Bold people don’t fear death, which is why they strive nobly and with self-denial. Because they keep death in their mind and think about it every day, they’re better prepared spiritually and they strive more courageously. In this way they disdain vain pursuits and, even in this life, live in eternity, with the joy of Paradise.
Watch the second part of Fr Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on Jesus’ temptations.
We need to pray wholeheartedly for God to give us even the slightest portion of the inexhaustible source of His blessings and spiritual aid. The first thing we should ask is faith and the hope that we’ll receive everything from Him Who is all-merciful and true.
On Sunday 4th August in Melbourne, Australia, the winners of Byzanfest 2019 were announced. After extensive consideration by the judging panel and global audience votes, the winning filmmakers are: Best Film: The Throne of St Sava – by Jakov Popov Best Director: Christmas Anti-Fable – by Efthimios Hatzis Best Cinematography: Christmas Anti-fable – by Efthimios Hatzis Best Screenplay: The Lonely Inventor – by Nicholas Shadeen Best Documentary: Under the Archangels’ Wings – by Dinu Cristian Audience Favourite: Icons – by Craig DiRienzo The award ceremony was streamed live on the Byzanfest Facebook page with several of the nominated filmmakers appearing via Skype. It was a profound experience to be able to engage with filmmakers on the other side of the global whilst streaming to a global audience. ...
When you have tears during prayer it’s a visit from God. When there’s fear of God wisdom’s granted.
The 3rd annual edition of Iasi Byzantine Music Festival organized by the Department of Religious Education of the Metropolis of Moldavia and Bucovina will take place from 2nd to 6th of October 2019. For five days, the city will be the host of well-known national and international choral groups, soloists and researchers from Georgia, Greece, Lebanon, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Romania. Therefore, the guests of this edition are the Patriarchy Choir of Tbilisi Holy Trinity Cathedral (Tbilisi, Georgia), Nektaria Karantzi, lecturer Evelina Mineva, ”Romeiko” Ensemble (Greece), ”Theotokos” Orthodox Choir ( Lebanon), ”Saint Ephraim” Male Choir (Hungary), ”Kljuch Razumeniya” Ensemble (Russia), Sergii Radkevich (Ukraine), ”Tronos” Psaltic Group of the Romanian Patriarchy Cathedral, ”Righteous Iosif” Choir of Varatic Monastery, ”Byzantion” Academic Choir, Fr. ...
Orthodoxy is asceticism and life, which is why it’s only through asceticism and life that preaching and mission are accomplished. The internal mission of the Church ought to be to cultivate asceticism- personal and general- among our people. Parishes should be converted into ascetic centres, but that can be achieved only by an ascetic priest. We have to strengthen prayer with fasting, to cultivate good order in church, because this is one of the main ways in which Orthodoxy has a regenerative effect on people. But all this depends on our priests and monastics becoming ascetics themselves.
The Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Tolleshunt Knights, near Essex, England is the oldest Orthodox monastic community in the country. It was founded in 1958 by Elder Sophrony (Sakharov), the spiritual child of St. Silouan the Athonite who is himself venerated throughout the Orthodox world. Elder Sophrony served as the monastery’s abbot until his holy repose in 1993. The abbatial post was then taken up by Archimandrite Kyrillos, who served in that capacity until earlier this year, when he retired due to the weakness of his age. He has not been able to serve the Liturgy for more than a year now, though he is now working to instruct the new abbot. For its new abbot, the monastery, consisting of both ...
According to Saint Basil the Great, nothing exists without due cause, nothing’s fortuitous, everything has some secret and unexpressed wisdom. Thus, regarding plants and their fruits, apart from their ecological importance as producers of eco-systems they’re also schools for rational souls and colleges of the knowledge of God, which train the intellect and lead it from the visible and tangible to the contemplation of things invisible. Plants form an important element in the worship of the Orthodox Church. During the Divine Liturgy, bread and wine are used, the products of grain and grape. During the service of the Blessing of the Loaves, grain, wine and oil are blessed. Besides, in accordance with liturgical practice the fruits of the earth, such as ...
For God, everything’s possible. He can reveal to us His created majesty and can create the uncreated. But, for us, the most important thing is that He wants to redeem our soul from sin and death and to grant us life eternal. Let us beseech Him for this night and day!
One of the most serious issues affecting society on all levels is the complete breakdown of relationships between people. This can be seen even within the same family, where spouses are estranged because of disagreements, and there is alienation between children and parents. What is the result? Husband and wife end up divorced. Children cut ties with their parents (or vice versa). It can be seen everywhere in our communities: Brothers, friends, associates, and neighbors are cold to one another, accuse one another (or worse) and avoid each other. There are many reasons why relationships end up in this way. The key reason has to do with our own selfishness. When another person does or says something that offends us, we ...
Kyriakos Komvopoulos, Professor at the Berkeley University, California, at his interview to Pemptousia speaks on the relationship between ethics and science.
People who repent feel an inexplicable joy, a delight, within themselves. Strange things happen to people when they repent.
Video documents the history of the rise of the Orthodox Church in Albania under His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios following the fall of communism in the 90s. By Maria Mavrikou
Never respect those who condemn their neighbour, but, instead, say to them: ‘That’s enough. I err more badly every day, so how can I criticize anybody else?’ In this way, you’ll win twice over: with one medicine you’ll cure yourself and others.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America joins Steve to explore why service is at the heart of our lives as Christians. But he also reminds us that, if we truly want to emphasize service, then we must also emphasize the services of the Church.
Hell is only for those who don’t want to repent and to abandon sin. If you do repent and abandon sin, the gates of divine mercy are open.
THE THRONE OF ST SAVA (Serbia) In an era of great unrest, St Sava focused on finding a way to bring peace to the people through the Church. Nominated for BEST FILM Watch now: CHRISTMAS ANTI-FABLE (Greece) Set in an alternative retro-future, the world’s worm species is dying leading to impending massive ecological collapse. Who will be the one to save them and the whole world? Nominated for BEST FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Watch now: ICONS (USA) Icons have always been vital to the Orthodox Christian, providing the connection between the person and the Divine. Nominated for BEST DOCUMENTARY Watch now: THE MIDDLE WAY (Canada) Jasper searches a way where he can both front a rock band yet still live a deeply spiritual life. Watch now: THE LONELY INVENTOR (USA) Joe Archimedes is ...
Fr. Maximos Constas is Senior Research Scholar at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA, an internationally acclaimed Patrologist, and a monk of the Monastery of Simonopetra on Mt. Athos. His lecture series entitled Confession and Spiritual Direction; Mary Greeted Elizabeth: Witnessing Christ in the World Today; The Life and Teaching of St. Maximos the Confessor; Concentrated Prayer; Prayer and the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distractions; Lord and Master of My Life: Reflections on the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian; Counsels on the Holy Priesthood; The Pedagogy of Grace; Saints, Sanctity and the Life of St. Raphael of Brooklyn are available here at Patristic Nectar Publications. In this interview Fr. Maximos unpacks and ...
