In English

O Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of all, Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, And in Your compassion Grant me tears of compunction. From the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete Some of us might think: here we go again, another Lent is on us, and many weeks without our favorite eggs and bacon, all that we like and just can’t live without Today, I would like to propose you a more dynamic and positive outlook on Lent. Great Lent is actually an adventure, a fabulous journey. All of us Orthodox Christians are together on this journey, and we have a great companion: the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-31).             You heard this parable during the Divine Liturgy a few weeks ago. It ...

“The thrones were set and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head as pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire...A river of fire rushed before Him...The tribunal sat and the books were opened. And the beast was given over to the burning of the fire” (Daniel 7:9-11) This famous vision of God in the book of Daniel has perplexed theologians and inspired artists and authors for centuries. Many Christians regard this vision of the Ancient of Days as a vision of God the Father. But contra Orthodox Christianity, this is a vision of God the Son, the eternal Word of God, the pre-incarnate Christ. “In the beginning ...

Besides, the repair of traditional and historical buildings as well as the conservation of cultural heirlooms is a very costly business. For many members of the Church it may be a luxury which ought to be of more interest to the archaeological services and less to the Christian engaged in the spiritual struggle. But the value of Christian cultural wealth can’t be assessed as measurable material; rather, it must be seen as something which has radiated the life and spirit of the Church throughout its history. People of the Church, of every social and economic level, have often expressed their relationship with God through art. Art of all kinds. The Church accepted this from very early on and gave it ...

If you’ve turned to God with all your heart, and you’ve given yourself over to Him entirely, He won’t allow you ever to be deceived. His angel, your sleepless guardian, will warn you secretly of every danger.

The period of the Triodio and Great Lent is very important for the spiritual life of the Church. This is because it prepares us properly for our participation in the greatest feast of the Church, the Lord’s Resurrection. The content of the hymns and the melodic accompaniment with which they are invested is one of the ways the Church uses to instruct the faithful in spiritual exercise and edification. ‘Open to me the gates of repentance, Giver of Life’ and ‘The multitude of my past iniquities’ are hymns which mark the beginning of the Triodio and characterize this liturgical period. Dimosthenis Païkopoulos, a former 2nd Domestikos of the Patriarchal church and one of the finest teachers of the art of Church ...

People who have given in to their innate urges can’t have a reasoning soul, because a reasoning soul wishes to act freely. Since it’s mobile, it also has freedom of movement. Whatever it does, it does of its own volition, not out of necessity. So a reasoning soul is intellectual, mobile and free. It’s aware of itself and the quality of its actions.

In our presentation we will touch upon an issue which may not be readily acknowledged by those who are not initiated in the existence of divine Grace. We would actually say that it quite ‘heavy going’ as its title reveals: ‘God-forsakenness’. However, it is a particularly important, “a crucial”, element in spiritual life. When many people, perhaps most, will hear what we have to say they will respond: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”(John 6, 60) However, Elder Sophrony stressed that God wishes to see us become perfect just as He is perfect (See Elder Sophrony: We shall see Him as He is). The path to perfection necessarily passes through the Calgary of God-forsakenness. During the crucial ...

Nikiforos Theotokis was born on 15 February, in the year 1731, in the town of Kerkyra . The fourth child of seven, his parents, Stefanos and Anastasia Theotokis, gave him the name Nikolaos at his baptism. His first teacher was the hieromonk, Ieremias Kavvadias, one of the most outstanding teachers on Corfu at the time. He had a great effect on the personality of young Theotokis and afterwards maintained spiritual ties with him. In December, 1748, despite the fact that he was only 17 years old, he was ordained deacon in Lefkada, by Archbishop Chrysanthos Psomas of Lefkada and Ayia Mavra, since there wasn’t an Orthodox bishop on Corfu. His ordination was in flat contradiction to the canons of the Church, which ...

How can quietude, poverty and the renunciation of worldly goods be preserved in such circumstances? If we say that they are to be reduced to a minimum, then, even if the basic needs of the monks are met, it’s almost certain that the preservation of the cultural heritage, hospitality and works of charity will decline steeply. It might be said: “Let them. From a spiritual point of view, they’re not so important as the preservation of peace and quiet. But things don’t seem to be quite like that. Quietude and isolation are, for monasticism, a means of renouncing the secular outlook, but not of estrangement from the company of other people. “A monk is someone who is separated from everybody ...

We criticize those politicians who are in power, but they’re also our children. It’s us, the older generation, who are to blame for not setting them a proper example. We’re an image of generations past, and we didn’t manage to learn much from them. Now it’s we who have to answer. And we have to start with ourselves and not try to change other people.

The metaphorical meaning of Deification was first used by Clement of Alexandria. In the 6th century, Dionysius the Areopagite mentioned that deification is the attaining to the likeness of God and the union with Him as much as possible. In the 7th century, Maximus the Confessor redefined the meaning and classified it as a theological topic in its own right.  The reason for this is that deification language is usually used metaphorically. Also, Homoiosis and Methexis are two key terms used by Plato in later Platonic thought.  These terms express the relationship between Being and Becoming. The importance of deification can be observed in cultural, polemical and problematic discussions. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, deification came to be expressed ...

But in order to reach this point , of great assistance is the way in which the prayer’s said, which, of course, you’ll have heard of or maybe read about. But now we’ll systematize it, so we can practice it, and that’ll bring good results. We said, the heart’s the centre of all movement, spiritual and intellectual, but also of the pains of the body. Every bodily pain resounds in the heart. Even if your tooth hurts, it causes pain in the heart. Or your hand, if you cut it, or your kidneys, they all cause pain in the heart. The heart works through the respiration. When we stop breathing, gradually the heart stops as well. Through inhalation, we draw in ...

Don’t forget: always light a candle in church ‘for those who are sick and those who are travelling’.

On 27 November, 2013, the Ecumenical Patriarchate entered two new names into the Calendar of Saints of the Church: Porfyrios Kavsokalyvitis and Hieromonk Meletios, from Ypseni, Rhodes. Many Orthodox will already know about Saint Porfyrios, who lived recently (1906-1991). But who was Saint Meletios? He was born in the village of Lardos, on Rhodes, towards the end of the 18th century. His baptismal name was Emmanouil, and from childhood he received ‘the discipline and instruction of the Lord’ from his parents (as was also the case with Saint Porfyrios). He was taught to read and write by the parish priest of his home village. From an early age, he also demonstrated an intensely charitable and philanthropic spirit, despite his parents’ admonitions. Another ...

The Prodigal Son lived aimlessly and wasted all the wealth his father gave him. When he’d spent it all, a famine struck the far-off country where he was and he himself began to starve. In this distant country, far removed from God, there’s always a famine, because the earth can’t satisfy someone who’s hungry. All its food does is to increase your hunger. The earth can satisfy only irrational beasts. There’s no way it can satisfy people. There’s always famine in this far-off land. Sinners who forget God and spend all the life forces which God gave them as their share, will end up starving hungry. This is a hunger that can’t be sated for a single moment by the ...

Throughout the thousand- year long history of the saint-nurturing Mount Athos countless holy figures have been distinguished.  This fact constitutes the greatest benefit which the Holy Mountain has given to Church and to the world. Many of those righteous monks have been marked out and widely recognized by the flock of the Church while still alive, some after their repose, while others wished to remain anonymous even after their death. Demokritos’ dictum “live in anonymity” constitutes the main attribute of the hagiorite monasticism. The monk from the Holy Mountain does not seek recognition in this life and diligently tries to hide his virtues. This is how St Siluan the Athonite lived. While still alive most people thought that he was an ...

Injustices don’t come from God, but they’re allowed by Him for our good. Yes, for our good. These aren’t empty words. It’s the truth.

 “Lets us reject both pleasure and pain in this life with all our might in order to be freed from any schemes drawn by passions and from any demonic wickedness. For, we love passions for their hedonistic pleasure and because of pain we avoid virtue”. (Saint Maximus the Confessor, Seven Hundred Chapters on Theology, Third Hundred, paragraph 52) What describes a man’s life without God is how fiercely futility clashes with irrationality with tragic consequences. The wretched man is the victim of this tragedy. He is being dragged without mercy from the instigators of pain and fear to his death, which he alone has shaped when he severed himself from God, from eternal life and happiness. Had the Merciful Lord ...

I haven’t spoken to you about this before. That’s my omission and, let’s say, my responsibility. Our heart’s the centre of supernatural, natural and unnatural movements. Everything starts from the heart. If the heart’s been cleansed, then God is beheld, we see Him. How shall we see Him? Is God perhaps anthropomorphous, i.e. does He have human form so that we can see Him? No. God isn’t visible. God is Spirit, and as total Spirit is present everywhere. And He’s also to be found in the human heart, provided that’s become an acceptable vessel. To become such, it has to be cleaned. Not that we should wash it with water, but that it should be cleansed of impure thoughts. In order ...

‘Sweetest Jesus! You who were sinless God suffered so, so many wrongs, so much controversy so many curses, so much mockery from such a crowd of people who hated you and bore you such ill-will. And you suffered all this with tolerance, for my love and my salvation. And should I, then, a sinful, impassioned and wretched man, complain and ask why my Elder gives me the bitter medicine of my salvation? I get what I deserve. So I have no excuse and I just have to put up with it and shoulder the Cross Your goodness has given me for my salvation’.