Sermons from St. Herman's

Homily by Fr. Matthew Howell given at the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on the 5th Thursday of Lent, which happened to fall on the standard deadline (April 15) for Americans to file their IRS tax return. 

On the fourth Sunday of Lent on which the Orthodox Church commemorates St. John Climacus , author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent (full text can be found here ). Fr. Matthew Howell gives an overview of St. John's life and work then continues his years-long project of preaching through the steps of the Ladder of Divine Ascent . The topic of this homily is based on Step 4 of The Ladder. Previous...

Homily given on April 7, 2021 at the end of the Presanctified Divine Liturgy, drawing lessons from the life of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow who labored in America. 

Homily by Fr. Matthew Howell on Sunday April 4, 2021, the third Sunday of Great Lent in which the Church celebrates the Veneration of the Holy Cross. 

Homily about St. Innocent of Alaska and St. Mary of Egypt given by Fr. Matthew Howell at the end of the Presanctified Divine Liturgy on Wednesday March 31, 2021. 

Homily given during Liturgy on March 28, 2021, the Second Sunday of Great Lent. 

Homily given during the liturgy for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos on March 25. 

Homily given at the end of Great Vespers for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. 

Homily given Sunday, March 21, 2021 at St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage at the conclusion of the Pan-Orthodox Vespers for Sunday of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent. 

Homily given on the first Sunday of Lent - March 21, 2021

Homily given by Fr. Matthew Howell on the seven-year anniversary of the repose of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip Saliba, who served as Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America from 1966-2014. 

Homily given by Fr. Matthew Howell at the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on March 17, 2021. 

Fr. Matthew Howell's homily from Sunday March 14, 2021, the Sunday before the beginning of Great Lent known as Forgiveness Sunday.

Fr. Matthew Howell's homily on March 7, 2021 on which the Orthodox Church calls to mind the Last Judgment . 

Fr. Matthew Howell's homily from March 6, 2021, the first Memorial Saturday of the season. 

Fr. Matthew Howell's Homily from February 28, 2021, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son . 

On this Sunday before the Nativity of Christ , Fr. Matthew Howell talks about the meaning of the angelic proclamation to the Shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14).

On the 50th anniversary of the canonization (or glorification) of Saint Herman of Alaska , Archpriest Michael Oleksa, a preacher par excellence and a story-teller extraordinaire, preaches about what it means to be human and to be a saint using lessons from the life of Saint Herman. He draws from his experience as a priest and as a participant at the glorification services of Saint Herman in 1970.

On the ⁠Fourth Sunday of Lent ⁠ in 2020, on which the Orthodox Church commemorates St. John Climacus, who wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent , which lays out 30 steps of ascent to heaven. Fr. Matthew Howell continues his long-term preaching series that he began last year: Starting in 2019, he will preach on a different step or two of The Ladder each year. This year, preaching to only a handful of p...

On the Fourth Sunday of Lent in 2019, on which the Orthodox Church commemorates St. John Climacus, who wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent , which lays out 30 steps of ascent to heaven. Fr. Matthew Howell sets out on a 20-30 year preaching series. Starting with this homily, he will preach on a different step or two of The Ladder each year. In Step One, Fr. Matthew talks about Renunciation of Life, w...

On the day in which the Church reads the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and also celebrates the memory of St. John Chrysostom, Fr. Matthew Howell points out that the Orthodox Faith is meant to be done, and that St. John is the quintessential example of living the Faith. He also explains the importance of Christ saying twice in the interaction with the lawyer in the gospel passage, "...