In English

When we hear about prayer, our thoughts usually turn to two things: what should I ask for, and what should I request for myself and the people I love. It appears that selfishness touches all aspects of life, defines and tarnishes them. But, according to the Lord’s words, entry into the Kingdom of God is open to anyone who has tried to apply the command: ‘Deny yourself’. That is to say, those whose love has overcome their egocentrism. All of Christ’s friends, aligning themselves with his teaching and his life, abandoned their self and opened up to the boundless extent of his love, which embraces everyone, wherever they may be in the world, and whole-heartedly shares their pains and troubles. This sharing is ...

Nowadays, human rights are safeguarded and protected all over the world. This undoubtedly constitutes progress and is an achievement for our civilization. Christian theology has played an important role in the defence of human rights, declaring that the human person is sacred and is made in the image of God. In this way, the concept of human dignity has entered public discourse and is not in question. On a personal level, however, because of the excessive emphasis on human rights, there is a lurking danger of spiritual disorientation, since individualism becomes highly developed. For the faithful in particular, the trend towards self-justification and the pursuit of one’s interests isn’t of benefit. On the contrary, self-condemnation and deference to one’s neighbor ...

Allow me not to return to the past, but to dwell rather on what may prove useful and beneficial in the future.According to the teachings of the holy Fathers, every impression, every image, every thought that comes into the region of our heart and fills it with great turbulence certainly comes from the realm of the passions. This is why we shouldn’t follow the impulses of our heart immediately, but only after careful self-examination and intense prayer. God preserve us from a blinded heart. Because it’s common knowledge that the passions blind the heart and darken the bright sun of the mind, the sun on which we should all fix our gaze earnestly, at all times. *** Finally, the endless night has ...

If you believe that God is trustworthy and powerful, then hope only on him and you’ll become a sharer in his good things. Saint John Kronstadtskij

Calumny is a great evil. It’s very wicked when other people attack and smear you. It happens. Suddenly. Out of the blue. Sometimes it’s God’s just verdict on us; sometimes it isn’t. In the first instance, when we’ve also been at fault, when we’ve also committed bad acts and actions by attributing to others allegations similar to those they ascribe to us, we really shouldn’t dwell on how much we’re suffering, but we should rather concern ourselves with putting things to rights. That includes ourselves. Then the invective against us will cease. In the case where we’re being slandered harshly, while we don’t remember ever committing such offences against others, it’s natural to feel bad. But even then it perhaps behooves us ...

Since we’re Christians and want to imitate the life of Christ and to be truly united with him, we should look at how he lived, what he was like and how we are. When we see the gap that separates us, then, according to Saint Païsios, ‘sweet pain’ will be engendered in our soul. This is what begets repentance, humility and tears. Unless we’re so arrogant and sick that we say we’re already very close to being like Christ. Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

People are dedicated to what they love. They disregard anything that distracts them from it, so that they won’t be deprived. By the same token, those who love God cultivate pure prayer and get rid of any passion that hinders them in this. Saint Maximos the Confessor

The life of Christians is defined, it has an aim: the glory of God. That’s what we’re here for. The life of secular people, on the other hand, is vague and varied, because it adapts itself to circumstances, depending on the occasion. Elder Efraim Vatopaidinos

Some years ago, a lady sent a letter to the late elder Efraim Katounakiotis, in which she told him that she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and a great cross which she was unable to bear. Elder Efraim answered: ‘You write that you have many burdens. I say to you: “All the better for your soul”. God, who gives you these burdens knows that you’re bearing so much; he knows how much your soul can stand; that if he gives you more, you’ll fall; that if he gives you less he’s being unfair to you, reducing your eternal reward and eternal joy’. In one part of Athens, there was a cobbler, a very harsh man, who ...

If a great king magnanimously laid out a banquet and invited everyone under his rule- young and old, rich and poor- to attend; and if he had prepared all kinds of appetizing, rich foods; and if, when the time came to eat, he sent out his only-begotten, precious son to bring in the guests; and if, by their refusal to take part in this rich, royal banquet and by their invention of absurd excuses, they scorned the king and his son who called them; would  they not be deserving of  harsh condemnation? They certainly would. Because they disrespected such a generous and magnanimous king and deprived themselves through their foolishness of this sumptuous banquet. ‘At the time of the banquet, he ...

‘Don’t, out of vanity or sycophancy, insist on having your own way, quarrelling with and tormenting yourselves and your neighbor, just so that, afterwards, you can hear people saying that nobody can beat you’ (Abba Dorotheos) There are two ways of carrying out a task: with diligence which borders on perfectionism or with casualness, the ‘whatever’ approach. This is also true in human relationships. There are those who strive hard as regards love: they pore over the details, they want to please others in all things; they put their best foot forward, precisely because they assign the greatest importance to love.  And there are also those who don’t take relationships seriously. They just want to get by and their only concern ...

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the Lord relating the very instructive parable of the great supper, as the Fathers of the Church call it. We know that it was often through parables, that is imaginary stories, that the Lord revealed very important and substantial truths of the faith which are indissolubly linked to the matter of our salvation. This is also the case with this particular parable. The person who prepared this formal banquet invited a great many people. The normal, expected thing would have been for all those invited to come to the supper, given that the host was an important leader. When supper was ready to be served, he sent out his servant to tell his guests to ...

We ought to be extremely sensitive to the needs of others. Then we’ll be one and the blessing of God will be with us in abundance. Saint Sophrony, Essex

On 9 December we celebrate the conception by Saint Ann, that is the day when she became pregnant with the Mother of the whole world, Our Most Holy Lady. Although there’s no reference to the person of Saint Ann, the mother of the Mother of God, in any of the books of the New Testament, she nevertheless occupies a prominent place in the religious devotion of the Church. The name ‘Ann’ (Anne, Anna) comes from the Hebrew ‘Hannah’ and means ‘favor, grace’. A woman in whom the grace and benevolence of God has been shown. She belonged to the tribe of Levi . Her father was Matthan, a priest who served at the time of Cleopatra and Shapur, king of the ...

The demons usually withdraw, cunningly, for a time, so that we become lax, think we’ve overcome the passions and stop being careful. Then they suddenly pounce on our soul and snatch it away like a sparrow. And if they defeat it, they mercilessly incite it to commit all sorts of sins, even worse than the ones for which it earlier asked forgiveness. Saint Isaiah the Hermit

Saint Anthimos was from Sofia, Bulgaria, where he was a married, parish-priest. In 1841, after his wife reposed, he went to Mount Athos and was tonsured as a monk at Simonopetra Monastery. He began to act like a fool for Christ in order to hide his spirituality and closeness to God. He moved in the desert places of Mount Athos and stayed in caves and in trees. For the first five years of his hermitage he wore an old raso which later he replaced with a sack with three holes in it, for his head and arms. People would call him ‘Sacky’. Every two or three months, Father Anthimos would visit Saint Panteleimon Monastery (the Russikon) for a few days because there ...

While we’re in this life, we have the power and authority from God to break by ourselves the chains of the desires of the enemy, to cast off the burden of our sins through repentance and to be saved, thereby gaining the kingdom of heaven. Saint Efraim the Syrian

When I love another person with all my soul, it means that I pray for them. Those who have this experience are in Paradise. Abbess Gavriilia Papayianni

The yard of the Monastery of Saint Patapios at Loutraki, Greece Today the Church celebrates and honours the memory of the blessed Patapios the Desert-Dweller. This is the title accorded to the saint who lived in isolation in the desert, leaving behind the turmoil and joys of the secular life. He was born in Thebes, in Egypt, of devout Christian parents, by whom he was brought up with great care and concern and from whom he learned the Scriptures. What Saint Paul wrote to Timothy applies very well to Saint Patapios: “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”. Faith in Christ and in the ...

Once again we’ve been given the opportunity to devote a little time to the study of Christ’s Nativity in our life, as we approach Christmas, the great feast of the Lord. We’re given the opportunity to look at how we experience the personal advent of Christ, in our homes, in our monasteries, and wherever else we may be, but particularly in our soul. There are so many aspects of Christ’s incarnation that deserve comment and study. For example, we might look carefully at the icon of the Nativity where we will see a number of people and a variety of attitudes. And just as, in order to help a child to understand its own nativity we might call on it to ...