In English

Today Gabriel, who stands before God, came to the pure virgin, announcing the glad tidings: ‘Hail, you who are full of grace’. She tried to think what kind of salutation this might be. But the angel went straight on to say: ‘The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favour with God. You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob unto the ages And of His kingdom there will ...

What darkness, what delusion, what weakness and what a terrible, deathly power sin is. Is it other people’s fault that they’re different from us and so we hate them, or that they disagree with us or that they don’t play to our egotism and don’t flatter our passions? Don’t we all have our own free will, our own idiosyncrasy, our temperament, habits and little ways? We should be understanding towards others and respect other people’s freedom, which even God Himself doesn’t infringe.

The biblical story of the Feast of the Annunciation is found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke (1:26-39). The Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, who was living in Nazareth, and said to her, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you.” Mary was perplexed and wondered what kind of greeting this was. The angel told her not to be afraid, for she had found favor with God. He said, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and ...

The destiny of humanity changed radically after Christ’s Incarnation, and a living model of human behavior was initiated by the second Adam, the perfect Man, who is Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, Christ’s teaching did not come as a secular revolution. This is what His contemporary Jews did not understand. On the contrary, salvation in Christ came to this world in a silent but powerful way: internally through patience, love, sacrifice, and humility. Although Christ’s teaching introduced a revolutionary model of life where equality, justice, love, and mutual sacrifice are the motives of human behavior, Christ’s Incarnation did not aim for liberation from any social injustice, but liberation from death and corruption. However, people are still dying and this world is more ...

Cultivate the fear of God within you, as well as reverence for His indescribable majesty. Have a broken and contrite heart. Consider everyone superior to you. Love silence, isolation, and conversing with the Lord, Who will become your guide and teacher.

Today is a bright and joyful day for the human race. The Archangel Gabriel brings the message of our salvation to the Virgin Mary. God comes to be born in the flesh, to dwell in a human body, to expunge the curse, to bridge the gap that separated God from people. The Lord of the Heavens asks the permission of a person He created, to plight Himself to the lowliness of her nature. Today is revealed the ineffable magnitude of God’s mercy towards us rebel humans. He Who is boundless comes into nature and becomes the son of a human being, in the “form of a servant” and “takes on created flesh”. In spring, the season of the renewal of nature, ...

The Akathistos Hymn occupies an important in the reverential period of Great Lent and is one of the most popular and well-known hymns, both in terms of its melody and poetry. Its inclusion in the Triodio can be explained by the fact that the content is linked to the joyful message of the Annunciation, which is why the Fridays before and after the feast both announce it and recollect it. A special place in the service of the Akathistos belongs to the proem to the kontakion ‘To you victorious leader of triumphant hosts. It’s sung ‘slowly and melodically’, clearly in order to emphasize the historical depth of the faith of Christians that ‘the triumphant leader’ is our protectress and helper in ...

Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me. Bring peace and calm to my bad conscience.

After many months of work by an inter-disciplinary team from the Metsovio National Technical University, under the leadership of Professor Antonia Moropoulou, the Canopy of the Most Holy Sepulchre is now fully restored and once more ready to receive the countless pilgrims who flock to Jerusalem on a daily basis. Photos: briefingnews.gr The handover ceremony took place shortly before noon, in the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, and the Prime Minister of Greece. At the beginning of the ceremony of the return of the Canopy, Patriarch Theofilos of Jerusalem stressed the importance of the task and the significance of the work of the experts from the National Technical University. He also declared that he was moved by the things that ...

In the thoughts that follow I would like to look at a crucial subject. It is the great issue of secularism in church, theology, and pastoral care. St Paul Secularism is the loss of the true life of the Church, the alienation of Church members from the genuine Church spirit. Secularism is the rejection of the ecclesiastic ethos and the permeation of our life by the so-called “worldly spirit.” It should be stressed that secularization of the Church members is a grave danger. The Church has several “enemies”; the worst and most dangerous one is secularization, which eats up the marrow of the Church. The Church itself, of course, is under no real danger, since it is the blessed Body of Christ, ...

‘And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it”’ (Gen. 1, 11), because once the earth had been cleared of the huge volume of the waters, it appeared to be entirely deserted and unadorned. But once it accepted the law and the word of the Creator it suffered pangs and gave birth immediately to a whole host of offspring: verdure, plants, meadows, flowers and wonderful fruits. It was decked out like a bride, ornamented in a beautifully bejeweled costume. Even though it was such a short time since it had been cleared. No sooner ...

We’ll all depart this life. We’re just passing through. We came here to show what we can do and then leave.

The story of the fall is clear. Eve was deceived by the serpent and first transgressed God’s commandment by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Then she went on and gave to the man who also ate. The punishment is an unavoidable consequence of the act of disobedience. And for woman, it sounds more severe: “I will greatly multiply your pain and your groaning, and in pain you shall bring forth children. Your recourse will be to your husband, and he shall rule over you”. Throughout the primitive history of Genesis, God responds to the rebellion of His creation with a direct judgment and punishment. But God’s justice in the Old Testament is not blind judgment according to a ...

Publican and the Pharisee During a recent talk at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, New York, Bishop Savas Zembillas, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, read one of my favorite Rilke poems, “Archaic Torso of Apollo.” The talk was about encountering the holy in popular culture, and the poem has to do with the transforming effect art can have on us. Describing the headless statue, Rilke speaks of the power still suffusing it. Without this radiant power (I quote Stephen Mitchell’s translation), this stone would not, from all the borders of itself, burst like a star: for here there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life. Art can bring us to such moments, even, as Bishop Savas suggested, ...

Today's verdict on the part of the Greek justice system has restored the honour of those who have been so unfairly treated for almost a decade. The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaid glorifies God for permitting those people to be vindicated. It can now continue its spiritual and charitable tasks without let or hindrance. Thanks are due to the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, the Church of Greece, the Patriarchates of Alexandria and Jerusalem and to all the clergy and laity who supported us all these years.

Today, 21 March 2017, the three-member Court of Appeals in Athens declared all the defendants innocent in the case of the Monastery of Vatopaidi land exchange. This verdict comes at the end of eight difficult years for Abbot Ephraim and the other defendants, including two years of judicial sessions and sixty days in court. In December, the Public Prosecutor had made a recommendation of acquittal for all the defendants in the case, stating that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on their part. The courtroom was filled to capacity with hierarchs, clergy, monastics and lay people, who expressed their approval and relief by a generous round of applause.

We have an exaggerated idea of our own importance. But anything that’s revealed to us actually comes from eternity. We’re surrounded by God’s mysteries. And we ourselves are the greatest mystery. We don’t even know who we are, where we come from or where we’re going.

In recent times, the ecological crisis has been brought increasingly to our attention. Scientists, the media, Hollywood, thrash metal bands, and a horde of environmentalists from politicians to tree-hugging hippies and pseudo-Buddhists, have all had their say. But there is one voice on environmental issues that seems to only speak in hushed tones, and this is the voice of Christianity. Some people claim that Christianity, far from being concerned about environmental issues, is the prime culprit for the ecological crisis. These people point to the creation of the first human beings in the book of Genesis, where God says to the first-formed: “…fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the ...

‘And God said , “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so’. (Gen. 1, 9). But where will they be gathered, Lord, where will the water be kept when it reaches the land. He said: ‘At my command, gulfs and chasms have appeared in the earth which are as deep as the heavens are high, and the waters will be gathered there. On the surface, they’ll be the same as the surface of the earth’. Photo: Spyros Drosos ‘And it was so’. The waters under the sky were gathered together and the earth appeared. That must have been a strange and wonderful sight that would have astonished ...