Blog posts and original articles
Fr. John Kowalczyk is the Director of Field Education Studies at St. Tikhon’s Seminary, Contract Chaplain at the SCI Waymart facility in Pennsylvania, and member of the Board of Trustees of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry. In our recent blog post, Fr. John helped shed some light on the current situation in prisons and jails due […]
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We would like to wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving! Amidst this difficult and challenging year, we still have so much for us to be grateful for this Thanksgiving season. Orthodox Christian […]
It’s Wednesday morning and I say my prayers before a small copy of the Hawaiian myrrh streaming Icon of the Theotokos and I anoint myself with the holy myrrh and ask for Her Holy intercession and protection as I leave the Church rectory for a short 15 minute ride to the state institution at Waymart, […]
Susan is a sister in Christ who is serving time in a state prison in Texas. She shares, “I used to dream about getting paroled— what I would eat first and finally getting a good night’s sleep. Now I dream of finally hearing the Divine Liturgy, experiencing the Mystery of the Eucharist…I pray for my […]
By Father Stephen Powley There is an amazing story tucked in the Book of Joshua (chapter 7) in the Old Testament that is often overlooked. After the Israelites had taken the walled city of Jericho by the miraculous hand of God, they were to take a very small town called Ai. After the Israelites were […]
By Father Stephen In chapter 11 of the Gospel of St. John, we find the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. There were many people standing there, watching what was taking place. Jesus “cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, […]
Someone in prison once wrote to this ministry and mentioned he was reading Dante’s Inferno. He suggested that perhaps Dante got the inspiration for his book after spending a summer inside a prison. There is a prison in Texas which some people serving time there call The Glass House because the exterior walls are nothing […]
Before offering some thoughts on how OCPM conducts catechesis for people in prison I would like to take the opportunity to recognize those Orthodox clergy and laity who work tirelessly where they are able to help our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated. Despite their sacrifices there is still a difficulty which must be faced: […]
Confronting the evil of social injustice must be predicated on the understanding that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12). Social injustice is a failure to see […]
by Fr. John Brown These words are familiar to most Orthodox Christians. They come from Psalm 142, are chanted at every Great Vespers, and they can teach those of us with a heart for inmates and prison ministry. The psalmist is describing his own experience of prison. It may have been an actual, physical prison, […]