By Metropolitan Saba (Isper) My sons and daughters in this blessed Archdiocese, I am delighted to inform you that the first issue of Joy…

By Metropolitan Saba (Isper) The question arises first: Can the Church be described as suffering? The answer is yes and no. No, because the Church is a divine entity, its head is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is present in it without interruption. And yes, because it is a human entity as…

His Eminence Metropolitan Saba Isper once presented a three-part lecture based on the teachings of one of his spiritual fathers. “The Priest, According to Metropolitan Georges (Khodr)” delves into the mindset of one of the giants of the Church of Antioch. Metropolitan Saba surveys the sermons (listed in the footnotes) of Metropolitan Georges about the…

His Eminence delivered this address at the meeting of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees on October 6, 2023 in Chicago, Ill The Church has two imperative dimensions: institutional and mystic. Through them, she lives by the Holy Spirit and bears witness to Him in the world. The mystic dimension corrects her structure, drives her mission…

“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…

By Metropolitan Saba (Isper The newly spread tone among believers regarding the fast is that it is not obligatory or a duty. Consequently, the believer can ignore it or practice it whenever and however he wants. Fasting is a necessary and binding virtue. If the commandments of the Lord in His Holy Gospel are binding,…

From “The Victory of the Cross” by Father Dumitru Staniloae (1903-1993) Of the two thieves who were crucified with Christ one said, ‘It is just that we should be thus condemned to death for we receive the payment of our transgressions, but this Man has done nothing evil’. These words tell us that there is…

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…

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…