In English

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We have heard today in the Gospel of a man who for thirty eight years had laid paralysed. The only thing that separated him from healing was the possibility to reach the waters, which the angel brought into motion once a year. Thirty eight years had he attempted to move towards healing but someone else has been quicker than he and stolen healing from him. How many are there now in the world, how many have been and will be in this world of ours who need healing, who are paralysed by fear, paralysed by all that prevents us from moving with boldness and purpose towards fullness of life? ...

Let’s not think too much about sins or dwell on them. Let’s confess them and then make changes and concentrate on good things.

What is sanctity? Freedom from all sin and an ample measure of virtue. It’s nature resembles the light of the sun and the whiteness of snow, whereas the nature of sin is like darkness, with a lack of light, with stench and corrosion.

The struggle waged by Christians isn’t so that they can say to God: ‘I’m all right. I deserve to be saved’ because then they’d be Pharisees. It’s to say to God: ‘Lord, despite my weakness and my sinfulness, I love You. And, as an expression of my love, I try to observe Your commandments and Your holy will. It’s up to you whether You give me salvation and whether You give me Your Grace’.

The whole of the thought of the Athonite Elder (Aimilianos Simonopetritis) can be summed up in the teaching that ‘we reach God via our neighbour’. This is the central theme of his work. But what is it that gives our communication with other people authenticity and validity? We should say at the outset that, among other things which we already know, our relationship with our neighbour should be imbued with a spirit of ‘delicacy’, extreme sensitivity, so that we won’t wound them in the slightest. This ‘delicacy’ isn’t merely another moral imperative, like so many others. If we’re to learn how to behave with tact, we must first separate ourselves from the earthly, the things of the flesh, which should ...

We should never have confidence in ourselves until the day we die.

Christ Is Risen! We mourn the innocent victims of the unconscionable van attack in Toronto. Our hearts break for the families who awake to a new reality without their loved ones. We struggle with this senseless act of evil. However, we should not despair. We should not lose hope. We shall persevere and be strengthened by the infinite love and mercy of the Resurrected Lord. Therefore, let us pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives. Let us comfort, support, and give courage to the affected families. I am asking all the Reverend Fathers of our Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) to offer special memorial service prayers this Sunday for our fallen brothers and sisters. May ...

We have to try to be free of impure thoughts, especially when we pray to God. Because stench can’t co-exist with fragrance. If we don’t allow wicked thoughts, which come from the devil, we’re doing very well. Because the impure spirit is able to exercise effective influence only on people who suffer from the passions. Those who don’t, he tries to influence from afar.

Saint George is one of the most beloved saints of the Eastern Church. In particular, the people of Cappadocia, his homeland, had recourse to him for help and assistance from very early on and his honour and fame spread throughout the world. The achievements of the saint didn’t remain only in the Lives of the Saints and hymns, but were adopted by the folk muse and made into a song. ‘The Song of Saint George’ tells of the slaying of the dragon and the rescue of the princess. The most widely-accepted interpretation of the myth is that the dragon represents the devil, which is defeated by the faith of the saint . Ελληνικά (Καππαδοκική διάλεκτος, Φαρασιώτικα) Αγιώρ’ Αγιώρ’ αφέντη μου        ...

Is the kingdom of God not eternal then? Jesus says that this is why He was born and came into the world (John 18, 37) and we say: ‘May your kingdom come’, as if it hadn’t already done so. But this wish has another meaning. God comes when we receive His grace. He Himself asserts: ‘The kingdom of God is within you’ (Luke 17, 21).

I followed your pace beyond my living consciousness through the rough path of Life crossing my destiny again. I travelled thousand miles across the center of the earth one more time willing to comfort the thirsty souls. A healing feat to the lament of my people. I was searching you in a blindness light. I lay my hands to your celestial vault facing Your Glory in a ceaseless devotion hearing your powerful voice calling me with an harp. I kept you silently, as a talisman in my heart. I sighed in the edges of Your Eyes I looked at you … remembering all the pain I had as a Child of Despair… I stood there without fear ready to serve You with humbleness. Listen to my pray Dear Lord… Please give my people strength to survive Please give them HOPE to ...

Today the Church honours the memory of those people who took charge of the burial of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and those others who set out to pay Him the final burial honours in accordance with the Jewish customs of the time. Those people are: Joseph and, with him, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. The two men took care of burying Jesus Christ and the three women went on the morning of the third day thereafter to anoint Him with unguents. The Gospel tells us the following: ‘ At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, ...

There’ll be many opportunities to let your thoughts stray, but that doesn’t justify inattention. Make an effort and you’ll be able to keep your mind focused. Any task you undertake, bear in mind that you’re doing it before Christ Himself, Who readily accepts your service. Pray and God will bless your efforts.

FEAST OF THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN, ST JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA AND ST NICODEMUS 11th May 1997 In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We keep today the feast of a number of the followers of Christ of whom we think seldom, because they are mentioned very little in the Scriptures. And each of them could be a lesson for us. St. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man who listened to Christ with an open mind and did not commit himself. Neither did Nicodemus; but Nicodemus was a learned man, part of the Sanhedrin. He had been listening to Christ, he had been asking questions from Him, he wanted to understand, he wanted to be sure. But neither of them ...

On Thursday, 19 April 2018, a volume on the blessed Elder Iosif Vatopaidinos, written by Archimandrite Efraim, the Abbot of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, was presented at the Athens Concert Hall before a gathering which numbered more than 2,700. In his introduction to the work, Abbot Efraim notes, among other things, that: ‘It is essential and of particular spiritual importance, especially today, that we should present the life of virtuous and holy men of our Church. The biography and virtuous life of our Elder, Iosif Vatopaidinos… is an expression of our love towards his person’. The event was honoured with the notable presence of His Beatitude Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, who delivered the opening ...

Everything good or evil begins with a thought. And gradually, nourished by other thoughts and tiny movements of the heart, it grows, takes on existence and is put into practice. People who slavishly follow their sinful thoughts are blinded by them. They see the sins to which they’re impelled by their thoughts, but are unable to see the causes of those sins, the thoughts, because of their blindness.

When we speak of sin, this concept isn’t moral, but ontological and transcends the norms of social life. Not because it opposes these norms, but because it proceeds infinitely farther than them. Moral laws speak of punishment, but God says: ‘Love your enemies. Do not fear those who kill you’. But this is impossible to explain in words and to understand other than through the heart. Because it’s natural for everyone who has a sense of the presence of death to protect themselves from any creature that threatens their life or even their comforts. And, so far, this has been the cause of all the conflict in the world.

The watchword for the Orthodox faithful is ‘Christ is all and is in all’ (Col. 3, 11), that is unless every aspect of our life is steeped in Christ, then it’s divided in an unacceptable manner into religious and non-religious. Such a disjunction exists in pagan religions. Religiosity is only life at the time of the altar, the sacrifice, the worship of the god. This religiosity is one facet of their life-style. The rest of their way of life, individual and social, is separate. Their way of life can therefore be divided into religious or non-religious, just as today the lives of people who hold public office are divided into public and private. This division leads to a notion of ‘religious ...

Time past doesn’t return. Life is like a war, like a market, like a school, like a long sea voyage. In battle, there’s no room for respite, in trade you can’t be inactive, at school you can’t be inattentive, on a sea voyage you can’t be negligent. So don’t be lazy, don’t neglect the works of God, but make an effort and work hard. Here’s the battle-field for you, the market-place, the school.

We go to church, but not many of us live in the Church.