In English

Oἱ Βίοι. It is the conviction that most of the times it is useful to know the way of acting of some important men that has led to the writing of biographies. Biographies concern the comparative examination of two persons, like Βίοι Παράλληλοι of Plutarch, or only one person, for example Moses. Biographies have a historical character, because they include the events, the information and the characteristics of the persons they refer to, but at the same time, they also have an exemplary character through the positive or negative behaviour of persons and the way they act. Specifically the comparison between two works that concern the biography of one and only person should insist on finding out existing differences. In particular, this happens ...

‘A good word’ at the Polyeleos, in tone four, in a composition by Yeoryios Rysios, the priest, follows the usual order of the old Polyeleos in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods of settings, with Verses, a hymn to the Trinity and one to the Mother of God, with a kratema (‘terirem’). This is a modern composition from the 19th century which demonstrates the new trend in composition towards elaborate lines, in harmony with the urban and cosmopolitan environment of Constantinople. At a vigil, the choirs of Vatopaidi sing the hymn to the Trinity and to the Mother of God from the Polyeleos ‘A good word’ (Ps 44 ‘My heart is uttering a good word’) by Yeoryios Rysios, the priest († 1865). %audio%

John always draws these from Scripture, following his own recommendation: “A genuine teacher is he who has received from God the tablet of spiritual knowledge, inscribed by His Divine finger, that is, by the in-working of illumination, and who has no need of other books.” In other words, for John the genuine teacher is like a new Moses. This is actually how the monk Daniel describes John: He approached the mountain, he entered the innermost darkness and, mounting by spiritual steps, he received the divinely written law and divine vision; he opened his mouth for the word of God, and drew in the Spirit; then he poured forth a good word from the good treasure of his heart. Scholars remind us that the ...

When you want to advise people for their good, first give rest to their body and bring them relief with words of love.

Saint Basil the Great was the founder and organizer of coenobitic monasticism. His rules, and the reforms introduced by Saint Theodore the Studite, are still in place to this day. Of course, Saint Basil was not involved with monasticism in an amateur fashion. He was himself a monk and lived the monastic life for a good many years. Even from the time when he was studying in Athens, he planned to withdraw into the desert with his friend Saint Gregory the Theologian, when they had completed their studies. Later he was to regard the time he spent studying as a waste. He wrote in an epistle to Efstathios of Sevasteia: “I spent a great deal of time on futile efforts and ...

Many things are said and written about the great Cappodocian Father of the 4th century St. Basil the Great of Caesarea. In Basil the Great, we find the consummate theologian, liturgical scholar, ascetic and evangelist of the Faith. Too often, however, one more aspect of Basil is left overlooked and that is Basil as the first great Christian philanthropist. It is with this focus on Basil’s care, concern and heart for the poor, the underpriviledged, the sick, the unemployed, the homeless and disenfranchised that marks the level of profound theological reflection and insight that Basil exudes in his writings. St. Basil the Great’s Early Life Let us first, however, examine the context of the world in which Basil was born and matured ...

Today our Church celebrates the memory of Saint John the Charitable , Patriarch of Alexandria. Saint John came from Cyprus, and was the son of rich and devout parents. Even though he was brought up in comfort, he concentrated his mind and attention on his devotions. Seeing that his pure soul would produce great spiritual fruit in the future, Divine Grace destined him for and exalted him to the throne of Alexandria, which was at its height at the time. In his Life, mention is made of a symbol which Grace sent as an indication of his future way of life. In a dream, he saw a beautiful maiden crowned with an olive wreath, who said to him: ‘I’m the ...

There’s absolutely no justification for Christiasn to be proud of doing something righteous. They’re saved from the snares of the evil one only by the faith through which they perform these acts of righteousness. Nobody should feel proud, for whatever reason.

Saint Minas lived at the time of the Emperor Maximian and was born in Egypt of pagan parents. According to Coptic sources, Minas was born in Egypt in 285 A.D., in the city of Niceous, naear Memphis. His parents were  Christians but did not have any children for a long time. His father’s name was Evdoxios and his mother’s Eufimia. On a  feast of the Mother of God, Evfimia was praying in front of an icon of the Virgin with tears that God would give her a son. A sound came from the icon saying “Amen”. A few months later, Eufimia gave birth to a boy and named him Minas. When he came of age, he enlisted in the ranks of the soldiery. He served in the ...

Not unlike Evagrius and other Fathers, John also uses the antirheticos genre, e.g. in 23.46. In 22.35, a monk and a demon are even portrayed in their struggle, both using passages of Scripture. I would like finally to present another striking figure of style used most often by John. Scripture has totally become his, and he feels confident to adapt it as it comes to his mind, to fit his point. Very often, and perhaps with a stronger occurrence as one climbs up the Ladder, if I may say so, he glosses a quotation, by adding a detail which gives it a sudden change of meaning or again adapts it to a particular context, mostly an ascetic one. He ...

Those who’ve departed with virtue are assured of a fine welcome in heaven.

The most Blessed Father Arsenios was born around 1840 in Pharasa or Varasio, the most important of the six Christian villages in the Pharasa region of Cappadocia. The now emptied village of Pharasa His parents were rich in virtues, and rather mod­est in material possessions. His father was a teacher whose name was Eleftherios (or Hadjilefteris). His sur­name was Annitsalichos and his nick-name Artzidis. His mother was called Varvara, her maiden name was Frangou or Frangopoulou and the nick-name of her family was Tsaparis. They had two sons, Vlasios and Theodoros (Fath­er Arsenios), who were left orphans at an early age when both of their parents passed away, first the fath­er and shortly thereafter the mother. The orphans were then cared for ...

From the time we’re created, each individual has a particular mode of existence, which is not extinguished when we die. Saint John the Damascan says that the union of soul and body occurs at the beginning of our formation. ‘Body and soul are formed at the same time’. This specific persona of each individual is not dismantled even on our death. The soul may indeed be separated from the body at death, but the personhood remains the same. Each person is a unique and inimitable personality. This special individuality, this specific persona, never ceases to exist. This is why, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, the Lord says that the rich man saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, not ...

This week’s icon has a very special distinction compared to most of the icons we have previously spotlighted: this icon was not written (that is, made) by human hands. Tradition tells us that when the Apostles Peter and John were preaching in the city of Lydda, near Jerusalem, they built a church in honor of the Theotokos. When they returned to Jerusalem and asked the Most Holy Mother to come sanctify the church, she told them to go before her, and that she would be there with them. Theotokos of Lydda, or “The Roman” When the Apostles returned to the church in Lydda they were amazed to see that an icon of Mary with the Christ Child was imprinted onto the wall ...

The prayers at a wedding make reference to providing children with a good upbringing and to ‘the enjoyment of procreation’. It may be that the Fathers of the Church, by and large, praise the superiority of virginity over marriage, but at the same time they consider parents to be co-creators with God. Procreation is in line with the will of God and is an obstacle to death . In his desire to support women who were accused of being responsible for their lack of children, Saint John Chrysostom teaches that the birth of children depends on the providential action of God. He writes: ‘… since everything is from the creator of nature, neither intercourse nor anything else is able to contribute ...

Saint Nektarios (9 November) Saint Nektarios was born on 1 October 1846, in Silyvria, Thrace, to poor and devout parents. At his baptism he was given the name Anastasios. He learned his first letters, as well as the Christian teachings, from his mother. In Silyvria he finished Primary and Middle School, before going on to Constantinople to continue his studies, working, in the beginning, at a tobacconist’s in order to help with his family’s finances. He began to study and collect the sayings and axioms of the Holy Fathers and classical philosophers which formed the two-volume book ‘A treasury of holy and philosophical scholars’, which he published in 1895. Before he was even 20 years old, he was appointed to the ...

The more you live within your means, the happier you’ll be. Because you don’t have too much to care about: servants, farm-workers and getting more animals. Because once we become attached to those things and have experienced the miseries which follow, we start to blame God. Death is fostered by this arbitrary desire for riches on our part and so, deluded, we remain in the darkness of our sinful life and are unable to recognize ourselves.

St. Luke “You fool, this night your soul will be required of you” (Luke 12:20). Of the four Gospel writers, Luke seems to present the parables of Jesus in the harshest light. For example, Luke’s telling of the parable of the talents includes this grizzly note: the king has slain in his presence those who did not want him to rule over them.  Only Luke’s Gospel includes the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, in which we see the Rich Man tormented in flames. And only Luke has the parable of the Unjust Steward, in which Jesus praises a servant who cheats his master.  Similarly, only Luke includes the parable of the Prodigal Son.  When people speak of this ...

Pray with faith. Admonish them, but as far as you can, with love and in a good way. Don’t be too strict.