In English

The truth of the Church regarding the equivalent position of women and men has been maintained even in times which were difficult for women in society, such as when the Turks occupied Greece. Indicative of this are the words of the great teacher of the Greeks, Kosmas Aitolos, who placed the issue within the context of the Church and the perspective of salvation. ‘You, as a husband, my brother, shouldn’t treat your wife as a slave, because she’s as much a creation of God as you are. God was crucified for her, just as He was for you. You call God ‘Father’ and so does she. You both have one baptism, one faith. You and she both partake of the same ...

It’s a great thing for people to stop being self-serving, to escape from self-love, from their own self-interest, because then their sacrifice will be genuine and their presence will be a testimony to Christ.

People have their being and are regarded always as a whole and as a person. They aren’t a conglomeration of disparate substances and elements (such as soul and body) but each is a unique persona, involving the soul and body. In the human person, the body and soul are not independent entities but are hypostatic realities. In other words, the soul and the body don’t exist and can’t be conceived by themselves, outside or earlier than the persona, because they don’t have their own persona. The soul and the body exist only within the human person, as personal realities and dimensions of the person. On this basis, the prime concern of the Church is respect for and protection of the human person ...

Make sure you don’t criticize, because through that, God permits Grace to leave you and the Lord lets you fall, so that you’re humbled and see your own faults.

October 9, 2015 This week Bishop Eva Brunne of the Lutheran Church of Sweden proposed that the Cross be removed from the Seamen's Church in the Swedish city of Freeport to make it more "inviting" to non-Christian sailors. "Making a room available for people of other faiths does not mean that we are not defenders of our own faith," she said. "Priests are called to proclaim Christ. We do that every day and in every meeting with people, but that does not mean that we are stingy toward people of other faiths." Even more troubling is that Brunne's ecclesiastical superior, Archbishop Antje Jackelen, is mute on the matter. Is silence the only response Jackelen can muster when her subordinate proposes nothing less ...

If we could come out of ourselves, (out of the love of ourselves) we’d emerge from the attraction of the Earth and then we’d see everything as it really is, with the eye of God, purely and profoundly.

1. ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY CONCERNING DEATH Unlike other living creatures, human beings alone are endowed by God with reason and we alone are aware of our mortality and death. Accordingly, we alone have the ability to think deeply about it. If we journey back in time we see that, depending on people’s education, social class and interests, they investigated a variety of problems. Everyone thought about death, though, regardless of education, class or interests. As the outstanding expression of what moves our human nature, art touched on this subject from very early on. Through poetry, music, painting, sculpture and architecture our innate awe of death was expressed, revealing our human nature, which is indissolubly linked to it. Thinkers in every period have attempted ...

Can science tell us how the great Prophet Isaiah foretold the most important events in the life of Christ 700 years before His birth? Can it explain the gift of foresight which the saints have and tell us with what natural methods they acquired this grace? How is it that, on first meeting someone, they can immediately read their heart and thoughts? Without waiting for a question from visitors, they’ve given answers to what was troubling them. Let it tell us in what way the saints foretold great historical events which later came to pass exactly as they’d prophesied.

Our Church, with its rich patristic tradition, is not devoid of examples and stories on spiritual matters in order to coach its people.  Both our Fathers and the martyrs have left abundant material of remarkable splendor which refers to their life stories. Their sweet smelling words and their teachings have drawn the luminous trail for the salvation of those who would like to take the narrow and steep path which leads to the Kingdom of God. However, the enormousness of our Lord Jesus Christ’s godlike might, which is the same “yesterday and today and to all Eternity” continues, not just those days but also today and until the end of times, to promote the spiritual stature of the heroes of our ...

For years now, Pemptousia has operated as an electronic magazine, promoting and providing insight into the dialogue between religion, culture and the sciences. Our starting point, of course, has always been Orthodox Christian Tradition as this has been expressed over the centuries. The most sublime expression of our Tradition is the Theology of the Fathers of the Church. Throughout its years of service, Pemptousia has hosted a large number of theological articles and interviews, though it has not, so far, expressed its theological interests in a clearly academic manner. This long-awaited moment has now arrived and Pemptousia is in a position to present its latest progeny: Analogia. Analogia (www.analogiajournal.com) is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the scholarly exposition and discussion of ...

The angels in heaven in glory and hymns. People in their pleasures and their palaces. God the Creator in a cave, in the animals’ manger, like the poorest of the poor. What humility on the part of our Jesus! Acquire that humility, my sons. Humility is the most engaging virtue, a garment stitched with gold. Blessed are those who wear it, because they’ll acquire an inexpressible spiritual beauty. As against this, the filthiest passion is pride and egotism.

B. The Liturgy of the Faithful The second part of the Divine Liturgy is the Liturgy of the Faithful, in which only baptized Christians may take part. It consists of: a) The Great Entrance b) The embrace and confession of the faith c) The Holy Offertory d) Preparation for Holy Communion e) Holy Communion f) Thanksgiving and dismissal The Great Entrance is the transfer of the gifts from the Preparation table to the Holy Altar. Before this happens, the priest says two prayers, through which he asks God to cleanse us of all sin, so that we may be counted worthy of participating in the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist. The people sing the Cherubic Hymn: ‘Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim and who sing the thrice-holy ...

On 25th November, on the occasion of 1100th anniversary of the Dormition of saint Clement, Archbishop of Ochrid and wonderworker (Ὁ Ἅγιος Κλήμης ἐπίσκοπος Ἀχρίδος ὁ θαυματουργὸς), with the blessing of his Beatitude Ieronymos II Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Bulgarian Orthodox Church has the extraordinary honour of the visit of precious head of saint Clement, brought by Greek church delegation led by His Eminence Panteleimon, Metropolitan of Veria, Naousa and Kampania, Very Reverend Archimandrite Athenagoras, and Very reverend Archimandrite Porphyrios, Abbot of Holly Monastery Timiou Prodromou, in Veria. That holly place, where saint Clement had taken his monastic vows in 9th century is also blessed by his wish of the presence of his holly relics. Monastic brotherhood follows pious ...

If you fast, take communion, read and don’t have love, it’s all for nothing, because God is love.

The dark continent of Africa made famous two Englishmen named Stanley and Livingston whose exploits have been well chronicled in books and motion pictures, but way back in the fourth century two brothers experienced a saga which by comparison makes the Livingston-Stanley affair seem like a Boy Scout outing in the park. For sheer heroism and glory not even the epic achievements of Colonel T.E. Lawrence can match the African adventures of two Christians brothers, one of whom became a saint for his contribution to the cause of Christianity. Frumentios and his brother Adesios were scholarly philosophers who lived during the reign of the Emperor Constantine the Great (A.D. 330) and were natives of the Middle Eastern city of Tyre. Devout ...

The greatest and most mysterious events in people’s life are birth and death. But death gives rise to much more powerful emotions and causes deeper problems. It first impinged on us after the fall of Adam and Eve and the death of Abel the Righteous. Since then it has been an integral and inescapable part of every form of life ever born. The drama and pain we feel when faced with the mystery of death is such that, from as early as antiquity, we’ve tried to understand and interpret death and the meaning of life through our own philosophy, But the pre-Christian world, which was under the law and sentence of Adam, with Hades as the only destination for us after ...

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Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.