Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Community

11/02/2026

Our Orthodox mission in Belgrave Heights went from 2006-2023 but may restart God willing if there are enough interested people. Please leave a comment below and/or email Fr John [email protected] for details.

06/11/2025

A letter from Orthodox nun, now reposed, to a new convert, which is a good word for us all:
* * * * *
Dear _____,
I hear that you are preparing to enter the Orthodox Church. I know nothing about you, except that you are English.
Before we go any further, I must be clear about one thing: if you are converting for negative reasons—because you are dissatisfied elsewhere—you will be disappointed. Orthodoxy has as many faults, sins, and scandals as any other Church. You will meet hypocrisy, pride, and even evil here too.
So let me ask you: are you ready for that?
Are you expecting an earthly paradise—endless incense, beautiful chanting, and majestic ritual?
Do you imagine that crossing yourself slowly and correctly will guarantee heaven?
Do you think Orthodoxy is about recipes for Easter cakes, or about learning how to kiss three times in the proper way?
Do you expect that prostrations and bows, done gracefully, are what save the soul?
Or…
Have you read the Gospels?
Have you truly faced Christ crucified?
Have you stood, in spirit, at the Last Supper and grasped what Holy Communion means?
Because Orthodoxy is not an escape. It is not theatre. It is not sentiment. It is life lived under the Cross.
Faith means accepting the Truth without proof. We will never, in this life, go beyond faith into certainty. And yet—mystically—we know because we believe, and we believe because we know.
This is the paradox at the heart of Orthodoxy, and it extends into all our worship, both private and public.
Are you ready to accept all things as from God? If we were meant to be happy always, then why the Crucifixion? Faith means believing that somehow, in ways we may never understand, everything will make sense in Him. This does not mean passive endurance—it means constant watchfulness, readiness to hear what God asks of us, and above all, love.
Even poor, old, sick, or near death, we can still love. Not sentimental love, but love as sacrifice: the crucifixion of pride, greed, and envy within ourselves. Never confuse love with sentimentality. Never confuse worship with performance.
Be humble. Love when it is hard. Worship with sincerity. And remember always: Orthodoxy is the way of the Cross.
With my prayers and best wishes,
Mother Thekla
(Mother Thekla, Orthodox nun, was born on July 18, 1918. She died on August 7, 2011, aged 93.

27/10/2024

27/09/2024

THE ALCOHOLIC MONK
Once on Mount Athos there was a monk who lived in Karyes. He drank and got drunk every day and was the cause of scandal to the pilgrims. Eventually he died and this relieved some of the faithful who went on to tell Elder Paisios that they were delighted that this huge problem was finally solved.
Saint Paisios answered them that he knew about the death of the monk, after seeing the entire battalion of angels who came to collect his soul. The pilgrims were amazed and some protested and tried to explain to the Elder of whom they were talking about, thinking that the Elder did not understand.
Saint Paisios explained to them: "This particular monk was born in Asia Minor, shortly before the destruction by the Turks when they gathered all the boys. So as not to take him from their parents, they would take him with them to the reaping, and so he wouldn't cry, they just put raki* into his milk in order for him to sleep. Therefore he grew up as an alcoholic. There he found an elder and said to him that he was an alcoholic. The elder told him to do prostrations and prayers every night and beg the Panagia to help him to reduce by one the glasses he drank.
After a year he managed with struggle and repentance to make the 20 glasses he drank into 19 glasses. The struggle continued over the years and he reached 2-3 glasses, with which he would still get drunk."
The world for years saw an alcoholic monk who scandalized the pilgrims, but God saw a fighter who fought a long struggle to reduce his passion.
Without knowing what each one is trying to do what he wants to do, what right do we have to judge his effort?
* Raki is a Turkish unsweetened, anise-flavored hard alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Albania, Serbia, and other Balkan countries as an apéritif.

02/03/2024

The Saint of the day 1 March

† Martyr Eudocia of Heliopolis (2nd c.)

http://audio.ancientfaith.com/sotd/03_01_eudocia_pc.mp3

Eudocia was from Heliopolis of Phoenicia (now Baalbek in Lebanon). A surpassingly beautiful pagan, she led a licentious life and became wealthy from the gifts of her many lovers. One day an elderly monk, Germanus, came to Heliopolis and stayed with a Christian whose house adjoined Eudocia's. At night, he began to read aloud from the Psalter and a book on the Last Judgment. From next-door, Eudocia heard him. Her heart was reached, and she stood attentively all night, listening to every word in fear and contrition. The next day she begged Germanus to visit her, and he explained the saving Christian faith to her. Finally, Eudocia asked the local bishop to baptise her. She freed her servants, gave all her wealth to the poor, and entered a monastery.

"Her former lovers, enraged at her conversion, her refusal to return to her old ways, and the withering away of her beauty through the severe mortifications she practiced, betrayed her as a Christian to Vincent the Governor, and she was beheaded"(Great Horologion).
According to some,this was under Trajan (98-117); according to others, under Hadrian (117-138).

The Prologue gives a somewhat different account: that after entering the monastery, Eudocia was permitted to pursue the monastic life in peace — with such devotion that, thirteen months after she entered the monastery, she was chosen as abbess. She lived for fifty-six years in the monastery, and was granted the gift of raising the dead. In her old age, a persecution of Christians arose, and Eudocia was beheaded along with many others. "Here is a wonderful example of how a vessel of uncleanness can be purified, sanctified and filled with a precious, heavenly fragrance by the grace of the Holy Spirit" (Prologue).

Troparion — Tone 8

With an upright mind you bound your soul to the love of Christ. / As a disciple of the Word you turned from corruption and all that passes away, / for you were not moved by earthly beauty. / First you mortified the passions through fasting, then you put the enemy to shame by your suffering. / Therefore, Christ has granted you a two-fold crown. / Glorious Eudokia, venerable passion-bearer, entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved!

Kontakion — Tone 4

You contended well in your suffering, all-praised one; / even after your death you bless us, pouring out wonders on us. / In faith we run to your divine temple, / and as we celebrate your feast, we entreat you, venerable martyr Eudokia, / that we be delivered from spiritual afflictions and may receive the grace of miracles.

29/02/2024

About my recurring vertigo problems...