In English

The Holy Great Martyr Barbara lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Her father, Dioskoros, was a rich pagan, a prominent citizen in Ilioupolis in Syria. After the death of his wife, he devoted himself to the upbringing of his only daughter. Dioskoros seems to have been a dedicated pagan and he built a tower for Barbara, where only her pagan teachers were allowed to see her. But Barbara became convinced that the inanimate idols were merely the work of human hands, and although her father and teachers worshipped them in their own fashion, she realized that the idols could not have made the world she saw when she looked out from her tower. The fame of her beauty (or, to ...

Don’t ask the opinion of people who aren’t on the same path as you, even if they’re very wise.

There was once a family of five living in Athens. The father and mother had three children, two girls and a boy. The boy was 11 years old, the girls 10 and 9. Saitan Harbour, at the Cape of Hania. Photograph: Dimitris Iliopoulos It happened that the ten-year-old girl fell seriously ill. They fetched a doctor, who examined her and said that her condition was incurable. It would take a miracle to make her better. Her nine-year sister heard this and, in her innocence thought that ‘a miracle’ was some kind of medication. She loved her sister very much and slipped out, broke open the piggy-bank and took out all the money. She ran to the nearest pharmacy and said to ...

My brother, another Person rules the universe, not the great people in this world.

All of us have had the experience of unwittingly committing a sin. And, of course, every confessor/spiritual guide often hears, at almost every confession, the assurance or claim on the part of the penitent that a particular sin was unintentional. ‘Honestly, father, that sin occurred without me realizing. It was entirely unintentional. I didn’t want to and hadn’t thought about doing it’. How genuine or, at least, certain can such an assurance be and how true is such a claim? Certainly, a Biblical argument about the unintentional nature of many sins is presented in chapter seven of Saint Paul’s epistle to the Romans. There, the apostle of the Gentiles sets out in general terms the antiphatic (conflicting) nature of the functioning of the ...

Saint Filaretos was a fine example of virtue, especially that of performing good works. He lived at the time of Emperor Konstantinos Porfyroyennitos (Constantine Porphyrogenitus) and his mother, Eirini of Attica (joint reign 780-797). Filaretos was born in the village of Amnia in Gangra, Paphlagonia of devout parents. He married a woman called Theosevo and the couple had three children. He was a farmer and from his income gave alms generously to the poor. If he found someone hungry, he’d feed them; naked, he’d clothe them; orphaned or widowed, he’d help and comfort them. At some stage, however, God, in His wisdom, allowed Filaretos to become very poor. His fields were seized by his neighbours and his belongings scattered. He bore ...

In the same way as you collect honey by getting rid of the bees with smoke, that’s how bodily comfort expels the fear of God from the soul and expunges every achievement.

Conclusion In conclusion, we would say that a person, in the course of their life, looks for the divine and creates religion, which is colored according to specific elements.  All religions and cultures are different if they are compared with each other.  The issue is the way one religion survives in a country where another religion dominates.  Although Christianity is a religion with the largest percentage of followers (believers) on earth, it has not become completely acceptable in Asia.  Some may agree and others may disagree with the teachings of Christianity.  Some researchers considered Christianity to be equal to other religions, others considered Christianity as something special and others believe that Christianity is superior to other religions.  The dialogues (communication) may ...

You gain everything through the prayer ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me’. People are cleansed, burnished and sanctified through this prayer. The prayer is the life-belt of the soul and the body. It’s the basis of perfection. You’ll become lighter and will fly because of the prayer. There’s no other way of salvation, purification and sanctification than the prayer of the heart. It’s filled Paradise with holy people.

Andrew the Apostle was one of Christ’s twelve disciples. He came from Bethsaida, a town located on the western bank of Lake Tiberias. He worked in the family business run by his father, Jonah, which was based on the rich fishing to be had in the lake. From their occupation, we can deduce that they were a prosperous and well-to-do family. Some people have the impression that the disciples were poor and illiterate fishermen. But being fishermen did not prevent them from receiving some education, which, in those days, was not a profession. People could do manual work and still be educated. Fisherman was not necessarily equivalent to illiterate. Saint Paul was highly educated, but was still a tent-maker. Saint Apostel ...

To love somebody with all your soul means to pray for them. If you have this experience, you’re in paradise.

It’s a profound conviction of the Orthodox Church that every epoch has its own saints and there’s not a single age without them. In every era, the saints are proof and demonstration of the grace of Christ, the love of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit, in place and time, among us. When saints leave this earth for their celestial abode, they leave to the generation which knew them the privilege of Saint John the Theologian (I Jn. 1,2) to declare ‘what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands’. Our own generation knew three Elders, Iakovos, Porfyrios and Païsios, who have now been entered officially ...

Relations between in Christianity and Hinduism Hinduism appeared in 600 BC and continues to exist until today. However, its roots are detected since 1,500 BC. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world and the third most populous, after Christianity and Islam. Furthermore, it is a polytheistic pagan religion with no founder and with many Gods of various attributes. Therefore, there are 33 major Gods and 330 million minor deities. Nowadays, within Hinduism some accept Vishnu as the supreme God while others think that Siva is the supreme God. The greatest goal of Hindus is the liberation (moksha) from the cycle of incarnations which is achieved by the unification with God. The major Hindu communities are spotted in Nepal, Sri Lanka, ...

There are times when people despair and lose heart, which, in its own way, is a kind of pride. If people love the things of this world, they’re sure to be brought to disappointment, because they aren’t going to find God in them. All people feel alone at some time or another, even when they’re with other people, until they become free of the things of this world. At that point, God comes and comforts them.

It has been announced that today, 27 November 2017, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has canonized the late Elder Iakovos Tsalikis. The petition for his canonization was submitted by the Holy Metropolis of Khalkida and 22 November has been appointed as his feast day. Father IakovosTsalikis was born on 5/11/1920 in Levisi, Asia Minor, opposite Rhodes and a few miles inland from the coast. His parents were Stavros Tsalikis, a construction worker by trade and his mother was called Theodora. In 1922, following the Asia Minor catastrophe, the Greeks living there were expelled by the Turks and Fr. Iakovos’ family was broken up. His father was held prisoner in Asia Minor, while his mother and grandmother, together with ...

A thick rope consists of fine hemp fibres. One delicate fibre can’t bind you, nor strangle you. Because you can easily beak free from it. But if you’re tied with a thick rope, you’re held prisoner and you might even be strangled by it. You can’t break free easily. Just as that thick rope is made up of many delicate, weak fibres, so our passions consist of what start out as small transgressions. We can break free and escape at the first stages of small transgressions. But when one sin is repeated after another then their weave is increasingly reinforced until, in the end, a passion’s formed. This turns people into something like monsters, to the extent that they don’t know ...

This is why I’m telling you, don’t be quick to condemn, and to examine the actions of others. We’ve all seen people who’ve fallen into fornication, but we haven’t seen their repentance. Or we’ve seen someone who’s stolen something, but we don’t know what sighs and tears they’ve offered to the Lord”. Finally, there is an account in the Ochrid Prologue , there is a reference, on March 30, to the: “Commemoration of an Uncondemning Monk. The monk died joyfully because he had never in his life condemned anyone. He was lazy, careless, disinclined to prayer, but throughout his entire life he had never judged anyone. And when he lay dying, he was full of joy. The brethren asked him how he ...

Those who wish to be free of the bitter enslavement to our enemy, the devil, should stand up to him and his will and declare open warfare against him.

Writing in his second epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul urges them- among other things- to contribute towards a fund-raising collection for the Christians of Jerusalem. This was the first time in the history of Christianity that this method of providing assistance to other Christians in need was used and established. And it’s worth noting that Paul isn’t content with just a couple of words of encouragement. In almost two whole chapters of the epistle he attempts to point out to the Corinthians the immense importance of this effort of charity. First he highlights for them the love of Christ, Who, for our sakes, abandoned His riches and became poor, so that we could become rich through His poverty. In ...