In English

From the time of the restoration of orthodoxy with the accession of Theodosius, then, the observance of the nativity festival on De­cember 25 extended smoothly and swiftly from Constantinople, across Cappadocia to Antioch. The older festival of January 6 con­tinued to be observed with the theme of the baptism of Jesus. If be­tween Constantinople and Antioch there continued some confusion as to which of these was the Theophany of Christ, we can suppose that this was an ambiguity already in the earlier unitive celebration of the birth and baptism on that day. The reference of the incarnation to a precise point in the life of Jesus is ambiguous, indeed, in the prologue of the fourth gospel. It was otherwise, however, in ...

Let’s examine how women have been treated in Orthodox theology. It’s well known that Saint Paul proclaimed: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ . In saying this, we don’t want to demolish the differences which exist between men and women, as has happened in recent years, but rather to highlight the fact that the different roles both sexes have been assigned as part of God’s providence do not mean inequality, but an opportunity for harmonious co-existence and a means of complementing each other. The differences are not merely physical but are also part of their psychological make-up. Men and women represent ...

Have large dreams. Don’t dream about trivialities. And always in the context of the Church.

Nicholas Nixon for The New York Times By Paul Bloom Not long ago, a team of researchers watched a 1-year-old boy take justice into his own hands. The boy had just seen a puppet show in which one puppet played with a ball while interacting with two other puppets. The center puppet would slide the ball to the puppet on the right, who would pass it back. And the center puppet would slide the ball to the puppet on the left . . . who would run away with it. Then the two puppets on the ends were brought down from the stage and set before the toddler. Each was placed next to a pile of treats. At this point, the toddler was ...

From the moment people love Christ and give themselves to God, even if their passage through the monastery is not particularly marked, they sanctify the place of their ascetic struggle.

Shawn Paul Humphries was a murderer executed by the state of South Carolinaon December 2, 2005.  Fr. John Parker wrote the following piece for The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC on December 14, 2005. Hopefully, the Dec. 3 article about the execution of Shawn Humphries appeared on Page 7B of The Post and Courier (as opposed to a more prominent place) because we are ashamed to publish it as news. But, to quote an ancient saint, "Fie on the outrage!" How many times a year do we read about citizens incensed that the Ten Commandments are not posted here or there or are removed from public view, and yet we consent, at least by our silence, to state-sanctioned murder? We do ...

C. So, if a sermon is not merely the announcement of the fact of salvation, but should also encourage and teach the observance of the word of God, then the position of the priest who knows his “audience” becomes difficult. People today tend to think of the Gospel as a book with a four-fold history of Christ. But Christ didn’t write books, nor did He envisage volumes. The Gospel on His lips was the good news . Christ Himself is the bearer of this message, the herald of this good news: that people will be healed, the blind will regain their sight, the poor will inherit imperishable treasures, sinners will be forgiven, the polluted will be purified, imperfections will be perfected ...

As with most other questions surrounding the festivals of Christmas and Epiphany, the dissemination of the December festival in the East (and, as we shall see, the reverse process in the West) has been surrounded by controversy that will not soon, it seems, yield to perfect agreement. In Syria a festal list in Apostolic Constitutions V.13 gives first place to a feast of the nativity (genethlion) on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that month number repre­senting the Syrian acceptance of April as the paschal first month. That festival of the nativity is followed, on the sixth day of the next month, by the feast called epiphanios, on which, the text says, "the Lord made to you a manifestation ...

I’m not an Anglophile, nor a Francophile nor a Russophile. I was, am and always will be a Theophile, because only God loves and protects Greece.

The news, on this Sunday evening May 1, is full of the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of American troops inPakistan.  I listened to both President Obama’s announcement of the death, and Prime Minister Harper’s statement regarding it.  Both Obama and Harper’s words were measured and sound, and I find nothing to take issue with in either of them.  Osama bin Laden was, by any standards of civilized society, a murderer, someone who plotted to kill innocent men, women and children in support of his personal ideology, which seems to have been motivated by hatred for the West and theU.S.A.in particular.  He rejoiced in those deaths, showed no apparent remorse for them, and was intent of planning ...

Help from the Mother of God 18/1/2016 In 2008, my wife and I were married. During her first pregnancy she lost the baby. After that, our spiritual guide brought us from the Monastery of Vatopaidi a ribbon from the Girdle of the Mother of God, which my wife wore all the time. At the same time, we kept the rule given us by our spiritual guide, read prayers and lived modestly. No sooner had we finished the rule than a child was conceived. We had a girl, Sidonia. May the Mother of God help all those who call upon her. Bid. Nas

The holy martyr Petros, Bishop of Alexandria at the time of the Emperor Maximian (286-305) was a teacher of the true faith and guide of the Christians in the Orthodox dogmas. During the persecution of Diocletian (303), soldiers were sent to Alexandria where they arrested him and took him to Nicomedia. He was imprisoned by order of the emperor, the intention being to behead him. This information came to the attention of the priest Arius, who had been excommunicated by the saint for teaching that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, that is the Son, is not God, but a perfect creation of God. Arius seized the opportunity and sent priests and deacons to intercede with the saint to have ...

These days, people don’t understand, they don’t repent, they don’t come to their senses. The devil needs to prod them with his horns.

Paper given at a day conference of the Artos Zoïs (Bread of Life) Institute, on the subject “Let’s discuss the sermon at long last”. (Saturday 1 October 2011, National Research Institute, Athens) Venerable fathers, dear friends, I’m here with you today (and I’d like to thank my friend Stavros Zoumboulakis, the director of the Artos Zoïs Institute, for inviting me), not to deliver a theological treatise on the “much visited” subject of the sermon, but in order to put before you my thoughts, as these have gestated over the 29 years I’ve served in a small parish. I’m the parish priest at the church of Saint John Chrysostom in the town of Preveza. The parish consists officially of 239 families and, in fact, of as ...

Keep your faith, which is eternal and beyond any doubt.

My other article in OrthodoxyToday spoke to persons thinking of killing themselves.  The present article is directed to people who contemplate helping them do so, whether on a broad basis as part of some “right to dignified death” movement, or moved by personal compassion in a single individual case to spare someone they love from physical or mental pain or disability.  The present article surveys the teachings of the earliest Christians, Christians removed at most only a few generations from Christ and who preserved His spirit and words and Bible interpretations, to ascertain whether suicide and assisting suicide conform to Jesus’ way of love for all humankind.  This article is therefore relevant to all people interested in Christian ethics, and ...

Nun as Godmother The institution of godparents (sponsors) is one that dates back to the first century of the Christian Church. Anyone approaching baptism, be they infant or adult, was required to have a godparent. In the case of an infant, it is the godparent that speaks for the child, answering the questions posed by the priest during the baptismal service. But it doesn't stop there! The godparent is charged by the Church with the duty to make sure the newly baptized is instructed in the teachings of the Church, remains a frequent communicant within the Church and remains active in the Church. In the case of a child, it is to the godparents that the parents entrust their child, ...