The Ladder of Divine Ascent during the Great Fast of Lent. Being a monastic practice, means we do not dismiss the practice. St. John teaches, as a given, that we in the world approximate monasticism (see Step 26a:31). They are our examples. The Ladder of Divine Ascent is full of beneficial spiritual insight. However, some is very intense and not for the inexperienced. A good, discerning, a

Read the two-part introduction to the "Pearls from the Pedalion" series here . From the Orthodox Ethos: Canon 69 of the Holy Apostles, and the commentary and footnotes from St. Nikodemos, are very instructive regarding the fasts of Great Lent, the Wed and Friday fasts observed throughout the year, and the other fasting periods on the Church calendar. We strongly encourage reading these excerpts; you will notice afterwards that you have gained a much more complete understandin

We were recently made aware of a text published in a Finnish Journal by Andreas Bergman which offers a critical review of our text “On the Reception of the Heterodox into the Orthodox Church: The Patristic Consensus and Criteria.” Andreas Bergman was selected as part of a three person working group that prepared the base text for a 2023 “ Pastoral Letter ” on the reception of converts that was adopted in 2023 by the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church of Finland. Bergman

The Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas will host a special online conference on Saturday, February 21, as part of its Spiritual Saturday Evening lecture series. The event, titled Guided by Faith: Celebrating Holy Women of Orthodox America , will feature Archpriest Peter Heers as guest speaker. The conference is dedicated to the theme of holy women in the Orthodox calendar—including myrrh-bearers, martyrs, nuns, wives, and mothers—in connection with the Romanian Chur

Holy Father Arsenios Boca is one of the most famous spiritual fathers of Romania in recent years. His holy life made him undesirable for the communist regime which expelled him from the monastery. Although he was under constant surveillance, thousands of people were looking for him. At some point out of curiosity, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu became interested in a meeting with the great intellectual, according to the newspaper Jurnalul Naţional. In the early 1980's h

Read Part 1 here . Editor's Note: In a newly translated book from Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos, he takes two sections to praise and summarize the main arguments from Fr. Peter's celebrated book: The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: An Orthodox Examination of Rome’s Ecumenical Theology Regarding Baptism and the Church . We present the second of these two sections in this post. In this section, Met. Hierotheos gives commentary on three specific points

Announcement: Ecclesiastical Situation Resolved

Read the two-part introduction to the "Pearls from the Pedalion" series here . From The Orthodox Ethos: We have seen in our day a renewed interest in the historical role of the deaconess, a role which largely became obsolete throughout the Orthodox Church several centuries ago. The Pedalion includes many canons from Ecumenical and Regional councils and Holy Fathers concerning deaconesses, along with extensive commentary by St. Nikodemos under the relevant canons and in the fo