The Orthodox Standard Journal

Early 19th Century Icon, Russian “Union of Love” (Sourced from Temple Gallery Catalogue Christmas 2004) WORD of the Week: Love (Love in Truth) A Scriptural and Patristic Understanding “ Let us not love in word or in speech, but in deed and in truth .” – 1 John 3:18 Introduction: Love Misunderstood in the Modern World The modern age has stripped the word love of its sacred weight, reducing it to sentimentality, psychological affinity, or erotic desire devoid of ontological content. In political rhetoric, love becomes an empty slogan. In contemporary culture, it is commodified or psychologized. Yet Holy Scripture and the Church Fathers offer a radically different vision— love in truth ( agapē en alētheia , ἀγάπη ἐν ἀληθείᾳ)—an existential and divine energy, a way of being proper only to God and those in communion with Him. Scriptural Foundations: Love Is of God In the New Testament, agapē is not an option but a divine imperative, a reflection of God’s own essence: “God...

WORD of the Week: Christian An Orthodox Patristic Definition “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” — Acts 11:26, ESV  “It is not the name, but the way of life that makes a Christian.” —St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians To be called a Christian (Gk, Christianos, Hbw, Meshichi) in the Orthodox Patristic tradition is not a cultural label, an ideological subscription, nor a moral, identity. The term was originally --in all likelihood-- a neutral label or possibly one with dismissive or even mocking connotations at the time.   It is, rather, an ontological and ecclesial reality: the Christian is one: 1. Who has been united to Christ (Christos),  2. who lives by His life, and  3. who is progressively transformed into His likeness through divine grace (charis), synergistic asceticism (synergeia), and sacramental communion in the life of the Church (Ekklēsia). The name Christian was not a self-appointed title, nor was it ado...

Paphnutius of Borovsk – A True Orthodox Translation was just published on  trueorthodox.eu .  You can view the full article here: https://trueorthodox.eu/new-pu blication-the-life-akathist-of -st-paphnutius-of-borovsk-a-tr ue-orthodox-translation/

EDITORIAL OPINION  Monastic Economics and the Ethics of Sacred Craft: A Canonical-Patristic Evaluation of Lay Production of Ecclesial Goods and Monastic Support  “ Render unto God the things that are God's .” – Matthew 22:21  The increasing commercialization of ecclesial goods—monastic clothing, liturgical vestments, metalwork, woodcarving, and other sacred crafts—by lay persons has emerged as both a pastoral concern and an ecclesial anomaly in the twenty-first century. It brings to the fore vital questions concerning ecclesiastical order, the ethics of spiritual commerce, and the theological vocation of both laity and monastics. While the impulse to serve the Church through craftsmanship is commendable, the unregulated participation of lay entrepreneurs in traditional monastic trades raises serious concerns about exploitation, desacralization, and disobedience to the canonical and ascetical norms of Orthodox tradition.  This paper undertakes a canonical, theological...

  WORD of the Week: Perichoretic (Patristic definition and elaboration) The term perichoretic derives from the Greek περιχώρησις (perichōrēsis), a word formed from peri- (around) and chōreō (to make room, to go forward, to contain, or to make space). In the theological lexicon of the Church Fathers, perichōrēsis came to signify the mutual indwelling, interpenetration, or co-inherence of the divine persons of the Holy Trinity —Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—without confusion, division, or loss of personal distinction. Though the word itself does not appear in the New Testament, its meaning is woven into the fabric of Christological and Trinitarian theology. The Church Fathers—particularly the Cappadocians, St. John of Damascus, and St. Maximus the Confessor—developed the concept as they wrestled with safeguarding the paradox of unity and distinction in the Godhead. In its most precise and sacred application, perichōrēsis describes the eternal and dynamic communion among the three hypo...

from the Russian True Orthodox Church (RTOC)         Western Europe Diocese Life & Canon of the Holy Prophet Jeremiah: A True Orthodox Translation