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St John Chrysostom We are not compelled to love God, having been created with free will. God does not, nor can He, compel His creatures to love Him. Mutual love requires, by it's very nature, freedom to either respond in love, or not. Yet when we respond to God's love with love His mercy leads us into holiness, for entering into this relationship with our Creator transforms us, changes us. When we respond to God's offer to commune with Him, He changes us into His likeness. We were meant from the beginning to be in His image and likeness and our positive response to the invitation to enter into divine communion leads to holiness. Like Saint Paul we can say that ...

The same line was followed in the Greek-speaking tradition of preaching. In the 4th century, the sermons of the Church addressed to the people were composed in the Atticizing dialect, the only language that was taught . They were embellished by figures of rhetoric, and, in a meticulous, virtuoso, style of language, Scripture was interpreted by Scripture, expressing the spiritual experience of the people deriving from their participation in Christ’s glory. The structure of the homily followed the order of the text and interprets a sentence by including all the elements of the reading and by references to other passages in Scripture. This form was prevalent throughout the Greek-speaking East and, in general terms, is still practiced today. Its main ...

The late Elder Stefanos of the Daniïleï Brotherhood (Katounakia, the Holy Mountain) sings the wonderful hymn from Vespers on the Eve of Pentecost. This hymn encapsulates the ‘majestic and great mystery’, the advent of the Holy Spirit into the world. Tone 1 "Let us celebrate the feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit, the appointed day of the promise, the fulfillment of hope. How majestic and great is the mystery. Therefore we cry aloud to You: Our Lord and Creator of all, glory to You". %audio%

We should pray to God every day, extensively, even when we’re walking along the street, when we’re working or when we go to bed to have a rest after a tiring day. We should glorify God for His work and ask for His mercy. Prayer and compunction are our weapons, the armor of the faithful against evil, which cannot breach it and causes it to leave empty-handed.

First council of Nicea The Westminster Confession of Faith-the principle doctrinal statement of English-speaking Calvinists-begins with an affirmation of the sole authority of the Holy Scriptures. Similarly, the London Confessions and all subsequent Baptist confessions of faith begin with an affirmation of belief in the authority of the Bible. Indeed, with very few exceptions‹the Lutheran Augsburg Confession being the most notable‹ Protestant confessions and creedal statements almost always begin with a statement affirming the authority of the Bible1. It is not an exaggeration to say that for Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, at any rate, the Bible is an object of faith. That is to say, Protestants do not merely believe what is written in the Bible; they believe in the Bible. For an ...

If we trust our intuition on things of the utmost importance, then any and every mistake can be a threat and can even lead to our perdition. So it’s in this sense that you should be obedient to the experience of the ancient ascetics, which prevents us from relying on our intuition to such an extent. And what we should certainly do is overcome our self-confidence with a hard psychological and intellectual struggle. Our intuition would, indeed, be absolutely correct, if only we were saints. But if we haven’t attained to that sanctity, then our intuition won’t work properly, any more than our reason will.

There are people who insist on holding on to resentment, often inventing situations in their minds that never happened, justifying their bad behavior, and putting the blame on others. They see themselves as the abused party, always quick to take offense. Rarely are they able to have healthy relationships, for they are in reality, the abusers. Their world centers around them, and any attempt by others to appease them, only contributes to the anti-social behavior. Such behavior betrays a deep spiritual and psychological illness, one that is not easily healed. Such people feel empowered by making other people uncomfortable, and normal attempts at rapprochement often end in failure, for such people are always looking for ways to continue their control over ...

The Lord has taken ninety-nine of the steps needed for your salvation. Are you not prepared to take the last remaining step in order to be saved, especially when ‘… in this way an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you (2 Peter, 1, 11).

The site near the sea where the Russian monastery lies isn’t among the most beautiful locations on the Holy Mountain. The areas surrounding many other monasteries are much more picturesque and attractive. The spacious monastery (all white, with green cupolas and roofs) was built without a plan- here and there, up and down, not all at the same time- and seems charming, thanks to this irregularity, but its architectural value is considerably less than that of various Greek monasteries, and especially than the wonderful Bulgarian monastery of Zograf. Before the monastery lies the sea, which is often very monotonous and is limited on the horizon by the blue line of the peninsula of Sithonia. Behind the monastery, almost touching the windows ...

The life of the beloved Eldress Theosemni is a Synaxarion account of perfection in self-emptying and martyric asceticism in silence and humility. Her personage and her venerable example cannot be appreciated through the description and listing of her virtues, for it is impossible to explain, through words, the balance and grace of a person who spoke through her silence. By the Nun Theoxeni, Abbess of the Holy Monastery of Chrysopigi, Hania, Crete The Eldress Theosemni, Anastasia-Aristea Dimtsa in the world, was born in Larissa in the year 1938, the third child of pious parents. When she was just four years old, she lost her father and the care of the family fell to its newly widowed mother, who was from Eastern Romylia ...

If you want to combat callousness in the soul, it helps to read the divine Scriptures and the words of compunction written by the God-bearing Fathers, to recall God’s judgement and the exit of the soul from the body, and the encounter with the dread powers which combine to work evil in this brief and miserable life. And we should remember that moment in the future, at the terrible and impartial judgment-seat of Christ, when we shall have to give an account before God and the holy angels and the whole of creation in general, not only for our actions, but also for our words and thoughts. You should always remember the verdict of the terrible and just judge on ...

Icon of the Resurrection It has become commonplace to hear or read that 'the Orthodox Church is in a state of crisis'. Of course this is untrue, indeed it is ontologically impossible, for the gates of Hell shall not prevail. What people mean is rather that the outward, fallen human organization of the Church is in crisis. In one local church a Patriarch resigns and many of its bishops admit to having lied about a bloodthirsty regime. In another church the Patriarch is seriously ill, married Metropolitans vie for his place. Bishops declare themselves hostile to monasticism, though they themselves are supposed to be monks. Other bishops openly proclaim their sympathies with Freemasonry. A slavish and shameful attitude to the ...

We should consider those people blessed, literally, who live in communion with God, even if they live in a furnace, as did the three holy children in Babylon, or if they’re locked in with lions, or even if they’re in the belly of a whale. We should envy them, in the good sense, and consider them truly happy and joyful. Because they don’t mourn over the present good things of this earth, but rejoice in the hope which is begotten from that which is to come and which is eternal.

Car Packed to Move An Elder said: Just as a tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted, so neither can a monk bear fruit if he frequently changes his abode. In an age when people change addresses as often as those in past generations changed their socks, stability of place is almost unheard of. When I was a young man I moved from city to city quite often. One year alone I lived in New York City, Berkeley, California and Portland, Oregon. If I hated a job, I'd move. If my social life was on the rocks, I'd move. Reinventing myself in a new location became the norm. In my attempt to discover my place in this world, I ...

There are three enemies which war against us and bring us temptations until the day we die: the devil, the pleasures of the world and the body. These three enemies fight against us with every kind of temptation and there are very few Christians who, with Christ’s help manage to emerge victorious in the struggle against the temptations and pleasures of this world.

2. Preaching in the first Christian centuries We have very little information regarding preaching in the first two centuries. We don’t know how preaching developed with the Gentiles as its audience, the content of preaching as regards the catechumens, nor the way these two forms of preaching meshed with the words of comfort and support expressed in the sermon at the Divine Liturgy. In Justin the Philosopher’s Apology (1, 67, 1-6), the oldest evidence we have for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on a Sunday, Biblical readings are mentioned, as well as words of comfort and support. The content of the sermon, however, hasn’t survived . At the beginning of the 2nd century, the second Epistle attributed to Clement II ...

Faith is a child-like concept in a simple heart. Knowledge examines and discusses whether something is true. Knowledge preserves the laws of nature and is followed by fear, whereas faith is followed by hope. The knowledge we have as people is poor and deficient, but Heaven and Earth are not great enough to contain the treasures of faith. Those who depend on knowledge do not walk on the waters or on hot coals. But with the power of faith, many people have walked upon waters and hot coals without suffering any harm. Faith has inexhaustible treasures and fills the hearts of the faithful with pleasure. Knowledge is needed merely as a stairway so that we can attain to faith. Those ...