COVID-19 CATECHESIS
The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (337) and Empress Helen, his mother
An Ongoing ALMSGIVING   Opportunity
to help those impacted by Covid-19 in Serbia and the USA

Reflections and Daily Inspiration
“People say that if you feel no inclination to pray, it is better not to pray; but this is crafty, carnal sophistry. If you only pray when you are inclined to, you will completely cease praying; this is what the flesh desires. ‘The Kingdom of Heaven Suffereth violence.’ You will not be able to work out your salvation without forcing yourself.”
— St. John of Kronstadt
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION
Mental Health & Orthodox Christianity
Episode 5: Sadness & Depression

Sadness is a typical human experience to loss and many of us experience periods of depression. Yet for some of us, intense depression, not related to any specific event can seem to take over our lives. Dr. Ary Christofidis and Fr. John Chakos discuss this from psychological and theological perspectives.
FROM THE NEWS
Statement from Metropolitan Gerasimos
on the Current Protests

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21

Violence. Destruction. Loss of business. Loss of lives. We are just easing up on “stay at home” and “shelter in place” orders as a result of the pandemic, and now there are new restrictions across the country brought forth for another reason. The death of George Floyd was the result of inexcusable and brutal behavior. The angry response across our nation has, once again, exposed illnesses in our society that have existed for many decades, if not centuries: racial inequality, profiling, and mistrust, to name only a few. Racism is a sin. However, turning to violence and destruction in response to this tragedy is not the way for voices to be heard and change to be realized.
SAINT OF THE DAY

 JUNE 3 / MAY 21
The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine (337) and Empress Helen, his mother (327)

Constantine’s parents were Emperor Constantius Chlorus and Em- press Helena. Chlorus had other children by another wife, but from Helena he had only Constantine. After his coronation Constantine fought three great battles: the first against Maxentius, a Roman tyrant; the second against the Scythians on the Danube; and the third against the Byzantines. Before the battle with Maxentius, while Constantine was greatly concerned and doubtful of his success, a brilliant Cross appeared to him in the sky during the day, adorned with stars. Written on the Cross were the words: “By this Sign Conquer.” Astonished, the emperor ordered a large cross to be forged, like the one that had appeared, and that it be carried before the army into battle. By the power of the Cross he achieved a glorious victory over the enemy, which was greatly superior in number. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River. Immediately after this, in the year 313, Constantine is- sued the famous Edict of Milan to halt the persecution of Christians. De- feating the Byzantines, Constantine built a beautiful capital on the Bosphorus, which from that time was called Constantinople. Before this, how- ever, Constantine fell ill with the dreaded disease of leprosy. As a cure, the pagan priests and physicians counseled him to bathe in the blood of slaughtered children. However, he rejected that. Then the Apostles Peter and Paul appeared to him and told him to seek out Bishop Sylvester, who would cure him of this dreaded disease. The bishop instructed him in the Chris- tian Faith and baptized him, and the disease of leprosy vanished from the emperor’s body. When a discord began in the Church because of the mu- tinous heretic Arius, the emperor convened the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, at which the Arian heresy was condemned and Orthodoxy confirmed. St. Helena, the pious mother of the emperor, was very zealous for the Faith of Christ. She visited Jerusalem, discovered the Honorable Cross of the Lord, and built the Church of the Resurrection on Golgotha, as well as many other churches throughout the Holy Land. This holy woman presented herself to the Lord in her eightieth year, in 327. Emperor Constantine outlived his mother by ten years. He reposed in Nicomedia in his sixty-fifth year, in 337. His body was interred in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Constantinople.