In English

Dear friends, We are writing to inform you about the 1st Digital Fellowship with Elder Ephraim Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi, Mount Athos and the Theology Teachers of the Open Educational Resources Platform  “red-religie.ro” will take place Monday the 17th of May 2021 at 19:30 Greek time (12:30 EASTERN).    The developers and users of red-religie.ro, dedicated to supporting and promoting Orthodox Christian religious education. The project includes teachers from Romania who initiated the platform. Other teachers from Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Canada and America joined them, wishing to contribute to the development of the platform’s resources. Elder Ephraim will talk in Greek and we will offer simultaneous Romanian, English, Russian and Georgian Interpretation for the entire session, including the homily as well as the questions ...

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We remember today the Myrrh-bearing women, Joseph of...

Ensconced within the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is another, greater feast: that of the second Annunciation of Our Lady. The feast of her Annunciation as the Mother of the new creation, as Mother of the children of the Resurrection. Saint Gregory Palamas notes that Christ’s Resurrection is the resurrection of human nature and the recall of the old Adam to imperishable and immortal life. And just as the first person to see the old Adam was a woman, Eve, so the first person to see the new Adam, Christ, after his Resurrection which renewed human nature, was also a woman. This woman was not Mary Magdalene, however, but Our Lady, as can be seen from a detailed comparison of the ...

Without the body, the mind does all sorts of things, good and bad. But without the mind, the body can’t do anything, because, before any action, the law of freedom comes into play and the mind decides what to do and what not to do. Saint Mark the Ascetic

It sounds harsh, and perhaps the observation that we don’t want the Resurrection will be hard for unsuspecting readers to believe. What blind people wouldn’t want their sight back; what sick person wouldn’t want to be cured? And Christ’s Resurrection is precisely the eyes in the darkness of our wicked blindness, health in the hideous sickness of our mortality, the saving escape from the blind alley of this world into the infinite and holy world of eternity, our transition from decay to permanence. The Resurrection is an irrefutable fact. It doesn’t depend on our faith; it’s the foundation and support of our faith. Two thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ, as God and human person, did battle with death and ...

Our eyes should always be brimming with tears at the good things given to us by God and we should be constantly thanking him. Dimitrios Panagopoulos, preacher

‘So that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6, 4). The triumph of Jesus’ Resurrection over injustice, violence and, in general, over sin and death, again fills our hearts with elation and is the culmination of his ministry on earth for the renewal of the whole world. Christ, the ‘Son of God and Son of Man’ did not merely suffer a terrible death on the Cross, but on the third day he rose from the dead ‘through the glorious power of the father’ and remains forever the Risen Lord. The Resurrection confirms the magnificent uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Billions of people have passed through ...

Sudden headache that does not go away with just a painkiller. Unexplained drowsiness, unbearable stomach ache, annoying feelings of weakness and unbearable dizziness, feeling of suffocation, high pressure or discomfort without any biological cause. These are some of the most common symptoms that – if there is no obvious disease – are attributed to the evil eye, vaskania (bad energy). Whatever you call it, it is essentially nothing more than a strong negative influence of one person on another one, because of the envy or intense jealousy the one may feel for the other. Read more here

Be wary of intemperate sorrow; it comes as the result of a just rebuke. Excessive sorrow over things is a temptation. There’s only one genuine sorrow: that which comes when we fully recognize the wretched condition of our soul. None of the other sorrows have anything to do with the grace of God. Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis

‘How great and unsearchable is the depth of your compassion, Merciful Lord. You were patient with the Jews who struck you; with the apostle who touched you; with the perplexed who dismissed you. How were you incarnated? How were you crucified, you who are sinless? But instruct us Lord, that, like Thomas, we may cry to you: My Lord and my God, glory to you’.  (Doxastiko, Vespers on Thomas Sunday). We’re perplexed today, also, regarding faith and Christ. On the one hand, rationalism and the achievements of our times and on the other habit, as well as the fact that these days everybody has an opinion about everything, all combine to make us see faith as something ordinary, mundane, one of ...

The present is an outline of the future. The future life will be a continuation of the our present internal state, somewhat modified are regards its degree, however. For the righteousness this means the fulness of eternal glory and for sinners condemnation to eternal punishment. Saint John Kronstadtskij

Fasting is a theological action, and sin has a theological hypostasis. We don’t avoid sin because it will upset our nervous system or because it’s better for our health to do so. A God who needs things like that isn’t the God of the Gospels, but is Zeus or Cronos and all those who, when they became angry, launched bolts of lightning and did wicked things in the world. The true God has another dimension and seriousness. So this young man read books in which a certain psychiatrist told him that if he committed this sin of the flesh he’d suffer a variety of ailments. He went to see an Elder on the Holy Mountain and told him he ...

I have come pay off in good time an outstanding debt. I may be poor, but I want to forcibly draw on your gratitude. I promised to show the unbelief of Thomas, and here I am to do just that. I’m more than willing to pay off the first debt so that I’m not crushed by accumulated interest. Cooperate with me, then, so that I can deposit what’s owed and entreat Thomas, that by laying on my lips the holy hand which touched the Lord’s side, he will inspire my tongue to explain what you desire. Taking courage from the prayers of the apostle and martyr Thomas, I shall declare first his doubt and then his confession which is the ...

Signs of progress of the soul are: a) a rich prayer life; b) absence of pride and a willingness to overlook the failings of our neighbors; c) a desire to leave the body; d) joyful fortitude in sorrows; and e) gratitude and praise to God for everything. Saint Isaac the Syrian

Just as God is patient with you and puts up with you, so you must be patient with your children. You have a duty to advise them, not with friction and anger but calmly and peacefully. If they don’t listen, the responsibility’s all theirs. You must then entreat God to illumine them and guide them in the path of his commandments. Saint Iakovos Tsalikis

John and his brother James were the sons of Zebedee and Salome and came from Bethsaida, a town on the shore of Lake Tiberias. In Aramaic, the name Bethsaida means ‘fishing/fishermen’s place’ and it’s clear that most of the inhabitants of the town were involved in fishing. The two apostles, James and John, also followed this profession, as did their father. Indeed, they were colleagues of Saint Peter, as is clear from Saint Luke’s Gospel: ‘so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon’ . Saint Mark also mentions their profession in his Gospel: ‘He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. ...

It’s very difficult to diagnose pride within yourself. But here are some symptoms: if you’re attacked by demons and tormented by wicked thoughts, this means that you don’t have humility. So, even if you aren’t aware of your pride, humble yourself. Saint Silouan the Athonite

If the flesh attracts something wicked and if the earthly body drags down the nous, even though the latter is making its way upwards, or at least was created in order to do so, let the divine image remove the mud,  and let it force the flesh, which is under the same yoke, to turn upwards. Saint Gregory the Theologian

Once upon a time I thought that if a person saw a saint, they’d immediately be astonished, as I was when I saw a man of God. One example would be Elder Païsios with whom we were in close contact for so many years. People would go to him and would change just at the sight of him, without him saying anything at all to them. Others went, though, and he’d try to convince them and it made no difference at all. In fact quite a lot were scandalized and left, calling him various unpleasant names, claiming he was a wizard or a fakir or that he’d been to India to learn Hindu techniques. Each of them understood the ...

The event of Christ’s Resurrection is the continuation not of the Passion, but of providence, that is, God’s undertaking for the salvation of humankind. Had Christ ended up in the grave and remained there, everything would have been in vain. Our faith would have been in vain, our preaching pointless and everything we do to no avail. If we take away Christ’s Resurrection, everything collapses and, automatically, nothing’s left at all. But if Christ rose, then it follows that all people will be raised in Christ. Saint Paul says that just as we all became mortal through one man, Adam, because we inherit death from the first human person, so, through another person, Christ, we shall all be raised and ...