Source: Canadian Orthodox Monastery of All Saints of North America I recall being told by one elderly monastic, an Athonite, that “we monks are the spoiled children of Christ. It is the married people who have the greatest struggle. Much greater than our struggle. Here, we are housed and fed, and the abbot is the only one who has to worry and stress. For the married man, he must work hard to provide the housing and food, and the concern for his children, and work through the stress that arises between husband and wife, and all at the same time,…
Browsing: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo
Source: New Ostrog Poverty is an abortionist. While Canada and America have low rates of spontaneous abortions: only between 12-25%, poorer nations have rates much, much higher. Spontaneous abortions take place more among the poor, the malnourished, those who have no access to proper medical care, (those working for minmimum wages, for example) than among any others. America has the largest number of children living in poverty than has any other nation in the Western World. Many of those children become post-birth “abortions” because of their poverty and lack of free access to adequate health care and nutrition. Poverty is…
Source: Cult Education Institute By Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Oct 18, 1998 Brothers and sisters, before we begin our usual question and answer time, I want to say something, first, about the meaning of “geronta” [elder; starets]. Sadly, in our day, perhaps more in North America than in Greece, but even in Greece, there has developed a new guru cult concept of “gerontes.” Alas, this cultish idea is actually cultivated by many self-styled and even acknowledged “elders.” Gerontes or elders, many of them self-appointed and self advertised, others acknowledged by monastic establishments, have begun to act and be looked upon like…
Source: Orthodox Christian Monastery of All Saints of North America Reference: So Why Do 60% of Our College Youth Leave Orthodoxy? Editor’s Note: Thoughts on Co-Ministry (Syndiaconia) in Liturgy apply in Church Governance Apart from the too-often presence of a medieval mentality among some of our clergy, hyper-clericalism itself can be a force in de-churching people, especially youth. It sometimes appears that there is an actual effort to exclude the Royal Priesthood from actual and full participation in the Divine Liturgy and other services. Moreover, the clear dialogues and exchanges of blessings are often not observed. When I bless the people…
Source: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Truly, the Orthodox Church is anchored in the Apostles and Holy Fathers, with the Scripture as our touchstone. However, to simply be anchored in the past, and attempt to live in the past is a betrayal of the Gospel, of the Apostles and of the Holy Fathers. It is a betrayal of the Commission that Christ has placed upon us. There is no time and place in which we can now live and witness except in the 21st century. If we are not willing to encounter the realities of the 21st century with grace and without…
by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo We need to start looking to our own housekeeping now. What is the average lifespan of a marriage in Canada? For the past 25 or so years, we have been told that it is 5 years. I do not have concrete statistics on that figure, but it has been mentioned by government agencies. Divorce is far too easy to obtain, without any form of counselling or attempts to save marriages. I have no idea what the stats are in America, or in the Commonwealth outside of Canada. However, it seems that we need to work very hard…
Source: All Saints of North America Canadian Orthodox Monastery by Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo) How many and varied are the temptations that seek to rob us of prayer? How manifold are the deceits of Satan and the delusions of our own desire that would hinder us from being present for the Divine Liturgy? If a person — especially a child — finds himself away from home and alone, a telephone call to the parents is a great consolation. Is prayer not the same? Prayer is, indeed, like a call home and a comforting conversation with our loving Father. To call home, however, reminds us that…
Source: The Vancouver Sun by Douglas Todd Orthodox Archbishop Lazar Puhalo is four days away from completing his annual 40-day Nativity fast. He refrains from meat, eggs, dairy products, anger, envy and other questionable habits during this time to “discipline the soul.” The 73-year-old leader of an Orthodox monastery in a remote corner of the Fraser Valley says of self-denial: “It is an attempt to control what usually controls us.” The hierarch’s fast will end on Christmas Eve – as it does for hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians around the world. Orthodox Christians prefer to refer to that which…
Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo) speaks about theelements necessary for Orthodox Christian unity in North America and reasons for disunity. Listen here: [audio:http://roea.org/files/Audio/Archbishop_Lazar_Puhalo_Unity_11042007.mp3|titles=Archbishop Lazar Puhalo on Orthodox Unity]
Archbishop Lazar (Puhalo) speaks about theelements necessary for Orthodox Christian unity in North America and reasons for disunity. Listen here: [audio:http://roea.org/files/Audio/Archbishop_Lazar_Puhalo_Unity_11042007.mp3|titles=Archbishop Lazar Puhalo on Orthodox Unity]