In English

For all Christians, the Lord’s precious Cross is a manifestation of God’s unfailing love for His creation, (Jn. 3, 14-15; 12, 32-33; Col. 1, 20). It is the boast of Christ’s ordeal (Gal. 6, 4) and the invincible weapon against diabolical attacks. With his characteristic clarity, Saint John the Damascan declares that: ‘Every act and miraculous enterprise of Christ is mighty, and divine and wonderful, but the most wonderful of all is His Precious Cross’ (Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4, 11, PG, 94, 1128D). And Fotios the Great adds: ‘Christ’s Cross is a trophy raised against the devil; and is the most glorious of all trophies’ (Amfilochia, Question 24, 9, PG 101, 185 D). But the enemies of Christ’s Cross ...

Parents should teach their children absolute obedience before they’re five years old. When a parent says something, the answer should be: ‘Yes, of course’. Unfortunately, parents today don’t know this. They teach their children exactly the opposite and, so, bring them up like that.

Why is so much written and said about the sufferings and tribulations of holy men and women? Because only the saints are considered to be victorious. Can you be victorious without a struggle, without pain and without misfortunes?

Watch Fr Antoine Melki’s speech at the 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care DMOPC18 which took place from 18th-21st June 2018 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, organized under the High Auspices of His All Holliness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Believers who have loosed the bonds of egotism, which strangle their love and prevent them from acting and from seeing beyond their limited horizon, are blown far away and are liberated from the tyrannical yoke of slavery to egotism, thus abolishing the wretched worship of the self.

Trials and sorrow are necessary, because they constrain the sinful disposition of the heart. When the heart’s been restricted and restrained in this way, tears flow more easily.

Watch Nicole Roccas’ speech at the 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care DMOPC18 which took place from 18th-21st June 2018 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, organized under the High Auspices of His All Holliness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Watch the second part of Fr Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross.

When your heart is free of all resentment, then you’re close to love. And when your heart acquires blessed peace towards all other people, then you’re at the gates of love. But these gate are opened only by the Holy Spirit.

Parents blame their children for the slightest reason. It’s as though they don’t know how to talk to them calmly and gently. When it’s necessary for a parent to set boundaries for a child to obey, the child should feel that there’s love behind the strictness. It’s a great mistake to punish children at the moment they’re doing something wrong, because you won’t achieve anything by it.

Watch Daria Zhdanova-Kosintseva’s speech at the 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care DMOPC18 which took place from 18th-21st June 2018 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, organized under the High Auspices of His All Holliness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

You should always call Christ to mind, with love. We might be holding a photograph of someone but, because we don’t know them well, we don’t love them, it doesn’t move us. When you hold a photograph of your mother, though, your soul immediately leaps and cries out of love.

Watch Richard Barret’s speech at the 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care DMOPC18 which took place from 18th-21st June 2018 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, organized under the High Auspices of His All Holliness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Judgement is the shameful appropriation of God’s right, and condemnation spells disaster for the soul of those who commit it. Never condemn, even when you see something with your own eyes, because they, too, are often deceived.

Our thoughts, inclinations and desires open a path for us and reflect the whole of our life. If our thoughts are peaceful, full of love, kindness and purity, then we’ll be at peace, because peaceful thoughts make it possible for us to have inner peace which radiates from us. But if we have negative thoughts, then our inner peace is shattered.

To understand what St. Paul is talking about in today’s reading, we have to remember that in his previous Epistle to the Corinthians, the Holy Apostle severely rebuked the Christians of that community for their bad conduct. The result of this was that the Corinthians repented of their mistakes, prompting St. Paul to send a second letter, which offers spiritual consolation and counsel. In the passages we read today, we can admire the deep and sincere concern that the Great Apostle had for his spiritual children. He agonized over their straying from the Gospel, and handled the situation with holy discretion to solve the problems troubling the Church of Corinth. The first thing we can highlight here is St. Paul’s sincere ...

How pusillanimous some Christians are. Although they recognize Christ as the living and all-glorious Lord, they still allow doubt to dwell in their hearts, like a venomous snake that poisons them on a daily basis and buries their life in eternal darkness.

If you fall into sins through weakness, expunge them all immediately through repentance. But, in any case, through rigid vigilance, try to avoid the sins you commit through weakness.

Watch Fr Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross.

Perfection is also giving alms ungrudgingly, willingly and without disdain. Give wholeheartedly, as though you yourself were the recipient, benefiting as though you were the beneficiary. Then God’s will is perfected. This is how we manage to do God’s will, that which is good, pleasing and perfect, according to Saint Paul: by acting in full and proper knowledge.