Dear Visitor,

    St. Makarios the Great Orthodox Mission parish is beginning its second year here on the South Side of Chicago. We are the first Orthodox parish to be planted on the South Side of Chicago since the earlier waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th century. We serve as the Orthodox Christian Chaplaincy at the University of Chicago, and provide an Orthodox Christian presence, witnessing to the broader South Side.
     Come visit, see the beauty and profundity of our liturgy and sacramental life; the truth, wisdom and light of Orthodox teachings; the gentle strength of our healing pastoral care for the person; and the generous liberality of our concern for our neighbor.
     All Orthodox Christians are welcome! All spiritual seekers and inquirers are welcome! Bring curiosity, bring openness-the zeal of faith is welcome, as is the challenging question born out of spiritual struggle. Our God is rich in goodness and love, He spares no expense in his work to heal us, to ennoble us, to raise us to the brilliant height that is true humanity divinized in Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit.
     Our patron saint is Makarios the Great, also known as Makarios the Egyptian. St. Makarios is a great and wise teacher of the spiritual life who lived in the 4th century, and has been considered a powerful heavenly intercessor throughout the ages. He taught by holy example and especially emphasized the transformative power of meditation on the divine name of Jesus Christ, which causes the heart to be enriched and fruitful with divine grace. The icon on the right of our front page shows St. Makarios with the cherubim, who, according to legend, appeared to him, "weighed his heart," and told him that the monastery he had founded in Sketis or Shihet (meaning "weight of heart" in the Egyptian language; still in existence today, at Wadi Natrun, Egypt) would be a blessed inheritance. We ask that St. Makarios pray to God that we also be blessed with the power of the name of Christ and the work of the Spirit so that our parish, neighborhood, and city are transformed by the weight of our hearts' grace-filled love for God and our neighbor.

                                                                                                                        In Christ,
                                                                                                                        Fr. Elijah Mueller