St Ambrose Orthodox Mission

From today's Gospel reading:

“Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (Mark 8:15).

The leaven of the Pharisees is using religion as a pretense to impress others. The leaven of Herod is placing our faith in politics. We must “take heed, beware,” because these are both great temptations that can come to us in subtle ways.

Both leavens offer us something that we want in life: control. Most of us think, “If only others thought like me, believed like me, voted like me, cared for the issues that I care for, then this world would be a better place.” And so we seek to place our focus in life on either the leaven of the Pharisees or the leaven of Herod, desiring to change the world around us.

But Christ offers us inner transformation. St. Seraphim of Sarov famously said, “Acquire the Holy Spirit, and a thousand around you will be saved.” Anything that offers us less than “the kingdom of heaven within” (Luke 17:21) is a cheap substitute at best.

Do you want to change the world? Do you want to make life better for yourself and others? Then we must begin by working on ourselves, becoming precious vessels of the Holy Spirit with faith and love in Christ.

We Orthodox Christians celebrate Pascha (Easter) in the middle of the night. Come join us!

6pm Friday - Burial service for our Lord
11:30pm Saturday - Paschal celebration begins!

Eleven souls brought into the Orthodox Church on the Sunday after Theophany! It would have been Theophany itself, but alas, another ice storm this year. Here's to hoping we'll celebrate Theophany on Theophany one of these years!

As we enter the Forefeast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas), we prepare ourselves to meet Him by participating in the church services and receiving His grace.

Our Nativity schedule is the following:

Saturday:
6:00pm - Great Vespers

Sunday:
9:30am - Hours & Divine Liturgy

Tuesday (Christmas Eve):
8:30am - Royal Hours
6:00pm - Great Compline

Wednesday (Christmas):
9:10am - Hours and Divine Liturgy

We look forward to celebrating the glorious and salvific incarnation of our Lord with you!

On Saturday, Dec. 7, we'll celebrate St. Ambrose Day! It's a perfect opportunity to visit us if you typically go elsewhere for church but would like to check out an Orthodox Liturgy.

We'll begin at 9:00 am at
1772 Apperson Dr
Salem, VA 24153

Also, our church has entered into a contract to potentially buy a piece of land, and we are beginning work with an architectural firm to put together some concept plans. Exciting times!