The Holy Orthodox Church traces it's history directly, in an unbroken line of succession, to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the original Pentecost. Orthodoxy prides itself on a rich tradition which, by and large, has been immune to the changing tides of secular thought during the past two millenia. The word "Orthodox" derives from the Greek words for "true faith".
The Orthodox Church is organized into a number of jurisdictions formed originally along ethnic lines, depending upon which part of the world the faithful were located in. Each of these jurisdictions is under the spiritual leadership of a Patriarch, and the various Patriarchs are deemed to be equals in status and authority, although traditionally, the Patriarch of Constantinople has been accorded the honor of being "first among equals", and is called the "Ecumenical Patriarch". The various ethnic jurisdictions, however, share one common faith and are in full communion with one another.
Those entering an Orthodox Church for the first time are struck by a wondrous sense that they are, in fact, entering upon Holy ground. They see the candles burning, watch as the faithful prayerfully reverence the icons, listen to the foreign-sounding tones of the chanted services, and smell the sweet-scented incense, which carries the prayers of the faithful heavenward.
The Orthodox Church welcomes all into her loving folds, with infants being accepted through the sacrament of Baptism by total immersion in water. Thus, the child born into a practicing Orthodox family is surrounded by the traditions of the faith, and the community of the faithful take an active part in the spiritual education of that child.
In the United States today, Orthodoxy is experiencing a renewal of sorts in that it is attracting people from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds, many of whom have discovered Orthodoxy's vibrant history on their own, thereby filling in a great gap in their understanding of the Christian experience between the time of the early church and the middle ages. Many are astounded to discover and read the works of the Patristic Fathers, which Orthodoxy has guarded as her precious treasure over the centuries, and has made it available to all who hunger for that knowledge.
The following links will serve, I hope, to give the reader an opportunity to learn a little about the Orthodox Church, if you are so inclined. While I originally envisioned this as something of an exhaustive catalog of source materials, I quickly learned that others have already done a yeoman's job of putting these resources together in a format which can be easily accessed over the Internet. I have, therefore, attempted to simply give you the best of those links in the hope that they will whet your appetite and cause you to follow them on your own. It is my further hope that anything beneficial that you find here, or through these links, will make an impression upon your heart and soul, and that if anything I have stated herein is in error, that it will "go in one ear and out the other".
The True Vineyard An impressive work offered by Angie Tzouvelakos of Montreal and Rev. Athanasios Kalogirou of Greece. They offer a number of items in your choice of Greek or English, including pages dealing with Catechesis, Holidays of the Church, A Topic of the Week, The Sunday Gospels for each week and a number of prayers. They also plan to offer some Patristic writings in the near future. Check it out!