Western Rite Orthodoxy & the Orthodox Faith

01/15/2026

I just want to remind that this is just a topic page and St. Alfred the Great Mission closed down a few years ago.

Unfortunately Facebook will not let me remove some of the contact information associated with the former mission which may give the appearance that it still exist. I apologize for any confusion resulting from that.

01/15/2026

04/23/2025

I’ll never forget the moment years ago sitting in the Lamentations service on Holy Friday when the connection between Eziekiel 37 and the Harrowing of Hades & the Resurrection was made.

Eziekiel 37
13 "Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord!' "
THE RESURRECTION

04/21/2025

The Paschal Vigil

Collect
O GOD, Who makest this most sacred night radiant with the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, stir up in Thy Church a spirit of adoption, so that, renewed in body and mind, we may render unto Thee undivided service. Through Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth God, unto the ages of ages. R. Amen.

04/21/2025

04/15/2025

ON THE CRUCIFIXION

- Saint Tikhon Zadonsky

“You lived on earth, King of Heaven, to lead me to heaven-I who had been cast out of paradise.

You were born in the flesh of the Virgin to give me birth in the spirit.

You suffered insults to silence the mouths of my enemies who denounce me.

You abased Yourself, You who are higher than all honors, in order to honor me, the dishonored.

You wept to wipe the tears from my eyes.

You sighed, grieved, sorrowed to save me from sighing, grieving, suffering pain through eternity,
to give me eternal joy and gladness.

You were sold and betrayed that I might be freed, I who was enslaved.

You were bound that my bonds might be broken.

You were submitted to an unjust trial- You who are the Judge of the earth-
That I might be freed from eternal judgement.

You were made naked in order to clothe me in the robes of salvation, in the garments of gladness.

You were crowned with thorns, that I might receive the crown of life.

You were called the king in mockery- You, the King of all!-to open the kingdom of heaven for me.

Your head was lashed with a reed
That my name should be written in the book of life.

You suffered outside the city gates in order to lead me, one who had been cast out of paradise into the eternal Jerusalem.

You were among evil men- You who are the only Just One- that I, the unjust, might be justified.

You were cursed, the One Blessed, that I, the accursed, should be blessed.

You shed your blood that my sins might be cleansed away.

You were given vinegar to drink that I might eat and drink at the feast in Your Kingdom.

You died, You Who are the life of all- In order to revive me, the dead.

You were laid in the tomb that I might rise from the tomb.

You were brought to life again
That I might believe in my resurrection.”

04/15/2025

During the first service on Palm Sunday evening, the priest carries an icon of Christ the Bridegroom to the front of the church, where it remains until Holy Thursday. The three days of Holy Week it is there are dedicated to Jesus Christ as the central figure in the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25: 1-13). This parable is perfect for the week leading up to Easter, as its clear message is to be prepared for the coming of Christ. From the evening service mentioned:

•••

Behold, the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night,
And blessed is the servant He shall find vigilant;
But unworthy is he whom he shall find neglectful.
Beware therefore, O my soul, lest you be weighed down by sleep,
Lest you be given over to death and be closed out from the kingdom;
But rise up crying out: “Holy! Holy! Holy are You our God;
Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, have mercy on us.”
(Troparion of the Bridegroom Service)

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04/15/2025

HOLY MONDAY - 7 FACTS

1. Beginning of Holy Week – Holy Monday is the first day of Holy Week, the final week before the Resurrection of Christ, during which Christians spiritually share in the suffering of the Savior.

2. Commemoration of Joseph the All-Comely – On this day, the Church remembers Joseph the All-Comely, the son of Jacob who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. He is seen as a foreshadowing of Christ.

3. The Cursing of the Barren Fig Tree – Jesus Christ curses the barren fig tree, symbolizing spiritual fruitlessness. It serves as a warning to those who live without bearing the fruits of faith and repentance.

4. Call to Spiritual Vigilance – Holy Monday invites believers to reflect, repent, and remain spiritually vigilant in anticipation of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.

5. Liturgical Features – The "Bridegroom Matins" service is performed on this day, presenting Christ as the Bridegroom who comes suddenly to the soul — a symbol of the Second Coming.

6. Humility and Preparation – This day is a time for humility, prayer, and spiritual preparation. Christians strive to purify their hearts to worthily receive the Resurrection of Christ.

Fasting and Abstinence – As with the rest of Holy Week, strict fasting is observed: no meat, no dairy, and often no oil, emphasizing spiritual discipline and self-denial.

04/15/2025

03/30/2025

The third sin, which synthesizes all the sins of the world is: “the pride of life.” That is the first sin in all the worlds: the sin of Satan. The source of all sins, which always was and will forever stay as such. It can be said: pride is the ultimate sin. Every sin, through its life force, comes from it and holds to it: “the pride of life”–woven from countless multifarious prides, both great and small, both short-term and long term. Let us remember the primary things: the pride of glory (scientific, government, in any rank or position in general), pride of beauty, pride of wealth, pride of benevolence, pride of humility (yes! of humility), pride of charity, pride of success…There is not a virtue that pride cannot convert into a vice. The pride of prayer converts the person praying into a Pharisee, and the ascetic into a self-murderer. So, every sin, in reality is a sin through pride, because Satan in in reality Satan through pride. If it were not for pride, sin would not exist, neither in the angelic or the human world. All this “is not of the Father.” That which is of the Father is the Only Begotten Son of God. He is incarnate and personified humility before all of His divine perfections. In His Gospel, the beginning virtue, the ultimate virtue is humility (Matt. 5:3). Humility is the only medicine for pride and all other sins.

+ St. Justin Popovic from The Explanation of the Epistles of St John the Theologian (1 John 2:16)