13 Απριλίου 2017

Once people distanced themselves from God, inebriated by the mortal pleasure of Luciferian self-deification, and after Cain, motivated by envy and jealousy, murdered his brother Abel, down this day and age and until the end of the age ‘wickedness has accompanied human nature as rust does copper or filth the body’, as Saint Anthony the Great teaches. Human nature remains the same. We may have achieved some remarkable technological advances, but, ‘the darkness of hell is an integral part of the whole of human existence’, since ‘the earthly atmosphere emits the stench of blood. We’re all fed, on a daily basis, with news about murders or the torture of the defeated in internecine warfare. Dark clouds of hatred hide the ...

The symbol of the cross is ubiquitous in society. It is printed on bumper stickers and tattooed on forearms; it is spray painted on concrete walls and stitched onto denim jackets; it adorns the necks of gangsta rappers as well as scantily clad models. Is the cross merely a fashion statement, a cultural icon, a religious trademark, or is it something more? The cross is the third most celebrated subject in the Orthodox Church calender—the first two being the life of our Lord and the life of the Theotokos. The cross is commemorated on the feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September), on the feast day of the Veneration of the Holy Cross (the third Sunday in ...

I haven’t written a public review of "The Passion" because my feelings are so mixed. I am so glad for all the people who are having their faith strengthened and renewed, or even finding faith for the first time. I don’t want to puncture that. A friend at my church saw it once, wanted to see it a second time, then read a negative review ("the characters were flat", etc). She decided not to see it again. That’s sad. When people get disappointed with the film I think it has to do with what Coleridge called the "willing suspension of disbelief." What people are enthralled by is the Lord Jesus Christ. When their enthusiasm begins to dip is when the notice that ...