Ancient Faith Audio Podcasts

Ancient Faith Ministries, a department of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America with a pan-Orthodox outreach, produces a wide variety of online audio programming, including an extensive range of downloadable content, distributed via Ancient Faith Radio. It is our hope that the selection of podcasts here, which are frequently refreshed and updated, will enrich and nourish the spiritual lives of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian faithful.


	Martyrs Florus and Laurus of Illyria (2nd c.) August 18, 2019 "Brothers in both the flesh and the spirit, they were both zealous Christians, and stonemasons by craft. They lived in Illyria. Some pagan prince set them to build a pagan temple. It happened during the course of their work that a fragment of stone splintered off and flew into the eye of the pagan priest's son, who was watching the building work with curiosity. Seeing his son blinded and bleeding, the priest shouted at Florus and Laurus and tried to thrash them. Then the holy brothers told him that, if he would believe in the God in whom they believed, his son would be restored to health. The priest promised. Florus and Laurus prayed to the one, living Lord with tears and made the sign of the Cross over the child's stricken eye. The child was healed instantly and his eye became whole as it had been before. Then the priest, Merentius, and his son were baptised, and they both very soon suffered for Christ in the flames. But Florus and Laurus, when they had finished the temple, put a Cross on it, called together all the Christians, and consecrated it in the name of the Lord Jesus with an all-night vigil of hymns. Hearing of this, the governor of Illyria burned many of these Christians by fire and had Florus and Laurus thrown alive into a well, which was then filled with earth. Their relics were later discovered and taken to Constantinople. These two wonderful brothers suffered for Christ, and were glorified by Him, in the second century." (Prologue)	Download
	Martyr Myron of Cyzicus (250) August 17, 2019 He was a priest in Achaia In the time of the Emperor Decius,when Antipater was governor of Achaia, the persecutors entered the church on the Feast of the Nativity, dragged Myron away from the service and put him to torture. He endured many horrible tortures, but would not worship the idols. Finally he was thrown to wild beasts. When Antipater saw the beasts greeting Myron affectionately, the persecutor seized a sword and slew himself. The Saint was then sent to Cyzicus, where he was beheaded by the proconsul.	Download
	Do You Know What Motivates You? August 16, 2019	Download
	August 16, 2019 August 16, 2019 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 Matthew 21:12-14, 17-20	Download
	Martyr Diomedes the Physician of Tarsus in Cilicia (298) August 16, 2019 He is one of the Holy Unmercenary Physicians, a physician who practiced in Tarsus during the reign of Diocletian. Around 288 he came to Nicaea, where he healed many bodies by his medical arts and many souls through his preaching of the Gospel of Christ. The Emperor Diocletian sent men to arrest him, but when they arrived they found that he had already reposed. They cut off his head to take it back to the Emperor, and for this abomination were all struck blind. When Diocletian saw St Diomedes' head, he ordered the men to return it to the body from which they had taken it. As soon as they had done so, their sight was restored.	Download
	Luke 3:21-22, Part XV August 16, 2019 Fr. Evan interviews Nathan Hoppe, missionary to Albania, and explains the hymn and Epistle reading of the baptismal service.	Download
	I Was Born This Way! August 15, 2019	Download
	August 15, 2019 August 15, 2019 1 Corinthians 14:6-19 Matthew 20:17-28	Download
	The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. August 15, 2019 On the Cross, the Lord charged the Apostle John to care for His holy Mother. The Apostle settled her in a house in Jerusalem, where she lived for the rest of her days on earth, praying and offering counsel and encouragement to the Apostles. In her old age, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that in three days' time she would enter into her rest. Giving thanks to God, she hastened to the Mount of Olives where she prayed continually, preparing herself to meet the Lord. Meanwhile, the Apostles, scattered in various parts of the earth, were caught up in clouds and miraculously brought by the holy Angels to Jerusalem, so that they might all be with the Theotokos at her repose. After she had blessed them, she gave up her soul to God. The Apostles buried her with all honor, solemnity and joy at Gethsemane. The Apostle Thomas, who was delayed (again!) by God's providence, arrived on the third day and went to her tomb, intending to honor her. But when the Apostles opened her grave, they found her holy body gone and only the winding-sheet remaining. That evening the Theotokos appeared to them surrounded by angels, and said to them, 'Rejoice: I will be with you always!'. Thus they learned that she had been bodily translated to heaven, anticipating the general resurrection of all. Her age at her repose is not known, but many say that she was about sixty years old.	Download
	Woodstock and the Feeding of the 5000 - 2019 August 15, 2019 Learn more about Patristic Nectar Publications.	Download
	Hospice or Hospital? August 15, 2019	Download
	Feed Your God or Be Fed By God (Aug. 11, 2019) August 15, 2019 Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick compares the account of the Prophet Daniel and the idol Bel (Baal) in the Old Testament to the Feeding of the 5000 in the New. What does it mean when we have to feed our gods?	Download
	Holy Prophet Micah (8th c. BC) August 14, 2019 Read his prophecies (which include the prophecy that Christ would be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2) in the Old Testament book that bears his name. He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah, Amos and Hosea, and is ranked sixth among the "minor" prophets. It was he who prophesied that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. (This is a different Micah from the one mentioned in 1 Chronicles 22:8, who lived earlier). Micah was buried in his home village of Morasth in the land of Judah; his holy relics were found along with those of the prophet Habbakuk during the reign of St Theodosius the Great — their location was given by a revelation to Zebennus, Bishop of Eleutheropolis.	Download
	I Don’t Believe In Fairness August 14, 2019	Download
	August 14, 2019 August 14, 2019 1 Corinthians 13:4-14:5 Matthew 20:1-16	Download
	The Procession of the Life-Giving Cross August 14, 2019	Download
	St Maximos the Confessor (662) August 13, 2019 He was from a noble family in Constantinople, and became the private secretary of the Emperor Heraclius and his grandson Constans. But when the Monothelite heresy (that Christ possesses one divine will, rather than a divine and a human will) took hold in the Imperial court, the Saint could not bear to be surrounded by this error and left the court for the Monastery at Chrysopolis, where in time he became the abbot. From the monastery he continued to speak and write in defense of Orthodox belief. The Emperor Constans ordered him either to accept Monothelite belief or to cease speaking against it, but St Maximos would do neither. For this, his tongue was torn out, his right hand was cut off, and he was sent into exile, where he reposed in 662. He is also commemorated on January 21; see that day for a slightly fuller account.	Download
	Creating Harmony August 13, 2019	Download
	Where Two Or Three Are Gathered August 13, 2019	Download
	The Discipline of Memory August 13, 2019 Last week a former vice-president and now presidential candidate said on the campaign trail “we choose science over fiction; we choose truth over facts.” Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon reflects upon truth vs. facts, and the role memory plays in this.	Download
	August 13, 2019 August 13, 2019 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Matthew 18:18-22, 19:1-2, 13-15	Download
	St Finian of Clonard (549) August 12, 2019 "St Finian, known as the 'Tutor of the Saints of Ireland,' stands with St Enda of Aran at the head of the patriarchs of Irish monasticism. He showed great zeal and piety for God from his youth. He had already founded three churches before he set off for Wales to study at the feet of St Cadoc at Llancarfan (September 25, †577). In Llancarfan he became close friends with St Gildas (January 29, †570), another of St Cadoc's disciples. Upon his return to Ireland, he founded the great Monastery of Clonard during the same year the great St Enda (March 21, †530) reposed in Aran. A multitude of illustrious and holy men studied under St Finian, including the famous 'Twelve Apostles of Ireland.' St Finian founded many other monasteries during his lifetime, including the famous island monastery of Skellig Michael off the southwest coast of Ireland." (Saint Herman Calendar 2003)	Download
	Martyrs Anicetas and Photius of Nicomedia (305) August 12, 2019 These holy martyrs suffered victoriously in the year 305 (Prologue) or 288 (Great Horologion), during the reign of Diocletian, who visited Nicomedia to stir up a persecution of Christians there. Anicetas, one of the city governors, presented himself before the Emperor, boldly confessed his Christian faith, and denounced the worship of the idols. Anicetas was subjected to a series of cruelties: his tongue was cut out, but he miraculously continued to speak; he was thrown to a lion, but it refused to attack him; then he was savagely beaten with rods until his bones showed through his wounds. His nephew Photius, seeing his endurance of all these trials, ran forward, embraced his uncle, and declared to the Emperor that he too was a Christian. The Emperor ordered that he be beheaded immediately, but the executioner, raising his sword, gave himself such a wound that he died instead. After many tortures, the two were put in prison for three years, then brought out and cast into a fiery furnace, where they died, though their bodies were brought out of the flames intact. Saint Anicetas is counted as one of the Holy Unmercenaries.	Download
	My Pilgrimage to Alaska: Part 2 August 12, 2019	Download
	Humility Leads To Greatness August 12, 2019	Download