"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. " — Jeremiah 6:16In every age the Church is provoked by the worldly mindset to innovate, departing from the narrow, royal path which both follows the Holy Fathers and leads to eternal life.

Our day is especially characterized by this temptation to cease being steadfastly faithful to the ἱερὰ παρακαταθήκη, the sacred deposit. Fortunately for the faithful, they have not been left bereft of holy and prophetic voices which resound in the heavens with divine wisdom and crystal-clear clarity.

Over a century ago, in much calmer times, such wisdom and clarity was brought forth by the perceptive pastoral pen of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn. Straddling the old and new worlds, with a perspective unique then and now, as powerful as it is pertinent, Saint Raphael expounds the Orthodox outlook on the “modernization” of the Church, the possibility of women’s ordination (including deaconesses), a change of the dating of Pascha, and the reasons for the differences in the Orthodox and heterodox calendars.

Let the faithful run herein to Saint Raphael and take refuge in the truth of our Faith, which is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8), finding thus the solace and succor that they seek in these latter days of apostasy.

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