2016

The attack which took place in the church of St. Etienne du Rouvray, in Normandy came as a reminder, unfortunately, of the religious character of the extremist terrorism which has been targeting Europe. The terrorists acted under the umbrella of the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility and they slit the throat of an 84-year-old priest, while holding hostage nuns and members of the congregation who were attending Mass. The incident ended with the intervention of the French authorities who neutralized the perpetrators. The Islamic State and the groups of the network of Islamic extremism in general have never hidden the fact that their activities are of a religious character. With a distorted interpretation of Islam orientated towards violence, they have ...

Chase the ‘prayer’ as those people do who are looking for a pearl. Without the ‘prayer’ Christ isn’t in the heart. The ‘prayer’ is what’ll teach you to love Christ.

In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom celebrated in the Orthodox Church, the priest repeats the following prayer a number of times: Let us commit ourselves and one another, and our whole life to Christ our God. The ecclesiastical year, which begins on September 1st, has been divinely developed by the Church Fathers with feasts and fasts to aid our life in the God-Man Christ. The longest and strictest fast, Great Lent, paves the way for Pascha (Easter), the Feast of Feasts. In addition to Lent, there are three other periods of prescribed fasting: that of the Apostles in June; the Dormition; and, that of Christmas in November-December. The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church is presently observing the Holy Dormition Fast; ...

(Talk in Irakleio, at an event sponsored by the Holy Archdiocese of Crete, in the presence of His Eminence Irinaios, Archbishop of Crete) Our subject today is an impressive contradiction in people nowadays. In particular, what we shall be concerned with is people’s willingness to become dependent at the very centre of an era when so much effort has been expended on the acquisition- and now enjoyment-  of the triumphant declaration of our independence! What is paradoxical is the fact that the more we progress with our external independence from binding conditions (tyrannies of all kinds), the more ways are found of constraining our internal freedom. In my view, it is a help in studying the phenomenon of addictions to see ...