Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Christian Mission

Please pray for Fr. Moses. His prayers and many years of labor in the Ozarks are one of the reasons our mission is here in south central Missouri.

Memory eternal!

May Fr. Anastasy’s memory be eternal!

By the grace of God, church life is exploding over the past couple of months here at Annunciation. Andrew Gould, from New World Byzantine, came to take a look at our property and offered a site plan recommendation on August 15th, the feast of Dormition. (We may be looking at straw bale construction for the new building!) We also have had several new families join us lately and we now have even more children that we’ve ever had in the past (which is hard to imagine). Because of that, we are exploring the idea of hosting our own homeschool co-op one day a week, following the weekday Liturgy. If you have experience, ideas, or are interested in participating in some way, please reach out!

A post-feast night out with the St. Louis Cardinals!

HOW TO CHOOSE FRIENDS. A PARABLE BY ST PAISIOS THE ATHONITE One man noticed that whenever he spent time with those of his friends who were arrogant, he would co...nduct himself the same way. He tried hard to stop behaving like that but he could not. So he decided to visit St Paisios and ask his advice. While he was thinking of how to put his question in clear simple words, someone brought a watermelon to St Paisios. The saint took it in his hands and said to the pilgrims, Does anyone have a knife to cut the watermelon? And then I will tell you a secret of how to make watermelons grow sweet and tasty. Then the saint cut the watermelon and gave a piece to everyone present. When it was the turn of the man who had come to consult the saint about his friends, the saint looked at him with his keen eyes and then said with a smile, If you grow a watermelon next to a pumpkin, the pumpkin will take all the sweet from the watermelon and the latter will become unsweet and tasteless. As to the pumpkin, it will stay the same, no matter how much sweet it takes from the watermelon. So if you want your watermelons to grow sweet and tasty, you should plant them away from pumpkins. That man understood what the saint meant to say: the more so with friends, you should choose them wisely. #StElisabethConvent #minsk #obitelminsk #belarus #orthodox #god #faith #spirituality #saint #paisiosofmountathos #church #praying #godbless #friendship #jesus #jesuschrist #christian

We do not fully realize how deep and divine the Orthodox Faith is. It is the original and only Christianity; the Orthodox Church is NOT a human society, it's t...he Body of Christ in the sense that the Holy Spirit dwells in it. Because of that the Orthodox Church has never gone astray, she has not altered the original doctrine, did not introduce any new dogma, contradicting the apostolic teaching... See more

Join us for Vespers this evening at 5:30 and for Liturgy tomorrow morning at 6:30 as we celebrate the feast of St. John of Shanghai & SanFrancisco!

We were grateful to be joined by Fr. Basil Ferguson and Fr. Matthew McDonald yesterday for the feast of Ss. Peter & Paul.

I recommend to my parishioners to go outside, to take walks in the park or near their homes for at least 30 minutes a day. Take along prayer ropes and read the... Jesus Prayer. Combining this prayer and physical activity is a good form of exercise, it helps stabilize one’s psychological state. Also, it helps families come closer, and children to bolster their faith. (Abbot Tryphon of the All Merciful Savior Monastery in Washington) See more

Lord, have mercy.

I think many Christians are aware that the world as a whole has been in the process of falling away from the love of God and giving itself over to various iniq...uities for some time now. Yet when studying the signs of the times, we must always keep in mind that the primary concern of Christians must not be to sit in judgment over the sins of the world, but rather to deepen our own repentanceWe must look for the spirit of the times not simply in world events, but above all in our own hearts. (Hieromonk Gabriel in ‘Remembering Sion’ blog) See more

From Archimandrite Sergius: Christ is risen! The Monastery will be gradually reopening over the course of the summer. Currently the bookstore is open normal bus...iness hours and the cemetery is open as well. For services, please contact the Monastery through our website for a blessing to attend. The State of Pennsylvania will be lifting attendance and mask restrictions within the next month or two so we hope to be back to full capacity soon. Thank you for your patience and be assured of our prayers.

(Please pardon the Papyrus)