Ξένες γλώσσες

What are we to make of Saint Catherine? We know really very little about her. Even her name is a mystery. According to some, she was originally called Damiani (by a happy coincidence the present Archbishop of Sinai and Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Katherine is called Damianos), although Rufinus claims that she was called Dorothea. At some stage, she became known as Katherine, but what this means is anyone’s guess. It has been derived from the Greek Hecate, or from καθαρός (katharos), meaning “pure” (as well as from Armenian and Arabic). Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, 13th Century This confusion is central to one part of our argument. Her name in Greek is Αἰκατερίνα, so it is impossible that it derives ...

In 1919, in the aftermath of World War I, the cream of the intellectuals of the time (among whom were Einstein, Russell, Stefan Zweig and others) signed a manifesto which they called ‘Declaration of the Independence of the Mind*’. Among other things, they wrote: ‘Most of the intellectuals placed their science, their art, their reason, at the service of the governments… They have worked to destroy mutual understanding and mutual love among men… Now, when, from the fierce conflict in which the nations have been gripped, the victors and the vanquished emerge equally stricken, impoverished, and at the bottom of their hearts (though they will not admit it) utterly ashamed of their crisis of folly. …Arise! Let us free the mind ...

Nothing is greater than a clean heart, because such a heart is the throne of God. And what is more glorious than the throne of God? Nothing at all. God says of those who have a clean heart: ‘I will dwell among them and walk with them. I shall be God to them and they a people to me’ (2 Cor. 6, 16). Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis

Saint Amphilochius of Iconium, whose feast we celebrate today, is among the great theologians of the 4th century and, indeed, belongs to the group of Cappadocian Fathers. He was born in Diocaesarea in Cappadocia to wealthy parents and received an excellent education. He was related to Gregory the Theologian and was an advocate by profession. He also had a close spiritual bond with Basil the Great. As bishop of Iconium he showed a flair for pastoral and preaching activities. Of particular importance is his adherence to the Dogma of Nicaea (325) and his contribution to its further development and completion by his participation in the 2nd Ecumenical Synod in Constantinople (381). He proved to be an influential Church writer, often providing ...

Say the prayer and your bad thoughts will flee, everything will flee. You’ll see something wondrous: the devils despoiling the world outside and us calmly saying the prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’. Abbess Makrina, Holy Monastery of the Guide, Portaria.

A deadly sin is one over which you don’t repent. Nobody’s as good and merciful as God. But if people remain unrepentant, not even he will forgive them. Abba Markos

Those who, at some period in their life, have had a routine for prayer, spiritual study and participation in the services of the Church and then somehow, because of some ‘concerns of life’, lost it feel a void. This is why, when they’re asked ‘How’s it going? What are you doing?’ They sadly reply ‘Nothing at all’. It appears that ‘spiritual people’ have different senses from ‘carnal people’, who function on the basis of ‘Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. In the case of the latter, their concept of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ is slight or non-existent, which makes it impossible for them to understand the condition of others who aren’t like them. There has to be a ...

Having faith doesn’t mean only that we believe in God as our Creator. It also means that we recognize his never-failing providence and his concern for our good, even in the most insignificant aspects of our lives. Of course, this is more or less impossible for our nous to understand, benighted as it is in the darkness of the passions. Saint Makarij of Optina

The grace of the Holy Spirit makes people emit rays. But the other people need to have good receivers if they’re to understand this. We should always have our eyes fixed on heaven. Then nothing will shake us. Saint Amfilohios Makris

Whatever passion the demons attack you with, be patient and don’t fall into despair. Face it with meekness and humility and don’t lose your temper. Don’t allow any sense of impatience, envy, complaint or blasphemy to take hold within you. Saint John Kronstadtskij

People who oppress others, or even have designs on their freedom, inevitably destroy their own freedom, as well. Because every such ambition is, in itself, a fall from the divine life of love to which we’ve been called. Saint Sophrony, Essex

There are three things that bring you bad thoughts: sentiments, memory and the constitution of your body. The worst of these are those that come from remembrance. Saint Thalassios the Libyan

Examine yourself continuously, in case you’ve sinned in thought, or your tongue has run away with you, or your deeds don’t conform to the will of God. And if this examination reveals that you have many sins- and you’ll certainly find some because you’re human- say the words of the tax-collector: ‘Lord have mercy upon me, sinner that I am’ (Luke 18, 13). Elder Cleopa Ilie

Through prayer, our being expands, we can embrace the whole world and we’re then happy to be alive. But prayer is missing from the world and this is why people are unhappy. Although we people are created and finite, through prayer we can communicate with our uncreated and infinite God. Elder Efraim Vatopaidinos

Unrepentant sinners should stay away from the spotless sacraments because otherwise they’re just preparing judgment and a guilty verdict for themselves. Saint Paul says: ‘Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord… Those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves’ (1 Cor. 11, 27;29). In other words they’ll be punished as severely as those who crucified Christ, for they were also guilty of a crime against his body. Saint John Chrysostom

Unless the heart is cleansed, prayer isn’t easy. Judgements, selfishness, fits of anger- these are what besmirch the heart. Abbess Theosemni, Holy Monastery of Chrysopiyi, Hania, Crete.

This disillusionment, the existential void, the loneliness felt by post-modern people is mainly due to the fact that they don’t know how to pray, they don’t devote any time during the course of the day or night to prayer. People today don’t live with the remembrance of God; he’s not a priority in their life. They’ve forgotten that the very essence of their being is divine. Elder Efraim Vatopaidinos

‘The Lord has glorified your name throughout all generations. Through you, the Lord will reveal his redemption to Israel in the last days’ (Protevangelium of James, 7, 2). The feast of the Entry of the Mother of God, and the Church remembers the fulfilment of the  promise of the forebears, Joachim and Ann. A few years before the incarnation of the Word, a barren, childless couple, Joachim and Ann, who were devasted at their inability to have children, were told by an angel of the Lord that they would have a child who would loose the curse which tormented them. The elderly couple’s daughter grew and, at the age of three, the promise of her parents to God was fulfilled and ...

‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye’ (Matth. 78, 1-5). This is a great and terrible commandment from Christ. All of us, starting with me, are constantly criticizing and condemning each other and ...

In our series of Sermons on the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, we have tried in simple terms to explain the Lord’s words and actions at the Last Supper, when He delivered this Great Mystery to the Disciples before His arrest.   We have focused only on the relevant words of the Lord, as quoted by the Holy Gospels and the Apostle Paul.  I hope that all of our listeners have understood that out of great love for His Disciples, the Lord established the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist, so that He is not only in communion with the faithful, but also totally united with them.   A union enacted through the very Holy Body and Blood of Christ! Out of all the ...