In English

Saint Marina was from a village in Pisidia, the daughter and only child of a certain Aidesios, a pagan priest, and lived in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. When she was twelve, her mother died and she was given into the charge of another woman and she asked of God to be granted the faith of the Christians, which was being taught in the village by some of them at that time. When she became fifteen, in 270, she had a desire to die as a martyr for the love of Christ. With one occasion, the governor Olymbrius sent people to arrest her and cast her into prison. After several days had passed, she was fetched from the prison ...

In India, for a child to have an opportunity for success, they must go to an English Medium School. The need for the school strikes at the heart of serious issues facing India. World leaders are calling for governing officials to take action on the world-wide issues of poverty, illiteracy, and trafficking. In a small town on the outskirts of Kolkata, Sister Nektaria is working with local leaders to combat the serious effects of this global issue. No one is immune. No one is untouched. Sister Nektaria is a Greek Orthodox nun who is deeply committed to the education of these children. Her orphanage, located in the impoverished outskirts of Kolkata, is also the only affordable English Middle School in the entire ...

This is an excerpt from Lactantius describing that “Constantine was advised in a dream to place the celestial sign of God on his shields… Having been armed with this sign, the army took up its weapons…”. After routing Maxentius’ forces in northern Italy, Constantine approached Rome in October. According to Eusebius and Lactantius, on October 27, the day before the two armies would battle outside of Rome near the Milvian Bridge, Constantine had a vision instructing him to fight in the name of Christ, with his soldiers’ shields bearing the symbol of Christ. The symbol was either a cross or the labarum, an intersection of the chi (X) and rho (P), the letters of Christ. Christian author Lactantius, writing several years after ...

Hypocrisy’s the result of envy and all evils derive from it. Hypocrites are the most unjust of people, because thinking you’re just when you’re not is the final injustice.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is glad tidings , because it brings into the world not only a new teaching, but a new life to replace the old one. The old life was dominated by sin, passions, corruption and death, and ruled by the devil. Despite its ‘natural’ joys, it leaves a bitter taste, because it’s not the real life that people were made for, but a life corrupted and diseased, which is why it’s marked with the feeling of absurdity, emptiness and anxiety. The new life is offered to people by our theanthropic Christ as a gift and a potential for everyone. The faithful are united with Jesus Christ and so they partake in His divine and immortal ...

Bless, Father. Saint Neofytos, ‘presbyter, monk and recluse’, as he calls himself, was born in the village of Lefkara, in the Larnaka region of Cyprus, in the middle of the year 1134 A. D., which is why he is praised as ‘the glory of Lefkara and the boast of Cyprus’. His father was called Athanasios and his mother was Evdoxia. She became a nun after the death of her husband. His family were poor farmers and there were a lot of children- eight in all- and they were also very devout. Their Christian upbringing is apparent from the fact that two of the boys followed the monastic life: Neofytos, at 18, and Ioannis, a little later. The latter became the Abbot ...

If you believe that God’s dependable and powerful, then you’ll not only hope in Him, but you also become a sharer in His good things.

Parents will be punished not only for their sins, but also for their children. Parents who don’t raise their children to be Christians have borne them only for this transitory life, that of the flesh, and, as far as it depends on them, have opened up to their children the gates of eternal death, of hell.

Those people who give everything to God and give themselves completely to Him, are sheltered under God’s great vault and are protected by His divine providence. They then become children of God and can help unfortunate people more, through God, with their prayers and, again with God’s illumination, can provide others with proper directions on how to approach God, how to find their salvation, their happiness and the peace of their soul through God’s divine consolation. Because it’s only with God that our soul knows repose.

The Grace of God helps. I always believe in the power of God, Who alters and arranges everything for the good of our soul. People who get upset aren’t thinking logically or properly.

Fr Jonah from Taiwan speaks on the feast of the Twelve Apostles and explains the meaning of mission (αποστολή in greek).

The body and soul can’t be freed of the passions unless the spirit is first liberated. And the spirit is liberated by divine Grace. How? When we acquire the fear of God and repent.

The devil has set his traps everywhere. He catches people and the only way to avoid these snares is through humility. Internal humility, not external, true not false modesty, real not pretend. Internal, real and true humility is when people feel, in the depths of their heart, the gifts and talents they’ve received from God. It’s the realization that everything we have- existence, life, health, wealth and wisdom- are all foreign to us and are gifts from God.

Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it, and it is grace itself which makes this void. To love truth mean to endure the void and, as a result, to accept death… Whoever endures a moment of void either receives the supernatural bread or falls. It is a terrible risk but one that must run, even during the instant when hope fails. But we must not throw ourselves into it. » Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace)

Hypocrites retain their hatred in the depths of their hearts, showing superficial love, in the same way as a reef which is covered with a little water, but is an accident waiting to happen for those who aren’t careful. Hypocrisy is the result of envy and all the evils arise from it. Saint Basil the Great

Today we celebrate the “Synaxis of All the Saints of Pisidia, Side and Antalya, along with the “Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalkidon. This common celebration was approved by the Holy Synod of our Ecumenical Patriarchate for two reasons: Firstly, because among the Fathers who took part in the Fourth Ecumenical Council, there were also several Bishops of the Metropolises of Pisidia, Side and Antalya. Secondly, because today, just as in previous days and those that follow, we celebrate the memory of over 15,000 Martyrs and various other Saints of our Greater Metropolitan District. Our Church has established today’s reading to be taken from the last part of the Epistle sent by Apostle Paul to his Disciple Titus, whom ...

When people want to root out some passion which has wormed its way into their hearts and become established there over time, it isn’t enough to give advice for one or two days in order to correct this passion. We have to talk lots of times over many days, provided, of course, we’re aiming at profit and benefit, rather than mere pleasantries and an outward show. >Saint John Chrysostom

For Christ to enter into us, when we invite Him with ‘Lord Jesus Christ…’, the heart must be pure and not have any impediments. It must be free of hatred, egotism and wickedness. » Venerable Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

When it’s not distributed to the poor for the good of our souls and the benefit of our departed ones, wealth is a total disaster. Riches choke the soul, through great anxiety and rapacity. When we see people who have got everything, who want for nothing, but yet are anxious, worried and sad, we should recognize that they’re lacking God… » Venerable Païsios the Athonite

Watch the second part of fr Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the feast of All Saints.