Ancient Faith

In this talk, Fr. Stephen De Young reflects on St. Paul's warning that not many should presume to become teachers, applying it to the contemporary pursuit of ordained ministry. He observes that people often seek the priesthood out of desire—for power, money, status, or as an escape from sin—rather than out of a genuine calling. Some imagine that dedicating themselves to the Church will free them from their passions, yet experience shows struggles often intensify instead.

Fr. Stephen stresses that no one naturally desires the true burden of priesthood: bearing the sins of the community and giving an account at the last judgment for every soul served. More broadly, he argues that following desire never fills our inner lack; obtaining what we want only leads to chasing the next thing, ending in despair.

The alternative he proposes is cultivating sensitivity to the Holy Spirit—doing what we already know is right, since the commandments are written on our hearts. This sensitivity is fostered through prayer and through doing difficult things even when we do not feel like it. He closes with advice once given to him by a Roman Catholic priest: try everything else first, because if God is calling you to the priesthood, you will find yourself unable to do anything else.

He notes this principle extends beyond clergy to every form of priesthood, including parents and community leaders. The discussion, drawn from an Ancient Faith Ministries podcast, centers on discerning vocation, the deceptive nature of desire, and the practical life of obedience and prayer by which one learns to hear the Spirit rather than one's own appetites.

In this episode of Ancient Faith Presents, Melanie interviews Benjamin Lyda, founder of the Scriptorum Writing curriculum and co-host of the St. Nectarios Orthodox Educators Conference. Benjamin recounts his journey from evangelical Protestantism to Orthodoxy—sparked by studying church history some twenty years ago—and his two decades in education, including teaching grades four through twelve, directing Shakespeare plays, helping found a school, and now training teachers through his consulting organization Living Classical.

The heart of the conversation is his conviction that the first priority of education is forming the heart toward Christ. Using the metaphor of Pegasus, he explains that education can aid the ascent toward God but cannot complete it; only Christ and the Holy Spirit convert hearts, and educators must seek what St. John of Kronstadt called the door to a child's heart.

The discussion critiques both progressive education, which rests on pragmatic and materialistic assumptions about the human person, and much of what passes for classical education today, which often shares the same pedagogy while wearing different clothes. Benjamin cautions parents against sending children to public schools without critical reflection—not out of conspiracy thinking, but because teachers' unexamined assumptions inevitably come through.

He also addresses practical questions: co-ops and parish schools can learn from one another, homeschoolers can use good Christian materials even when not explicitly Orthodox, and loving Christ and loving to learn matter more than standardized tests. Drawing on Charlotte Mason, he notes that atmosphere, habits, and living ideas—familiar from Orthodox liturgical life—are the tools that shape the heart.

The episode closes with details on the online St. Nectarios Orthodox Educators Conference (November 6-7, 2026), featuring speakers such as David Hicks, Andrew Kern, and Josh Gibbs, with recordings available to registrants.

In this episode of Mirror of Paradise, Hannah Hunt demonstrates how to involve children in creating floral arrangements for Orthodox liturgical use, turning the craft of flower wiring into a formative spiritual activity. The session centers on wiring hyacinths and carnations, constructing a crown for the myrrh-bearing girls' Holy Friday procession, and building a garland for an icon frame.

Hannah begins by referencing the Wisdom of Solomon on perceiving the Creator through creation's beauty, framing the work as a way to foster children's love for God through hands-on engagement with the natural world. Hyacinths are introduced as a spring flower rich in symbolism — their fragrance and form evoking the beauty of the New Jerusalem, majesty, and divine authority — making them especially fitting for Holy Week.

Children Colt and Adelaide actively participate, wiring individual hyacinth florets on 22-gauge wire for placement on the tomb of Christ, the royal doors, or processional lanterns. Hannah then crafts a hyacinth crown for Adelaide, explaining the tradition of myrrh-bearing girls who, dressed in white and crowned, process around the epitaphios on Holy Friday sprinkling petals.

The demonstration continues with two wiring methods for carnations — a simple pick and a traditional wired stem using floral tape — noting carnations' durability out of water. Spray roses are prepared by removing guard petals and sepals before taping, allowing wired stems to be bent outward for better visibility. Finally, Hannah constructs a garland by hand on a heavy bind-wire spine for shape control, using lemon leaf, leather leaf, ming fern, cedar, wax flower, and wired roses in a bespoke English garden style.

The garland is attached to a custom PVC pipe frame fitted to an icon with felt pads for protection, secured with chenille stems for reusable, adjustable fastening. Throughout, the emphasis remains on forming children in the liturgical life of the Church through beauty, symbolism, and shared labor.

Deacon Seraphim Richard Roland walks through the structure and theology of Matins (Orthros), the Orthodox morning watch service. He begins with the Six Psalms (Hexapsalmos) chanted in a dark church while the priest prays the Twelve Morning Prayers before the closed holy doors. These psalms trace a descent into despair — enemies, sin, thirst, the pit — and an ascent to mercy, forgiveness, and morning guidance, mirroring the pattern of salvation.

The deacon then proclaims "God is the Lord" (Psalm 117), announcing Christ's revelation in the darkness. Troparia of the day and Kathismata with Sessional Hymns follow, interpreting the Psalter through the feast or resurrection. On Sundays, one of the eleven Resurrection Gospels is carried into the nave for veneration, making the faithful witnesses to the risen Christ; the Gospel book is placed in the center, showing word and sacrament as complementary revelations.

Psalm 50 leads into the Canon, a poetic structure built on nine biblical odes that teaches a Christological reading of the Old Testament. The Magnificat is sung at the ninth ode, followed by the Praises (Psalms 148–150) and the Great Doxology — "Glory to Thee who hast shown us the light" — summoning all creation into the light of the Resurrection.

Deacon Seraphim notes key differences in practice: Greek and Antiochian traditions serve Matins before Sunday Divine Liturgy, while Slavic practice joins it to Vespers as the All-Night Vigil on Saturday evenings. He roots the service in the biblical tradition of meeting God in the night — Israel at the Red Sea, the psalmist at midnight, Christ praying before dawn, the myrrh-bearers at the tomb — and encourages participation in Matins as essential preparation for the Divine Liturgy. Handouts and further resources are provided for deeper study.

In this mailbag edition of Orthodoxy Live, Father Evan Armatas and host Mike address five listener questions covering a range of practical and theological topics. The first question explores whether married people can become monastics in the Orthodox Church in America and whether one spouse may enter a monastery while the other remains in the world.

The second question considers the salvation of those who lived in the West during periods without access to an Orthodox church. The third question asks for the Orthodox perspective on a career in emergency medical services. The fourth question seeks guidance on setting up a home prayer corner when only a candle is available, prompting a detailed explanation of typical prayer corner elements — candle or oil lamp, cross, icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and one's patron saint, prayer book, Psalter, Bible, prayer rope, and incense — along with the traditional orientation toward the east and use of natural light.

The fifth question comes from a college student new to the faith who struggles with social anxiety and asks for advice on finding a supportive social group. The episode concludes with the program's email address for future questions and a sign-off.

In this reflection marking sixteen years since his ordination, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick recounts the awe and trembling of receiving the Body of Christ at the altar and the bishop's solemn charge that he would give an account for every soul. He describes celebrating his first Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Raphael while feeling no supernatural confirmation — only a deep sense of unworthiness that the liturgy itself names when the priest calls himself the "most unworthy presbyter."

Ordination, he stresses, does not confer personal worthiness or a private spiritual power; it sets a man aside for a specific task within the one priesthood of Christ. The same baptismal washing and clothing that initiate every Orthodox Christian into the royal priesthood of the laity remain the foundation for clergy as well. The Church is the Body of Christ, and all its members — ordained and lay — are Christ's powers in the world through the Holy Spirit.

There is no ministry "at large" apart from the Body. The practical call for every believer, clergy or not, is to cooperate with God by doing the good that lies immediately at hand, trusting that God works through us rather than handing us a special authority of our own.

The video presents Vespers as the service that inaugurates the Orthodox liturgical day at sunset, rooted in the Genesis pattern of evening and morning and the Jewish evening sacrifice. Deacon Seraphim walks through the structure of Great Vespers, showing how each element moves the worshipper from creation to redemption. The service opens with Psalm 103 (104), the great creation psalm, sung while the royal doors stand open — a sign of Paradise.

Their closing after the psalm symbolizes humanity's exile. The priest then offers the seven silent prayers of light before the closed doors. At the heart of Vespers stands Psalm 140, "Lord, I have cried," accompanied by the deacon's censing; the Fathers link this evening incense to Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

The evening entrance follows: the doors reopen and the clergy enter singing the ancient hymn "O Gladsome Light" (Phos Hilaron), addressing Christ as the uncreated Light who illumines the darkness. Old Testament readings, litanies, and the Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis) lead the congregation toward peaceful rest, having beheld the beginning of salvation.

The deacon explains how the liturgical books and cycles interconnect, and why attending Vespers is essential preparation for Sunday and the great feasts. He also encourages bringing the prayers of Vespers into domestic life, so that ordinary time is shaped by the Church's worship rather than by a secular succession of appointments.

In this episode, Fr. Stephen De Young responds to a catechumen's request for concrete examples of how the indwelling Holy Spirit practically changes everyday environments like work and school. He emphasizes that every baptized Christian carries the Holy Spirit wherever they go, a positive reality often overlooked in popular teaching.

Drawing on 1 John 4:4 — "Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world" — he likens the Christian's presence to a candle entering darkness. When believers actively cultivate the fruit of the Spirit — love, peace, kindness, repentance, joy, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control — that presence begins to drive out hostile spiritual forces such as hatred, bitterness, and dissension.

Real divine love displaces hatred; genuine peacemaking disperses spirits of division. Even one person's honest repentance and apology can shift an entire workplace or family system. Such lives make Christ visible, drawing others to the Church.

Historically, this quiet, daily faithfulness of ordinary believers transformed the Roman Empire over centuries. Transformation does not begin with revolution but with vocation-specific, daily efforts to manifest the Spirit's fruit in the concrete circumstances of one's life.