The Life-Giving Spring of the Mother of God Russian Orthodox Church

04/14/2026

Paschal joy! May it dwell in our hearts forever!

04/06/2026

From Fr. Cassian Sibley

"Many years ago, I wrote this at one of those rare moments in which war was not at the center of our national consciousness, under the (as it proved, correct) assumption that talking about the Church's moral teaching about war during a time of conflict would be regarded as controversial and "political" rather than, as it is, a matter of Christian ethics. In short, I wrote it to prepare my parishioners for moments like these, when it would be important to tell the truth about war in an emotionally charged moment. I have reposted it annually ever since, both on my parish page and on my personal page, both because I believe it to be true, and because if it did not attract opposition then, it could hardly be attacked justly when the moment warranted the reminder of such things. It was the Christian Church - and more specifically, the Orthodox Church - that taught me that wars of aggression are wrong, and taught me why this is so. And so, without further ado, or preamble, I repost what I have been taught, have always believed, and have never been corrected regarding (except by the odd pacifist who did not think that I went far enough): the Christian teaching with respect to war, exactly as it was first posted on my parish website, almost 20 years ago:

********

From Fr. Cassian:

The following comments are concerning the Christian teachings about war. One usually discusses such things at the advent of a new conflict, when people's passions are aroused, and when political partisanship has become fixed. Under such circumstances, whatever one says is perceived, whether correctly or falsely, as political. But the Church does have something to say about the matter, and Christianity does have a rather well-defined stance with respect to the morality and ethics of war. So, I am posting this at a time in which this is not at the center of our national debate, in the hopes that my parishioners can imbibe the principles now, that may become necessary later. (None of this is intended to deny or down-play the fact that our nation is now at war, has been so continuously for the last 30 years or so, and that much if not all of our conduct during that time has been in flat defiance of Christian moral teaching. But it is not currently a political hot potato - and I have hopes that some of you might be in a position to hear what I have an obligation to try and teach as a Christian priest regarding the ethics of the thing. He who has ears - let him hear!):

"The "Just War" or "Justifiable War" doctrine developed out of the very reasonable and commendable belief that innocents should be protected from those who would harm them, and that those moved by other-regarding love, however willing they might be to accept personal wrongs and turn the other cheek should not be prepared to stand idly by as those whom they love or have an obligation to care for are oppressed, persecuted, or slaughtered. That is, it seems to me, a genuine moral insight, and provides the motivational impetus for not altogether scrapping such ethical traditions in the Orthodox Church.

The problem, though, is that the moral insight involved is of very narrow scope with respect to national conflicts, really only applying, even theoretically, to defensive wars or wars to recover recently captured territory where one's citizens are being mistreated. This sorely limits the character of one's military options, and almost guarantees, over time, a territorially shrinking state, which makes it a hard sell to the patriotic, and repulsive to those committed to expanding political power.

Once Christians acquired political power, this became as hard for them as anyone else, although, to give the "Romans" their due, the Byzantines did, amazingly, generally stay within at least fighting distance of this general approach. On the other hand, Christians unwilling to be so circumscribed by the Church's teaching were also generally unwilling to acknowledge that they were engaged in a fundamentally unjust activity, so the effort to expand the just war theory (or, more properly, the limits of ethically obligatory conflict) has been endless and clever and has sometimes led many to doubt that Christianity has anything genuinely helpful or useful to say about the boundaries and limits of national conflict.

I personally don't think genuine pacifism is fully compatible with agape, genuinely other-regarding love, in every case, for the reasons mentioned above, and I think that pacifism is also generally incompatible with a great many things that pacifists normally don't object to - basic policing, for instance. Christ did, in fact, give the state the sword, so there must be a moral place for its exercise. But that moral place is very, very, limited, and in our current circumstances a full-blown pacifism would probably, on the whole, hew closer to the obligations of love than anything currently practiced by those in power in our nation, and would probably do less ultimate harm preached from the amblon (the "pulpit") than many of the expanded and endlessly tweaked versions of the "just war" theory currently promulgated popularly. As Orthodox Christians, of course, we need not accept either, but it is clear where our emphasis should be placed.

Peace is, all things considered, a good thing. War is, all things considered, a barbaric iniquity. It should not be as hard as it is now to get Christians to throw their political weight against military adventurism of the sort that has become so continuous and so common for our nation.

I'm anti-war. So is Christianity. It's alright. We're allowed to say so. We should say so more often."

02/04/2026

From Father Cassian:

A big thank you to all of my parishioners for honoring my wife, Matushka Olympia, and I with this Sunday's lovely surprise celebration of my 25th anniversary as a priest. Mind you, not celebrating it on the actual day in an effort to catch your priest unawares is probably some kind of "dangerous innovation" - but just this once, I am willing to overlook it in love and gratitude!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I may be biased, but it is still true - I have the best and kindest parishioners in the world.

11/02/2025

From the vault:

"Lay Question: How could the bread and wine at the institution of the Eucharist have been a genuine communion or participation in Christ's body and blood given that he had not yet been crucified?

My Answer: This was an issue for the medieval schoolmen too. Let's see if we can lay the matter out and make any sense of it.

To begin with, as I see it, there are several different things going on in the Eucharist, and it is perhaps easiest to begin by unpacking them. The first is that our partaking of the Mysteries is a partaking, first and foremost, in the Mystery of our redemption that was effected for us on Calvary - that our reception of this mystery of bread and wine effects our forgiveness by God, and makes that redemption effectual in us. For simple forgiveness, of course, this could be effected by mere intentional association - God accepts token "x" as "y." In this sense, of course, there is no issue. God knew that he would save by way of the cross, and accepts whatever he wills as tokens of that which, in our case, has already happened, and in the apostle's case, is yet to be.

The Eucharist is also said to be a "foretaste" of the heavenly banquet - the eternal joy of those who dwell in fellowship with God, sustained and divinized by His grace forever. This, while still rather mysterious, presents no special issues for the Institution of the Eucharistic banquet by Christ, since it is a "participation by anticipation" for all of us, both before and after Christ's death and resurrection.

So far, then, there is no special problem, though the full resolution of these matters might well be related to what seems to be the particular issue concerning you. However, both Scripture and Tradition have always affirmed more than we have thus far acknowledged - insisting that our gifts of bread, wine, praise, and thanksgiving are taken up into and united with Christ's one atoning sacrifice in such a way that they become one with it, Christ's actual body and blood. They are, in short, transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, such that our offering is Christ's own offering, and that our participation, through eating and drinking, is a participation in that which was slain and rises again - and that we become thereby very members incorporate of the Body of Christ.

Now there's a genuine mystery, one that sits at the heart of our faith. That we don't understand it goes without saying. We do not understand the mode or the sense or the full consequences of what our prayers do, but we affirm that when the act of consecration has been made, and the epiclesis is complete, we are, when we eat and drink that which has been offered up as bread and wine, mere symbols, now actual recipients of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the "bread" we eat is no longer to be accounted as bread, but as the Lamb, the very body of Christ, and the "wine" is no longer to be accounted as wine, but as the blood of the Lamb who was slain, Christ, the Son of God.

Please note, that amongst all the other mysteries involved here, one if them is, if you like, "time travel." We do not _repeat_ the sacrifice of Christ, we participate in it, uniting and having our sacrifice united with that one great act of God's redemption. We do not merely remember, but call it forth into the present, setting forth the mystery in "an unbloody manner", under the continuing visible forms of bread and wine. We are there, and He is here, present, making his sacrifice for us and all the world. The symbol has become that which it originally symbolized.

Since this is so, we must assume that the power of the Holy Spirit is sufficient to effect, liturgically (by which I do not mean metaphorically) this bending of space and time.

In that case, precisely how much more of a mystery is it to believe that the institution of the Eucharist was a similar act of making the gifts of Christ offered one with that which was, soon, and, even humanly speaking, already inevitably, to occur on the cross? Once we accept that there is, if you will, this sort of deep magic to God's agency in the world, it is hard to say where it ends, and one should certainly not begin by ruling out as impossible what Christ Himself said was so.

By the way, this way of approaching the matter also "explains" the other two mysteries in a deeper way. Reception of the Body and Blood of Christ is and can be counted as effectuating the grace of forgiveness offered by God at Calvary because it is an actual participation in it, and our participation is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet because we are being fed and sustained by He who will, with the Father and Holy Spirit, sustain us, nourish us, and transform us by His grace, forever. Amen."

- Fr. Cassian Sibley

05/26/2025

From Fr. Cassian, for his parishioner's edification:

The following brief talk was given by His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe after the Divine Liturgy of 25th May 2025 in the Diocesan Cathedral, London. Christ is risen!  I wish…

04/20/2025

Christ is risen!

03/04/2025

Pray and give alms, and be at peace with your neighbor, forgiving all, so that your fast may be a sacrificial offering, acceptable unto God.

May God grant you all a blessed Lent!

01/07/2025

Merry Christmas, from the Life-Giving Spring Russian Orthodox Church!

11/14/2024

From Fr. Cassian: I will be serving the Church funeral for Nikolas Doucet at St. Siluoan's Antiochian Church, 4544 Gloria Allen Dr, College Station, TX 77845, at 10:00 am, on Saturday, November 16th. The funeral will be followed by a graveside service and interment at the historic Steep Hollow Cemetery on CR 1179.

The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be given to the Twin City Mission (a local shelter for the homeless) in Nikolas's name.

11/09/2024

From Father Cassian Sibley:

This has been a sad and difficult day for our parish. We have lost dear little Nils Doucet, who died at 7:05 pm at Texas Christian Hospital, and our beloved Vladika Peter, who reposed earlier today.

Please keep their souls, and families, and all that loved them, in your prayers.

11/04/2024

From Fr. Cassian:

On Wednesday morning, roughly half of the citizens of our nation are going to be angry, disappointed, and unhappy. Depending on how it goes, I may find myself among that number. But I am a Christian, and a priest, so I can make you a few promises ahead of time.

1. I will not consider those who voted for the "other side" my enemies. We are Americans, and winning or losing elections is part of the process. Whoever wins, the process will have worked, because we will have an elected government.

2. I will not be a sore loser. I will not pretend that my side only lost because, somehow, someway, the most carefully monitored election system in the world was rigged, interfered with, or stolen.

3. I will adhere to the rule of law. I will not advocate, support, or tolerate rioting in the streets, or calls for a civil war

4. I will, in obedience to Christ, work for peace and reconciliation, remembering that, in accordance with the dominical word of Christ himself, "the peace-makers" are "blessed." I will remember that those who lost will be grieving, and those who won will be joyful, and treat each with civility and kindness.

I commend a similar attitude to other Christians. Vote your conscience, accept the outcome gracefully, and be kind to one another.