Christminster is a western-rite monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), established in Rhode Island in 1993 with the blessing of Bishop Hilarion, then Bishop of Manhattan, who authorized Dom James M. Deschene (formerly the Prior of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Royal) to continue the western-rite mission of Mount Royal under the title of Christ the Saviour Monastery – or Christminster. Founded as a Benedictine monastic community in 1910, Mount Royal’s mission and work continued... Read more

Check out the icon selection! My Man, Esolen!“Women domesticate men. Men civilize men.” It is as if, says he, we had been binging on a forty-year Fat Tuesday, reveling in putting a drunken “bishop” on an ass and turning everything upside down. You’ll have to go here to read it all. Read more

Two knees, two bar stools, three kids & an old man … it don’t get much better. On second thought, it would if the cameraman was able to be in the picture. Alas, her work is never done! Esolen on “Invisible Men” … It is painful enough to compare Jackie Robinson with the run of should-be convicts that shatter the boards of the NBA. More H E R E. BTW … MereComments now allows … comments! Heterosexuals are responsible for... Read more

Back when I was an adolescent, thinking myself a chosen man of God, I had a disagreement with my Southern Baptist minister. It was the 70’s. I was a teen. He was a square. But that’s not the reason. The problem revolved around another cooler, hipper, preacher. The latter we’ll refer to as Reverend Green. Though he didn’t pastor a church, Rev. Green was a dynamic evangelist. I’d heard him preach a couple times at youth rallies, prayer breakfasts and... Read more

Russian Orthodoxy disavows Soviet-era document in step toward reunion with foreign church MOSCOW (AP) – The Russian Orthodox Church has disavowed a Soviet-era declaration of loyalty to the Communist government, a step that could help bring reunion with an emigre church that has been separate since 1920. The New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia severed contacts with the Moscow-based church after Patriarch Sergiy issued the loyalty declaration in 1927. The Moscow Patriarchate has said Sergiy did this to save... Read more

It was on this day, the 1st of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg began. General Robert E. Lee brought his army of Northern Virginia up north after their victory at Chancellorsville. 75,000 Confederate soldiers and about 95,000 Union soldiers met at Gettysburg on this morning in 1863. It was the largest battle in North American history. It went on for three days. On the third day, General Lee tried to break the battle line at the center, sending a... Read more

Having posted a Top Ten list on Orthodox Fundamentalists, here’s the flip side. Note, that’s Funda minimal ist. Top Ten Signs You Might Be a Fundaminimalist: 10) During the three day Ss Peter & Paul Fast (New Calendar), you did without meat (only). 9) Sunday’s Divine Liturgy lasts longer than the Nightly News but is shorter than “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. 8) When it comes to Confession, you believe: “All may, some should, none must.” 7) You think... Read more

Children, please! Do your homework before you write your report! After centuries of moving apart, the churches formally split in 1054 over several issues, including the primacy of the pope, devotional differences, and Latin demands for priestly celibacy, while the Greek-influenced tradition permitted married clergy. Relations remain tense over Orthodox charges of proselytism and rival property claims in places such as Russia and eastern Europe. You might find other errors H E R E. Read more

Q: Have you heard the latest UU miracle? A: Someone saw the face of Ralph Waldo Emerson on atortilla. Q: Why can’t Unitarian Universalists sing very well inchoirs? A: Because they’re always reading ahead to see if theyagree with the next verse. Q: What do you get when you cross a UnitarianUniversalist with a Jehovah’s Witness? A: Somebody who comes knocking at your door for noapparent reason. Thanks to FWD from Tim Gibson. Read more

From Touchstone’s Mere Comments: Civil War historian Shelby Foote died Monday night at the age of 88. Foote is known not only for his historical work, but for his friendships. A Mississippian, Foote knew William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor as a young man, but was most closely associated all his life with his best friend, Walker Percy. He loved his native South while standing firm against Jim Crow and the race-baiting populists of the twentieth century. In what had to... Read more