Ξένες γλώσσες

The first part of the Divine Liturgy is called the Liturgy of the Catechumens. In early Christian times, when Christians were baptized at an older age, there were catechumens, that is people who had not yet been baptized, but were taking catechism lessons, in other words they were getting to know the Christian faith. Catechumens were allowed to follow this first part of the Liturgy. As we shall see, at a certain point in the Liturgy, the priest calls upon the catechumens to leave the church, since they couldn’t yet take part in the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist, which is celebrated in the second part of the Liturgy. Today, there aren’t so many catechumens because Christians are now baptized ...

There are phenomena which science will never be able to explain, because it doesn’t use the right methods.

Conscious acceptance of religious and cultural pluralism and peaceful co-existence between different communities can come about from two opposing starting-points.* Either from indifference to religious faith or from conscience experience of religion. On the other hand, religious intolerance between co-existing religious communities may develop from: a) seeds of a religious nature, such as, for example, extreme fanaticism; or b) non-religious roots, such as political or nationalist factors which use religion for other purposes. All these factors continue to be powerful in the Middle East region. Be that as it may, people still anxiously desire world peace. So any attempt to study and deal with this multi-faceted problem is a valuable contribution. As an introduction, allow me, briefly, to note three points. 1. ...

The more difficult, bad and sly people are, the more unhappy they feel. The weaker their faith, the more lacking they are in love, then the more helpless and useless they feel. Those who don’t believe, who hate their neighbor, are the most miserable of people.

In the Old Testament, children are considered to be a blessing from God and are called ‘the crown of the aged’ . Sons are called ‘young olive plants around the table’ of their fathers. In the New Testament, Christ blesses the children and appears to highlight the trust of children in their parents as a model of the Christian life and a condition of entry into the Kingdom of Heaven: ‘And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ . At the same time, he called upon people to accept the Kingdom ...

Self-restraint is a powerful force and enduring wealth. It’s the foundation of all the virtues and that which first prepares souls to exercise them. It’s the guide of prudence, masters the passions of the body and calms impulses by clearing the mind and pacifying the heart.

The most important part of the Divine Liturgy is the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.. The whole of the Liturgy is celebrated so that this sacrament can be performed. But because the sacrament is a unique and stupendous event, it requires special preparation on the part of the priests and all the faithful, as well as particular care with the precious gifts. For this reason, other parts were added to the Divine Liturgy. Almost always, Matins for the day is sung before the Divine Liturgy, though a few times we sing Vespers instead. While Matins is being sung – it consists mostly of hymns and psalms sung by the choir- the celebrant prepares himself, that is, he puts on his vestments, ...

‘Pleasures’ are those things which ‘give pleasure’ ηδονή) and sweeten our lives. They are dual like our human nature. As we possess a body and a soul and each one of us have his senses and his body, in the same way pleasures belong to both the physical and the mental nature. There are the physical pleasures, which are felt through the body; there are the mental pleasures, which belong to our rational and spiritual world. The pleasures are mostly the result of our performance and they either console or disappoint us, in accordance with our correct or wrongful deed. If our plan and the goal of our motions is in ‘accordance to God” and His Will, the emotions and the ...

From our own mistakes and the rubble of our lives, our good God arranges for something good to emerge. These days we’re lacking faith, but also toughness.

Labor is for the body, humility for the soul. Both together, labor and humility, are for the whole person.

Share the love, joy, pain, healing, and whatever else it may bring It was a colorful, sunny, fall morning at the resort in Florida. The night before, I had enjoyed a dinner and reception for the conference I was in town to attend. It had been an encouraging experience. As a resident physician, I was often working long hours and finding little time to visualize the future that lay ahead. However, at this conference focusing on breast-feeding medicine, I was surrounded by physicians (many of whom were mothers) who were doing things with their lives that were inspiring. As I talked to them about their practices, I remember feeling as if I were at a dinner tasting the appetizers…and I could ...

Supernatural Assistance (Michael Palairet, British Ambassador to Greece at the time of the war, in 1940) No. 306 From the British Embassy, Athens December 9, 1940. Dear Sir, In my letter No. 293 of 23 November, I mentioned the widely-held belief that the Greek Army enjoys the protection of Our Lady of Tinos and that its victories, which may, indeed, be termed miraculous, are due to her intervention. This belief has now become a conviction and there are countless stories of appearances of the Blessed Virgin to soldiers at the front, encouraging them in the battle and promising that the desecration committed by the Italians in her church on the feast of the Dormition would be punished with a great defeat…. . It may seem unusual that I ...

How fortunate we Orthodox Christians are! What a God we have! People who don’t know God are in a sorry state. They don’t see the eternal light and after death they go into eternal darkness. We know this because the Holy Spirit informs the saints, through the Church, as to what happens in heaven and in hell. Deluded people are pitiable. They can’t know what real joy is. Occasionally they’ll enjoy themselves and laugh, but the laughter and enjoyment they experience will turn into lamentation and sorrow. Our joy is Christ. Through His passion, He’s written us in the book of life, and in the kingdom of heaven we’ll be with God for eternity. We’ll behold His glory and will ...

Saint Demetrius, byzantine mosaic from his church in Thessaloniki, 8th Century Another point of interest is that the church of Saint Dimitrios, for 60 years (1430-1490) remained as part of the local Church, when almost all the other churches in Thessaloniki had been turned into mosques after the fall of the city to the Turks in 1430. This was because the governor of the city, Loukas Spandounis, paid a great deal of money to the conquerors to prevent the church becoming a mosque. In order to honour this great benefactor, after he departed this life, the church allowed a Renaissance-style sarcophagus containing the body of this benefactor of the Church and nation to be placed in the N.W. wall of ...

A young man who comes here to become a monk does so because he’s been stricken with the fire, the fervor of Christ. And when he comes, he doesn’t reject humanity. A monk who leaves and comes into the desert, does so because he rejects the unwholesome spirit of the world, but not the human person.

Saint Dimitrios is the protector and patron saint of Thessaloniki, a saint from whose relics myrrh flows and also a Great Martyr. There are actually conflicting accounts in the sources, but the overwhelming view is that he was born and bred in Thessaloniki. As a young man, he rose through the ranks of the Roman army because he was a very talented soldier. How he came to be introduced into the Christian faith we do not know, though it was not as usual as one might think for a high official. There were Christians even in the Roman imperial family: Theodora, the wife of Galerius, for example, who was beheaded in Thessaloniki on the orders of Emperor Licinius (ca. 315). Saint ...