"Your birth, O Theotokos, brought joy to the whole world, for from you dawned the sun of righteousness, Christ our God. Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life." - Troparia for the Feast of the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
"Don’t believe at face value all kinds of nonsense without investigation: that something can come into being [of itself] from dust, and that people used to be apes." – Saint Ambrose of Optina
"When speaking against dreams, people do not prove the absurdity in their composition or in their individual parts, but only say, 'It's a dream,' and with that they resolve everything. It is the same with the theory of the formation of the world from a nebula and its supports, with the theory of abiogenesis and Darwin's origin of genera and species, and with his last dream about the descent of man. It is all like delirium." – St. Theophan the Recluse
"The Holy Fathers teach that the Father made heaven and earth through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Trinity made heaven and earth, and the Church sings, 'We glorify the Father, we exalt the Son, and we worship the Holy Spirit—the indivisible Trinity who exists as One—the Light and Lights, the Life and Lives, who grants light and life to the ends of the world' [Canon of St. Andrew]." – Orthodox Study Bible
A picture from the Vigil this past Saturday for the feast of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God @ Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Wayne, WV. According to ancient Church history, the Vladimir Icon was painted by the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, who authored both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
"God the Father spoke to His Word and Only-begotten Son, through whom He made the light [St. Athanasius the Great]. Since the Son, too, is Lord, He is coequal with the Father, and is His Coworker in making heaven and earth." – Orthodox Study Bible (on Genesis 1:3)
