In English

So from the middle of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th, monasticism in Greece, both men’s and women’s suffered a sharp decline. Even the Holy Mountain itself was threatened by a lack of monks. On the occasion of the millennium celebrations for the Holy Mountain in 1963, Ecumenical Patriarch Athinagoras said pointedly: ‘Together with the millennium, we’re also celebrating the dying breath of the Holy Mountain’. Divine Providence, however, had no wish to see the end of Athonite monasticism. And so now we can talk not only about repopulation but a blossoming of the Holy Mountain. With their virtuous lives and their spoken and written words, charismatic elders, such as Iosif the Hesychast with his disciples, Saint Païsios ...

Apostle Paul, Byzantine enamel, 12th Century, Victoria and Albert Museum, London How can you compare him to anyone else, given that he suffered almost every day on behalf of all the inhabitants of the world, all together, and for the gentiles, and for the cities and for each person individually. To what iron or to what diamond? What can you call that soul of his: golden or adamantine? It was more resistant than any diamond and more valuable than gold or precious stones. It outdid the resilience of a diamond and the value of gold. So with what element can we compare it? With nothing that exists. But if gold could become diamond and diamond gold, then we might compare ...

There continues to be much said and written about the historic Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. The discourse is often critical and infiltrated by individuals who hold extreme – some say fanatical – positions, criticizing and condemning those who oppose them. One hierarch told me this week that his elderly mother called him after being “informed” about the Council and proceeded to list for him all of its shortcomings. Listening in on the deliberations at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, I thought it might be helpful for the Orthodox faithful – as well as those interested in the Council and Orthodoxy more generally – to get a sense of the atmosphere and goings-on in the room. Of course, the deliberations ...

The characteristic feature of true repentance is profound emotion, devastation and sorrow of the heart, which is sad not because it’s going to be punished, but because, with its sin, it saddened and angered God Who is such a loving and tender Father. It’s the sighs, the compunction, the prayers, the fasts, and the tears. That repentance is genuine and real.

A dialogue between a disciple and his elder (Elder Efraim Katounakiotis): ‘Elder, I say the prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, but I don’t understand anything’. ‘You might not, but the devil does. It burns him and he flees. Ah, well, son, you want to see a miracle through prayer, through the Jesus Prayer?’ ‘Of course I do’. ‘Very well, then, I’ll pray to God to show you a miracle so you can understand the power of the prayer - the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me”, to which all the Patristic books refer, but particularly the Filokalia’. The Elder prayed and kept a three-day fast with only a little water. ‘Come here now, son’, he said to him after the three ...

The theological approaches to the excerpt are very interesting, but what should attract our attention is the link between the reading and the wedding service. On the basis of what has been said so far, can we make the following observations? 1. The presence of Christ at the wedding, renews the past, without extinguishing it: the miracle is performed with pre-existing material, water (an observation from as early as Irinaios). In other words, the old, pre-marriage person is renewed in a fresh relationship with their spouse. The love which already exists for a natural reason between the partners is sanctified by the Church and increased. It prays that ‘perfect love may be sent down upon them’. 2. Marriage is nourished, maintained and ...

Information about the story of Peter after the Resurrection is scant and we have no real sketch of the course of his life and no fixed point to use for satisfactory dates. In the history of the Early Church, Peter again played a leading role in the first action of an administrative nature by the Apostles, when he recommended to a common assembly of the faithful that they should elect a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Apostle Peter. Byzantine icon, 14th Century. Dumbarton Oaks collection On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood with the other disciples and spoke to the assembled crowds with such boldness and eloquence that 3,000 were baptized. Thereafter, when he was in the temple with John, he healed a ...

Orthodox women’s monasticism was founded almost at the same time as that of men. When Pachomios the Great formed the first men’s coenobium in Tabenissi, he was followed a few years later by his sister and then other women who desired the monastic life. Pachomios founded a women’s monastery for them, not far from the men’s. In the end, he became the founder of nine men’s and two women’s monasteries. He appointed his sister, Maria, to direct the women’s monasteries, which functioned on the basis of the rules of his own coenobium. He appointed Elder Petros, a monk of advanced age and great virtue, to the instruction of the nuns and the supervision of the monastery. Something similar happened with Basil ...

‘Whoever wishes to be first among you, let him be the servant of all’. The last time Christ went to Jerusalem was dramatic, not only for Him, but also for those who were following Him. ‘They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid’ (Mark 10, 32). The more the crowds flocked to Him, the more Christ spoke to His disciples about this and about His death. He spoke about the cup of death and the baptism of blood. He made it clear to them that their path would in many ways resemble the way His own life would end. The disciples were afraid. Until then, ...

The mind of a person is like the rudder of a ship. Just as a ship without a rudder goes off course, the same is true of our mind. It’s closely connected to the heart and, when it’s disturbed, the whole of the inner and outer person is disturbed and they don’t know what they’re doing.

More than all other people, it’s Paul who shows us what we are, how noble our nature is and what measure of virtue we’re able to achieve. And now he arises from the place he has arrived at and, in a clear voice, to all those who condemn our nature, he defends us on the Lord’s behalf, urging us towards virtue, stopping the shameless mouths of those who blaspheme and proving that there’s very little difference between us and the angels, if we but guard ourselves. Without having a different nature, without receiving a different soul, nor living in another world, but, having been brought up on the same land and place, with the same laws and customs, he surpassed all ...

The door to repentance is open to everybody and we don’t know who’ll go through it first, you who are judging another person, or the person that you’re judging.

Monk Efraim Lavriotis carrying the icon of the Mother of God the Dread Protection (photo. Monk Païsios Karyotis) Emmanouïl Fotios Passalis, this kind, very simple, very humble man of God, was born in the village of Maritsa, Rhodes in 1926. While he was in the world , his spiritual father was the late Amfilohios Makris (†1970). He came to the Holy Mountain and went first to the skete of Kavsokalyvia, to the Elders Mihaïl (†1979) and Ierotheos (†1968). He came to the Monastery of the Great Lavra in 1957 and was tonsured a monk in 1958. He had great reverence for the founder of the Monastery, Saint Athanasios the Athonite. He was a willing and conscientious servant of the monastery ...

Within the Church, oikonomia is supposed to be applied with utmost care and with an eye toward the perfection to which we are called as followers of Christ. It is also (properly) invoked with the intent of making a bad situation better, not worse. However, this practice means that possibly and under certain circumstances there can be a departure from the seemingly unchangeable position of the Church on matters which include morality. And because we no longer live in a Christian culture and many things which in the past would have been considered crimes are now presented as acceptable and even preferable, the practice of oikonomia is fraught with moral and spiritual perils. Any deviation however slight from the moral ...

Peter was born in Bethsaida, close to Lake  Gennesaret, where, along with his brother Andrew, who also became an Apostle, they plied the trade of fisherman, together with two other Apostles, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. In all the Gospel records he is first mentioned as Simon, while in other books of the New Testament he’s called Simeon. He is also mentioned a good number of times as Simon Peter, and also as Cephas. Apostle Peter, byzantine icon, 15th Century It’s not clear in the New Testament exactly when Christ names him Simon Cephas, i.e. rock or stone. According to Matthew (16, 18), this naming occurred at the time of Peter’s confession to Philip in Caeasarea. According to Mark (3, ...

The wedding in Cana brings to mind the well-known image of the prophets in the Old Testament, especially Hosea, regarding the marriage between God and His people. The recognition on the part of Jesus’ that there was no more wine and her indirect appeal to Him echoes, in a sense, the state of the people of Israel. The potential of the old nation had been exhausted and so they turned to the Messiah, obviously seeking His intervention. He does, indeed, intervene and re-creates the people; He doesn’t exterminate the old. The wine doesn’t appear out of nowhere, but from pre-existing matter within the divine creation, from water. But the water is a clear reminder of the old order of things, ...