Layman John's Website

The Joyful Rays of Pascha

April 12, 2026

Christ is Risen!

During the journey home from the edifying Pascha services of 2026, the most amazing sunset appeared, casting the entire sky in a palette of heavenly colors and hues, accentuated by the presence of many different clouds of all shapes and sizes. It dawned on me that, like every other thing that happens to us in our lives each day, the good Lord sent this specific sunset on this specific day for the salvific purpose of teaching more about His life-giving Resurrection and what it means.

St Symeon the New Theologian: On the Fearful Day of the Lord and the Future Judgment

February 16, 2026

Beloved, there is much for us to say about the judgment, and the interpretation is difficult because it is not about things which are present and visible, but about future and invisible matters. There is therefore great need of prayer, of much effort, of much purity of intellect, both in us who speak and in those who listen, in order for the first to be able and know and speak well and for the others to listen with understanding to what is said. What then is the purpose of this discourse? Its subject is the great and manifest and fearful day of the Lord, and we write it in order to know why it is called and said to be the Day of the Lord.

Feast Day for St John the Russian

June 28, 2025

From Father Michael Knox:

Greetings in The Lord,

This past Tuesday we celebrated the feast of St. John The Russian, we were blessed to have His Grace Bishop Benedict attend the Vigil and Divine Liturgy. I have attached The Bishop’s sermon from Tuesday he gave during Divine Liturgy.

Read Bishop Benedict’s sermon here.

Pentecost Sermon by Bishop Benedict

The following homily was given by Bishop Benedict for the Feasts of Pentecost and St John the Russian in Ipswich, MA.

“…those who see God’s providence in all things understand that every situation is an opportunity for spiritual profit.”

The Harvest Is Plenty

June 16, 2025

The Lord said unto His disciples:

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few; Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt. 9:37,38)

Where are the fields? Within each and every human heart obviously; everywhere there is a human being created in God’s image there is a potential harvest for the Lord waiting to be had. Who are the workers? We are. How do we work? This is happening all around us each day, every day, and how little we notice. The cashiers we speak with, the delivery people and every other person the Lord brings our way, each is part of the harvest. Sure, it’s not always opportune to draw them into a discussion about the Gospel, but at least we can offer up a quick, silent prayer on their behalf: “Thank you Lord for bringing this person into my day, have mercy on us and lead us to Thee,” or anything of that sort.

There is one harvest field that is unique to our modern times though, and that’s the internet.

1st Sunday After Pentecost: the Sunday of All Saints

June 15, 2025

In a homily for today by Fr. James Thornton (memory eternal), he briefly explains the different categories of Saints, focusing on the martyr, the emperor, and the ascetic. After explaining that most of us will probably not be martyrs or emperors, he says:

“That leaves the third possibility, that of asceticism. Many will unquestionably reply that they are family people, burdened with endless responsibilities of wife and children, of jobs or businesses, of mortgages on houses, and of constant debts and obligations. True, these are facts of life for most of us. But in no cases are we thereby denied the possibilities of Sainthood, of winning the quest of eternal life.”

How can this be possible when it seems that our daily routines rarely leave enough time leftover but for a few rushed prayers?

“On the Antichrist & the End of the World”

November 13, 2024

By St. John Maximovitch

The Sunday of the Fearful Court

Today we are in the Week of the dreadful Judgment and it is natural to talk about the dreadful Judgment and the signs of the end of the world. No one knows that day except God the Father, but the signs of its approach are given in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian. Revelation speaks of the events of the end of the world and the dreaded Judgment especially in symbols and guessing, but the Holy Fathers interpreted it and there is an authentic tradition of the Church that speaks to us of the signs of the end of the world and the Last Judgment.