Prayer Ministry
“Find the door of your heart. You will discover it is the door of the kingdom of God.” St. John Chrysostom
Patron Saint - St. Xenia
This prayer ministry is guided by the dean of the cathedral and by the ministry’s patron, St. Xenia, who is the patron saint of St. Petersburg, Russia. Tradition has it that, upon her husband's death, St. Xenia gave away all of her possessions to the poor. She is a highly-regarded Fool-for-Christ, who fell asleep in the Lord in 1803. Her feast day is the 24th of January. St. Xenia intercedes for those searching for a job, a spouse, or a home. She helps those praying to save a marriage or for the healing of mental illness.
Praying for Others
Subscribe
Become a subscriber to weekly updates of our gatherings. Send your request to: prayer@greekorthodoxhawaii.org
Prayer Requests
Our ministry will pray for all people who request prayer. Please submit a name (first name only) of the person to pray for. Send to: prayer@greekorthodoxhawaii.org
Virtual Psalter Group
More about the Psalter Group
- The praying of the Psalter is an ancient Christian tradition.
- The Psalms are a key part of Scripture that are referred to in our Nicene Creed when we say, “….and he rose on the 3rd day according to the Scripture”.
How It Works:
The Book of Psalms is divided into twenty sections, or kathismata. Each kathisma contains 6-8 psalms. Every person takes about 15-20 minutes a day to pray his/her assigned kathisma for the day. The prayer is done at a time of the reader’s own choosing and in whatever language he decides. The group prayed in English, Greek and Korean.
What Saints Said about the Psalter
“No other book so glorifies God as does the Psalter. It profits the soul; it glorifies God together with the angels. A psalm is the author of peace.” St. Basil the Great
“It would be better for the sun to fall from its orbit than to neglect reading the Psalter, for it is of great benefit to study the psalms, and to read the Psalter diligently.” St. John Chrysostom
St. John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Monastery Every day at 3:00 pm Hawaii (9:00 am Eastern) time, the ministry joins the nuns in prayer (the Jesus Prayer) for 15 minutes. The sisters in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin extended a warm invitation to all to join them virtually.
Praying for Departed Souls
Orthodox Christians pray for the departed souls as part of their regular prayer life. This is in addition to anniversary remembrances and the Saturday of the Souls.
The Prayer Ministry can work with families to arrange a memorial service and ensure the departed’s name is on our prayer list. Please send requests to prayer@greekorthodoxhawaii.org
Prayer Corner
Recap of last synopsis: The meaning of St. Paul’s passage saying that God’s power is manifest in weakness means to be completely supple, transparent, and abandoned in the hands of God. To be humble is to be open and ready with rich soil to receive anything from people and anything from God.
We now begin Chapter 2 : Knocking at the Door
In perceiving the absence of God, unless we view ourselves as being outside the Kingdom, we may spend our lives imagining that we are inside and behaving as such but never reaching the depth where God unfolds in all the beauty, truth, and glory.
So as outsiders, we must knock on the Door, the door of the Kingdom of God. But where is the Door? The Kingdom is within us. If we cannot find it, it will be most difficult to meet God, which is at the very depth of ourselves. This means that our chances of meeting Him outside ourselves in our material world are very remote.
When Russian cosmonaut and first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, came back from space in 1961, he said he never saw God in Heaven. A priest in Moscow remarked, “If you have not seen Him on earth, you will never see Him in Heaven.”
To be continued.
To purchase this book:
Christ is risen!
Across the country, people are coming into the Orthodox Church in numbers that are hard to ignore. This livestream discussion from the Orthodox Studies Institute takes an honest look at what is driving the surge — who these converts are, what they are searching for, and what it means for our parishes.
How Many People Just Became Orthodox?
The Greeks Who Changed the World - How Greek merchants in ancient Gaul evangelized an entire region simply by living their faith.
Church Growth, Orthodox Style — Lessons from St. Barnabas Orthodox Church - A conversation about what it looks like to grow a faithful Orthodox parish from the ground up.
Conversion Stories
Hear from Alex, Tim, Nick, and others as they share what drew them out of Protestant and Catholic backgrounds and into the Orthodox Church — the depth, the history, the reverence, and the moment each one knew they had found home.
First Impressions
Gen Z is coming to church — but they are vetting you before they ever walk through the door. This video breaks down the five specific channels young people use to discover and evaluate a church, and the results will surprise you. Spoiler: your website matters more than your social media, and neither one matters as much as a personal invitation. Worth watching with your parish council or evangelism team.
Upcoming Events
America as a Mission Field: What Is the Gospel? — Session 3
Father Andrew Jarmus and Father Christian Siskos continue the conversation.
June 9 | 5:30 PM PST | Free Online Presentation
Please Consider Supporting Growing Orthodoxy in America!
The Missions and Evangelism Ministry exists to help the Orthodox faith grow throughout the Metropolis of San Francisco — through mission planting, evangelism education, and practical support for parishes like the ones featured in this newsletter.
To sustain and expand our work we need to raise $35,000 during 2026.
With additional support, we are ready to move forward on three initiatives:
- A Mission Planning Handbook to help parishes respond to growth and new opportunities
- Parish Evangelism Seminars that bring practical training directly to local communities
- Parish Momentum Events — two-day outreach gatherings that explain the Orthodox faith to inquirers and invite them to visit a nearby parish