Guides to the Orthodox Faith at Home
How to set up an icon corner, wear a cross, keep holy water and name days, and care for your icons: plain answers from the Church's tradition, with the sources we read.
How to Set Up an Orthodox Icon Corner (Prayer Corner) at Home
A step-by-step guide to the Orthodox icon corner, the ‘beautiful corner’ of the home: where it goes, which icons come first, what belongs beside them and how a family prays there.Read the guide
How to Wear an Orthodox Cross (and Who May Wear One)
The Orthodox cross is put on by the priest at baptism and worn for life, day and night, close to the body. Here is how to wear it, on what, and what to do when it breaks or comes off.Read the guide
What Is Consecration? Why the Church Consecrates Icons and Crosses
What it means for a priest to consecrate an icon or a cross: the teaching of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the rite in the Book of Needs, how to treat a consecrated item, and how Lampada’s Consecration works.Read the guide
The Orthodox Three-Bar Cross Explained: Bars, Footrest, Letters
What each part of the Orthodox three-bar (eight-pointed) cross means: the title board, the slanted footrest, the letters IC XC NIKA and the Golgotha signs, with the cross feasts and how our crosses follow the tradition.Read the guide
Old Calendar and New Calendar: Why Orthodox Feasts Have Two Dates
Why some Orthodox keep Christmas on 25 December and others on 7 January, which churches follow which calendar, why Pascha falls on one day for nearly everyone, and how to read a calendar with two dates.Read the guide
Name Days Explained: What They Are, How Families Keep Them, and Gifts
A name day is the feast of the saint whose name you carry. Here is how to find yours on either calendar, how Greek and Russian families keep it, and what to give.Read the guide
Orthodox Patron Saint: How to Find Yours (by Name, Day or Choice)
Your Orthodox patron saint is the saint whose name you were given at baptism. Here is how to find yours by name, by the day of your birth or baptism, or by choice, and how to keep the name day.Read the guide
How to Pray with an Orthodox Prayer Rope (Chotki, Komboskini)
A plain guide to the Orthodox prayer rope (chotki, komboskini): what the knots mean, how to pray the Jesus Prayer on it step by step, and how to keep it.Read the guide
Orthodox Holy Water at Home: How to Keep and Use It
Where Orthodox holy water comes from, how families keep it near the icons, how to drink it and sprinkle the home, and how to pour out old water with reverence.Read the guide
Giving an Icon as an Orthodox Gift: Which Icon for Whom
Which icon to give for a name day, a baptism, a wedding, a new home, a traveler, a soldier or a friend of another church, and how to give it well.Read the guide
How to Care for an Orthodox Icon: Cleaning, Light and the Lampada
How to clean each kind of Orthodox icon, where to keep it, how to tend a vigil lamp safely, and what the Church does with an old or damaged icon.Read the guide
Consecrated Items and Returns: Why They’re Final Sale
Why a consecrated cross, icon or diptych can’t be returned, how to change your mind before the rite is performed, and what we still replace or refund.Read the guide
