In English

I was once asked to give a talk atWashington’s National Cathedral on prayer in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. I brought with me a large icon, one familiar to many people, showing the Holy Trinity as the three visitors who came to Abraham (Gen. 19:1-8); it was painted by St. Andrei Rublev in 1410. I set up the icon on an easel, but after saying a few words about it, focused on the Jesus Prayer. This simple, epetitive prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”— was developed by the Desert Fathers, as a help toward learning to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). But when we re-gathered for a workshop later on, I found that the participants wanted to know more about ...

Prayer of St. Columban of Iona "Kindle in our hearts, O God, The flame of that love which never ceases, That it may burn in us, giving light to others. May we shine forever in Thy holy temple, Set on fire with Thy eternal light, Even Thy son, Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer." Eileach An Naoimh (Little Isle of The Saints, aka The Saint’s Mill Race), Garvellach IslesEarly monastic site associated with Saint Brendan the Navigator With the imagery of fire and light contained in this wonderful prayer I want to move immediately to a recorded incident in the life of St. Columban, a description which shows how he himself personally experienced this "light" - which of course Orthodox Christians recognize as a vision of the Uncreated ...

The other day, March 19,  I read an article entitled Ολίγη Σοβαρότης δεν Βλάπτει (“There’s no Harm in a Little Seriousness”) about a senior politician giving an interview about how, since childhood, he’d been a fan of the best-supported football team in Greece. The author of the article suspected that the timing of the interview may have something to do with the forthcoming elections. This sent me to my books, one of which took me back to my days as an undergraduate at Oxford. It’s called A Historical Russian Reader and is an anthology put together by two of my then professors, John Fennell and Dimitri Obolensky, whom I was fortunate enough to get to know quite well through the ...

Last Sunday, my wife and I attended the Divine Liturgy at the church of the Entry of the Mother of God in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, where we stumbled upon five metropolitans/ bishops, as well as priest and deacons representing the Churches of Antioch, Russia, Serbia, Romania, Georgia, Poland and Cyprus, as well as, of course, Bulgaria. l. to r. Pakhomij of Varna (Serbia), Demetri of Safita (Antioch), Serafim of Nevrokop, Christoforos of Karpasia (Cyprus) and Grigorij of Branitsa (Bulgaria). Photographs courtesy of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria They were there for a conference chaired by Metropolitan Serafim of Nevrokop, the local hierarch, who, though young (42) and newly-elected (2014) has already won the hearts of his flock with his kindly demeanour and the dignity ...

While there’s time, let’s visit Christ. Let’s look after Him, feed Him, clothe Him. Let’s get Him together so that we can welcome Him. Let’s honor Him. Through those who are in need, let’s offer loving kindness to Christ Himself, our Lord.

  In my memory, the most poignant children’s books were those about time travel. The characters would fall into the past, form friendships through shared adventures, and then be snatched back to the present, to grieve over the loss of loved ones who were real but no longer accessible. Until now, Christianity seemed to me like an attempt at time travel. Belief was a groping hand reaching blindly along a wall, seeking a door that was no longer there. Until now, my leap of faith comprised an unfounded urge to imagine my way back to some place I had never seen or felt, hoping to catch a glimpse of The Man that could magically set fire to the ashes of my childhood ...

Something similar occurs with our natural gifts: when man puts all his confidence in them, giving them absolute value, then his very gifts obstruct the road that leads to the acquisition of supernatural gifts that are conferred by God in His goodness. In our relationships, we notice the same thing: if they are not founded upon the assurance of our holy relationship with God, they will be weak and brittle, always ready to collapse and in danger of becoming an unending source of grief and torment. That is why the Lord says that every wise man who is taught the mystery of the Kingdom of God ‘bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old’. This means that he ...

Growing up Lutheran I always believe the veneration of saints by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians was a form of idolatry. They were idolaters because they "worshiped saints". This worship of the saints was a major stumbling block for most protestants, since worship was only to be offered to God. The distinction between veneration and adoration was unknown to us. Adoration is reserved for God alone, while veneration is the respect we show to the saints. The historic Church has always venerated the saints because the Church is undivided. The Church Triumphant (in heaven) and the Church Militant (on earth) is one, undivided. When the Church is at worship the cloud of witnesses (those who've won the battle and are in ...

In 2002, Nicolas Hayek, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Swatch, the Swiss watch company, and one of the richest people in the world at the time, was in Greece. He gave an interview to the Greek newspaper BHMA (30/6/2002), in which he said, among other things: ‘What’s the good of standing out, if nobody respects you? Nobody’s ever been made happy by having an enormous bank account. In any case, in biological terms our real survival needs are very few. Just two and a half thousand calories…’ Q. What is it that makes people think only of themselves and no-one else? A. It’s the new situation that’s going on all around us. This new ideology has led to a society of ...

You can’t investigate the spiritual world with the same methods as you would the material world. The latter methods are completely unsuitable for any examination of the spiritual world.

          St John Climax, the guiding light and the crown of monasticism whose memory we are celebrating today, was renowned for his humility in addition to the other virtues beautifying his blessed soul. One of the spirit bearing- holy fathers coming into ecstasy during the Saint’s tonsure told his elder, Martyrios: ‘Wow! Abba, did you know that today you have tonsured the Abbot of Sinai?’ In his absolute humility, the Saint never revealed anything about himself. The only thing we know about him is that he was sixteen years old when he entered monasticism. He stayed with his Elder some eighteen years and then he withdrew into deep desert for another forty years. He stayed there alone with his disciple Moses or ...

Today the Church honours and celebrates the sacred memory of Saint Kyriakos the Anchorite. Saint Kyriakos was born in Corinth in 408. His father was called Ioannis and was a priest, while his mother was called Evdoxia. The then Bishop of Corinth, Petros, who was Kyriakos’ uncle on his father’s side, made him a reader. Kyriakos wasn’t at ease in Corinth, however, and so at the age of eighteen he left for Jerusalem. At that time there were a lot of monasteries, as well as great ascetics, and it was Kyriakos’ wish to live with them. By God’s grace, he was drawn to the life of a hermit. On his way to Jerusalem, Saint Kyriakos encountered Saint Efthymios, who made him ...

Many readers have never before heard that there is no such thing as moral progress – so I am not surprised that I have been asked to write in more depth on the topic. I will start by focusing on the question of sin itself. If we rightly understand the nature of sin and its true character, the notion of moral progress will be seen more clearly. I will begin by clarifying the difference between the notion of morality and the theological understanding of sin. They are two very different worlds. Morality (as I use the word) is a broad term that generally describes the adherence (or lack of adherence) to a set of standards or norms for behavior. In that ...

Declaration of Saints today Nowadays, the process of declaring saints seems to be the same. (Papadopoulos, Chr., 1934). More specifically, the principles that have to be followed in order that a Saint be recognized are the following; 1. The recognition of his/ her saintliness traits by the Synod. 2. The process above does not have to be applied for those who have already been declared as Saints. 3. During the declaration a relevant ecclesiastical act has to take place. The action of declaring a saint is signed solemnly in Church, during a suitable ecclesiastical ceremony. The entire Synod arrives in Church, and during the reading of the Gospel, the chorus chants “Blessed you are, Christ, our God…”, “when descending the languages He confused” etc. Afterwards ...

Last night found me yelling at the television once again over a panel discussion about “science and religion.” Both sides thought that rational processes can only take us so far in the journey to faith (agreed). After that, people turn to some other resource in order to connect with God (so far so good). What they use is their emotions. Around my house, that’s when the sputtering starts. Only in the realm of religion is it assumed that every experience is a subjective experience, which means it’s an emotional projection—which means: Look, dear, a lunatic. But in the real world, experience is just that: an experience. A few months ago I spent two weeks in Turkey. I experienced being in Turkey. When ...

The contemplation of God does not belong to the realm of emotions, neither to the visual sense, but it is the existential unity and contact of the created creature with the uncreated “Being”- not with His essence or His substance but with His divine energies, in accordance to the measure of the person who “participates” in the contemplation. When Moses requested to see God as he imagined he could, he heard from Him that this was impossible and would only admire His “back view”, which means His divine energies or attributes. Whoever finds himself in the contemplation of God, testifies that there is no similarity between the created world and the uncreated Being and that “it is impossible to interpret ...

People who deprive their soul of prayer, will suffer in the same way as a fish out of water. It’ll expire.

The more I contemplate this phrase, the more I realize that it holds the key to living our lives the Orthodox way. First, to live each day as if it were the Second Coming confirms the first postulate of Christianity: that we accept the first coming of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Secondly, if we lived each day as if it were the Second coming, we would be better people – better mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, friends, co-workers, etc, in that we would be more forgiving of others. As my parish priest also says that we have to make amends with people in this life because once we are on the other side it’s too late. We must forgive not ...