In English

A characteristic feature of the excerpts from the Gospel of Saint John which are read in Church during the time between Easter and Pentecost is that they present certain essential characteristics of Jesus. He’s the Lord and God (Thomas Sunday); the Word who gives life to those in pain (Sunday of the Paralytic); the spring from which flows the water of eternal life (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman) and the light of the world (Sunday of the Blind Man). Jesus often addressed his sublime and beautiful teachings to ordinary people who had no external mark of sanctity or high religious standing. Indeed, he didn’t avoid talking to women, as in the case of today’s reading, which made an impression on his ...

Bulletin from the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi Last Friday, 21 May, Elder Efraim tested positive with COVID-19. Thereupon all the fathers of the Monastery underwent medical checks. Having mild symptoms, the Elder immediately went into self-quarantine and was placed under medical supervision. The condition of his health continues to be stable, but as a precaution the doctors in charge recommended his transfer to a hospital for further monitoring. At the beginning of May, the authorities responsible were sent an application by the Monastery for the vaccination of brotherhood. From the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi.

‘The beginning of quietude is to repel the blows of the demons, because they trouble you to the depths of your heart. The end of quietude is not to fear turmoil, but to be indifferent to it’ (Saint John of the Ladder). Turmoil is a common phenomenon in our life. Untroubled people are often thought to be unfeeling, detached and inward-looking. People who become agitated, however, are deemed to have emotions. They’re people who live and strive, even if their agitation brings its own difficulties. But there’s an obvious question: what makes us agitated? In the ascetic tradition of our faith, turmoil is caused by our thoughts. These stem from other people’s attitude towards us, from doubt and worry over the future, ...

For people who have any understanding of God and his kingdom, nothing’s a misfortune. Saint John suffered one of the greatest misfortunes that can befall anyone. He was taken prisoner of war. By the Turks. At the age of twenty. What could have been worse? Yet this misfortune proved to be his greatest good fortune. Not only did he gain the kingdom of God, the only true good fortune, but he succeeded to such an extent that he was able to share the fruits of his achievement with many others, even to this day, 200 years after his demise. In an ever-widening circle. How? Why? He was taken prisoner with a whole group of young Russian soldiers. They were all faced with the ...

Movie Review by John G. Panagiotou of the movie “Man of God” about the life of St. Nektarios of Pentapolis the Wonderworker In these days, very rarely do we find made a film made about a true saint, let alone a film about a true saint that is very well produced. Yelena Popovic has written, directed, and produced in partnership with Mt. Athos’ Vatopaidi Monastery, the St. Maxim the Greek Institute, and Europgroup Ltd. such a film with the St. Nektarios biopic “Man of God.” In this look at the life of the long-suffering saint, Aris Servetalis in the lead role as St. Nektarios Kefalas seemingly channels and incarnates the disposition and energy of the saint who left this life a ...

When we read study Holy Scripture, the lives of saints and Patristic texts, the eyes of our soul are opened.

Not many of the faithful know much about this feast. Apart from the clergy and a few lay people who have close ties to the Church, many don’t even know of its existence. Few attend church on the day and most people have no inkling that, on the Wednesday after the Sunday of the Paralytic, the Church celebrates a great feast of the Lord, that of Mid-Pentecost. And yet, at one time, this feast was celebrated on a grand scale in the Great Church of Constantinople and was attended by large numbers of people. All you need to do is to open the Έκθεσις περί της βασιλείου τάξεως (‘Treatise on the order of ceremonies of the realm’, usually ‘On Ceremonies’) by Emperor ...

There’s clearly confusion among a good few members of the Church as to how to live, how to behave and what constitutes a sin. There’s also a strong attachment to their sinful past and this increases their feelings of guilt. Nobody wants to live without joy, without appreciating life, without a thankful recognition of the many gifts which have been bestowed on us by God’s love. I think that our theological position plays a significant role in how we come to terms with our past and how we view the future. Not necessarily spiritual theology, but rather the manner in which we’re called upon to live. In other words, the theology we receive defines our way of life, and this depends on ...

2nd e-Synaxis with Bishop Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and the faithful of St Nicholas & St John the Apostle Students Church in Cluj-Napoca, Romania The subject of homily and discussion: “The healing of the souls’ diseases” Thursday, May 27, 2021, 07:30 PM Athens time Dear brothers and sisters, You are invited to participate in the ” 2nd e-Synaxis with Bishop Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and the faithful of St Nicholas & St John the Apostle Students Church in Cluj-Napoca, Romania“, which will take place Thursday, May 27, 2021, 07:30 PM Athens time. Bishop Hierotheos will talk in Greek and we will offer real-time Romanian interpretation for the entire session including the homily as well as the questions & answers. The meeting is organized by Pemptousia and St Nicholas ...

On the evening of Great Friday, we begin the service with a rather strange hymn. It’s a tropario which isn’t mournful but joyful. Not a lament, but a doxology. ‘God is the Lord and has appeared to us…’. He came to earth. And he showed us that he’s the one and only true Lord. We glorify him as Lord of heaven and earth. But this hymn isn’t suitable for Christ’s burial. Because the burial was the time when Christ chose to hide. He preferred to conceal not just his nature as God- his divinity-, but also his human nature. And what lair did he choose to hide in? A grave. And he consented to being completely shrouded in the night of ...

‘Lord, the pool did not cure the paralytic; it was your word which renewed’ (Doxastiko, Lauds, Sunday of the Paralytic) Saint Mark the Patmian makes the apt point: ‘Who, then, would be so hard-hearted, so monstrous in their outlook, that they would not pity and sympathize today with the paralytic who spent so many years confined to bed, like an insensate piece of rock? Who would not sympathize if they thought not only about the pain which the severe illness of paralysis would have entailed, but the sorrow and distress he would have felt when he saw the angel troubling the waters of the pool; when he saw another person being healed and departing while he remained lying there forever’ (Homily ...

Don’t choose negative ways of self-correction. You don’t need to fear the devil, nor punishment, nor anything else. They bring about a negative reaction. I have some small experience in this. The aim isn’t to sit, to become bored and uptight in order to improve. The aim is to live, to read, to pray and to advance in love: the love of Christ and the love of the Church. Saint Porfyrios Kavsokalyvitis

The first, very important thing that shows the need for correct thinking and common agreement is this: imitation of God and all things divine. This is all that the soul created in the image of God should look towards, if it is to proceed steadily and retain its noble pedigree, as well as the potential to become the likeness of God through contemplation of these things. Saint Gregory the Theologian

The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) www.eiao.org, in the context of its activity for the promotion and preservation of the Christian Orthodox culture and in collaboration with the website OrthPhoto.net organizes the third in a row photography contest and invites all interested parties to participate in it. The purpose of the contest is to highlight the concept of the “Wisdom of God” in the modern world and to promote the churches that have been built in its honor for centuries. The Church of the Holy Wisdom of God in the City of cities, Istanbul, the “Great Church,” the “Great Monastery,” is a unique monument with a universal character that “belongs to humanity and the world cultural heritage.” Hagia Sophia of Istanbul was the ...

‘Fear not’ (Matth. 28, 10) ‘Do not be afraid’, the angel of the Lord said to the myrrh-bearing women who had been overcome by fear and trembling at the empty tomb, ‘for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, as he said’ (Matth. 28, 5-6). Shortly afterwards, the risen Christ himself said to them ‘Do not be afraid’.  After this, he stressed to the circle of his downcast and frightened disciples: ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?’ (Luke 24, 38). He showed them the marks of the crucifixion on his hands and feet and thus confirmed, by his presence, the miraculous event of his Resurrection. ‘Do not fear’. ...

At Eastertide, at some undetermined place and year, the Emperor Constantine I made his Oration to the Assembly of the Saints, either in Latin (Oratio ad sanctorum coetum) or Greek (Λόγος τῷ τῶν ἁγίων συλλόγῳ). It is a lengthy and not terribly interesting text, but given the fact that the emperor himself was reading it, if you were sitting at the front it would have been politic to feign interest or at least try to stay awake. In chapter XX (out of XXVI), he makes a reference to Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue: “Another Tiphys shall new seas explore; Another Argo land the chiefs upon the Iberian shore; Another Helen other wars create, And great Achilles urge the Trojan fate”. He goes on to explain the comparison ...

The very name of Constantine is enough to move the heart of any Greek Christian, not only today, but for very many years now, because it is associated with the legends of the nation, with “again, all in good time, it will be ours again”. It moves us because the first to bear the name Constantine I, the Great, was not merely one of the greatest men in world history, but he was something more besides: a saint. And when they hear the word “saint”, the trumpeters of atheism and unbelief start to sound off. Is he a saint? General, yes. King and Emperor, yes. Great, yes. But saint? No, he’s not a saint, they say. Because, they say, Constantine the ...