“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). The meaning of this is that you do not enter the kingdom of heaven easily but through toil, work and exertion. You struggle in your studies in order to succeed and to obtain the diploma you desire. You struggle and sacrifice in order to build a cohesive family. And you struggle and fight to be victorious in the kingdom of heaven and to be worthy to be...

While praying before His passion, the Lord Jesus asked God the Father to preserve His people, saying, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). That is because, in His divinity, He knew that the world would fight His people. This was proven throughout history and continues to be proven today. Why then does the world fight Christ’s disciples? In the Gospel of John, the Lord says in His prayer that this is because...

Our first vespers in a hotel room. Our little mission of Holy Apostles began in 2008, I believe. My husband Kevin and I had been Orthodox for nearly a year, driving to Nashville every Sunday with our four little girls to attend Liturgy. We realized that our kids would be growing up without any other Orthodox kids in their community. That was a distressing thought, so my husband reached out to the priest of the huge Antiochian church in Louisville, Fr. Alexander Atty of blessed memory. ...