Holy Protection of the Mother of God Hamilton
77 Sanford Avenue South L8M 2G7 Hamilton, ON, Canada

Дорогие прихожане! В пятницу 20 ноября в 18:00 будет всенощное бдение к празднику Собора архистратига Михаила и прочих бесплотных сил. В субботу 21 ноября будет литургия в 9:00 утра. В субботу и воскресенье как обыкновенно. *** Dear parishioners! Friday November the 20th at 6:00 pm will be an all-night vigil service for the feast day of Archangel Michael and all bodiless powers. Saturday November 21st Divine Liturgy is at 9 am. Saturday night and Sunday morning services are as usual.

Hi Orthodox Friends, Hope you're finding some peace and joy during this Thanksgiving. I am helping my parish's choir fundraise, this Nativity season, by selling... the Orthodox children's calendars (pictured below). The calendar is designed by a wonderful women owned small business, Draw Near Designs. It features activities, lives of saints, recipes, and stickers. It's a great present for god-children, adults, and really anyone! This is a wonderful opportunity to support a good cause. You get a great deal- a beautiful calendar, while also saving on the price of shipping. We are selling the calendar for $22 dollars, each. If you're not local you're still welcome to order, however we do add the cost of shipping. Click the link below to order! and message me for any additional questions:) https://forms.gle/9HVP65Hap9YBmmu46 See more

Copied from Cassian Sibley In my experience, Evangelical inquirers and catechumens, however much they may be attracted to Orthodoxy, and however much they may ...be convinced of the overall truth of Orthodox teachings and dogmas, still experience a twinge of fear when they realize that the Orthodox (and biblical) understanding of salvation - that at one and the same time, they are saved (presently, by forgiveness of past sins and deliverance from delusion and error), are being saved (from ignorance, false desires, and participation in a complex social reality of conflicting allegiances and overt and covert cooperation with evil) and will be saved (in paradise, with a good defense before Christ's judgement seat, and full participation in the heavenly banquet) - entails that they are not, at the current time, "saved" in any ultimate sense. This comes with a frisson of fear, as a central theological crutch is kicked out from underneath them. What they had regarded as, say, a Baptist, as a fait accompli, now has a question mark hanging over it. The question "will I ultimately be saved" has been reopened, not in this case by doubt, but by a deeper, more profound, and ultimately more biblical faith. St. Paul's business of working out one's salvation with "fear and trembling" has once again become actual. From the Orthodox perspective, this is all to the good. One's life and relationship with God is a serious and active matter, and not something that can reasonably be reduced to the banality of an equation, "four spiritual laws", or a Chick tract. Salvation is an ongoing business, and worthy always of our most serious attention. Growth in the Spirit, development of virtue, on-going repentance and reconciliation when we fall, and the all encompassing business of worshipping and honoring God in spirit and truth, while caring for "the widows and the orphans" - and by extension, all those in need, under oppression, or who suffer - is not optional, or irrelevant. If one has abandoned the way, is at enmity with God, or has despaired of one's self...then a certain amount of concern for one's salvation is legitimate. But that fear need never be crippling as long as one is willing to repent, and to begin again. It is the Orthodox contention that fear is overcome by trust in God, not by pretending that there is some mechanism by which one can force the God of all creation to save one no matter what one does, or says, or believes in the future. Our Orthodox belief is that God has willed to save us from the time of our creation, and that the only thing standing in the way of that goal is our own free will, wrongly used. So fear nothing - for God is with us and seeks our salvation. Let love cast out fear, and let us embrace the gift of grace in repentance and gratitude, seeking to honor and serve God, now and forever. After all, his "burden is easy, and his yoke is light," to all those who love Him.

Memory eternal to our Patriarch of Serbia may your memory be eternal Вечнаа памат

Христос воскресе!!!

New Online Donation Option. You can now make one time or monthly donations to our Church online at http://donate.pokrovchurch.ca/ This service is provided by CanadaHelps.org, an online donation service. Please note that your donation receipts will be issued by CanadaHelps.org, not Holy Protection.

On October 6, 2007, a great miracle started to happen in Hawaii when a small wooden icon began to stream myrrh. Not only does this holy icon of the Mother of Go...d continue to stream myrrh until today, there is more now than there ever was. This video was shot in November 2019 when the icon visited at. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. No one know exactly why the icon streams myrrh or if it will ever stop. The Hawaiian icon is a copy of the original Montreal myrrh streaming icon of the Mother of God. The original streamed myrrh for many years until it suddenly vanished in 1997. No one ever thought that we would lose the Montreal icon and yet we did. May the Mother of God protect us and may we never forget to thank Her every day for Her endless mercy.

Requesting Prayers Please remember Igumen Tryphon in your prayers this week. I'm being admitted to Swedish Hospital's Cherry Hill Campus Cardiac Unit in Seattle..., on Monday, November 2nd, for three days of procedures to try to get my heart out of Atrial Fibrillation. I therefore am asked for prayers, that the Lord will guide my cardiologist, and that I will be restored to health, and enabled to return to my duties as abbot of the monastery. I will not be posting my usual articles on Facebook, or my blog, "The Morning Offering", during my hospital stay. Nor will I be recording my podcasts for Ancient Faith Radio on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but will be returning to that ministry by Thursday, if it pleases God. Please forgive me for those days when I'm not providing the inspirational words that I know are valued and needed by so many of you. If it be God's will that my life end this week, please pray for the soul of this miserable sinner, asking that the Lord have mercy on me, and overlook the multitude of sins and failures that have been the hallmark of my life. With love in Christ, Abbot Tryphon

CORRECTION: The widely-reported news of the death of Priest Nikolaos Kakavelakis of the Annunciation Church in Lyon, France, is NOT TRUE. He was seriously wound...ed by two shotgun blasts from an unknown and as yet at-large assailant outside the church late Saturday afternoon, and is preparing to undergo surgery Monday morning. May God restore him to fullness of health, through the intercessions of the Holy Unmercenary Healers Kosmas and Damian and all the healing saints! Forgive me for passing on news without awaiting official confirmation. Fr. Tim Prattas posted: I was contacted by a relative of Father Nikolaos. They told me that he is very much alive, but that he definitely needs our prayers and that he's not out of the woods yet. That's why I took down my previous post. I guess we didn't have enough fake news. Let's all keep praying for him, his family, and that the person responsible can come to repentance and turn themselves in.

Today we commemorate the translation of the Holy incorrupt relics of Saint John Maximovitch. May we have his holy intercessions always! Like a spiritual daysta...r in heaven’s firmament, thou didst encompass the whole world and didst enlighten men’s souls. Hence thy name is glorified throughout the East and West, for thou didst shine forth with grace of the Sun of righteousness, O John our beloved shepherd. Wherefore, cease not to entreat Christ, that He show mercy and redeem our souls! + Apolytikion of Saint John

Дорогие прихожане, во вторник 3 ноября, на праздник Казанской иконы Божьей Матери состоится вечерняя служба в 6 вечера. В среду 4 ноября Божественая Литрургия в 8 утра. Просим всех прихожан при входе в храм не забывать одевать маски. ... Dear parishioners, on Tuesday November 3rd, on the feast day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, there will be an All Night Vigil service at 6pm. On Wednesday November the 4th, Divine Liturgy is at 8am. We are kindly asking all parishioners to wear a mask upon entering the church.

On October 10, the Church honours St Ambrose of Optina.

On July 23rd 2020, as wildfires spread through Attica, Greece, the people of Neos Voutzas and Mati took refuge in the port of Rafina. Around 7pm, the bells of t...he little chapel of St Nicholas above Rafina were heard to be ringing joyfully. The flames were approaching the chapel, yet the chapel bells were ringing as though the Bishop had arrived. Some people went to investigate, and were astonished to find an elderly monk calmly sitting on a wooden bench in chapel courtyard, facing the threatening fires. Astounded, a woman took this photo with her mobile phone camera. The chapel has no priest appointed to it. No one knew who this monk was. And even more astonishing, as soon as the photo was taken, not only did the monk disappear, but the wind died down, changed direction, and turned the fire back on itself. A few days later, the woman showed the photograph to the Parish Priest of the Church of the Dormition in Mati, Fr. Dorotheos, to see if he recognised the clergyman in the photo. Fr. Dorotheos zoomed in but couldn’t recognise any of the clergy of the area. Then he noticed that on the monk’s head which was leaning left, he wore a ribbed, knitted skoufia, was holding a prayer rope in his hand, and on his feet he was wearing flip-flops with socks......Exactly like St Paisios! See more

I have been informed that the St.Herman of Alaska Monastery , Platina,California, U.S.A., and The St Xenia Skete ,about 10 miles west of Platina, have been spared the terrible fires which were approaching both monasteries.All of the monastics are doing well. Glory to God for all things! (Brian Frakes)

We are excited to introduce our new video series Time Out For Marriage featuring Presvytera Kerry Pappas. Concise 2 to 3 minute messages will offer encouragem...ent for couples drawn from the wisdom of Holy Scripture, saints’ teachings, and contemporary marriage literature. Each Time Out will present an exercise or challenge for couples to engage in as they seek to grow in their union with Christ and one another. See more

'But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.' - Matthew 5:44