Ξένες γλώσσες

The Holy Gospel we heard today, my Christian brothers and sisters, tells us, in the form of a parable, about the Supper of Holy Communion. Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. This Supper, which we enjoy at every Divine Liturgy, is called ‘great’ in today’s Gospel. And this Supper really is ‘great, the ‘greatest’, incomparably greater than any other prepared by royalty or magnates, because this Supper of the Church presents us with Christ Himself. His all-holy Body and His spotless Blood. Christ said this clearly when He gave His disciples communion on the evening of Great Thursday: ‘Tale, eat, this is my body’; and ‘All of you drink of this, this is my blood’. And what the ...

Nobody should say that it’s not possible for people to live a virtuous life, but rather that it’s difficult to do so. Nor can virtue be acquired by just anyone. The virtuous life is lived by those who are devout and have a mind that loves God.

The sacred canons are the practical expression of the dogma, the faith of the Church, and can be viewed as such, because otherwise dogma would be banished to the sphere of the metaphysical, of the inaccessible, beyond participation, in which case the uncreated energies would remain dormant. But dogma is not there merely to be believed and nothing more, it’s supposed to be lived, to be expressed through words and deeds, theoretically and practically, ‘believing in love and loving in truth’. So a rational consideration of the canons as a practical expression of dogma is a matter of faith and acceptance on the part of those who belong to the Orthodox Church. The canons aren’t removed from dogma, nor are ...

Do you think I derive its antiquity from the Law? Fasting is older than the Law. Just be patient and you’ll see the truth of this. Fasting was the first commandment of God in paradise. When Adam and Eve broke it, it marked the fall of the human race into sin. Don’t think that the Day of Atonement, which had been ordained for Israel for the tenth day in the seventh month (Lev. 16, 29), is the beginning of fasting. If we take a walk through history, we’ll be able to investigate its antiquity. Because it’s not something that’s recently been thought up. It’s a legacy from the Fathers. Everything that’s ancient is worthy of respect. Respect the antiquity of fasting. It’s ...

Among the greatest blasphemies ever constructed by humankind was that of Nazi Germany. Not satisfied with their political dominance, they also sought a religious dominance as well. The notion of an “Aryan Christ” was perhaps the depths of their theological blasphemies mirrored in their dehumanization and murder of the Jews. At many points in the past two millennia, the relationship between Christians and Jews has hit low points – with the Jews almost universally at the short end of the stick. But to seek to create a Christ who Himself was not a Jew is (for a Christian) the worst of insults. The second Sunday before the Nativity, in Orthodox Tradition, is set aside as the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers ...

The parable of the Great Banquet, which we heard today in the Holy Gospel, was told by Jesus at the house of a Pharisee lord during a dinner in which he had been invited with others. He took the opportunity to teach this parable from the words of one of those who ate with Him: “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). The Lord compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a great feast or banquet in which everyone wants to take part. Here they can enjoy the goods that the affectionate Father God has prepared. So he sends his servant to call the most distinguished and important people. But each refused to attend and ...

The greatest problem we face today is that we’re living without the sense of the presence of God in our lives and think that everything depends on us personally. But such a way of life leads to atheism and self-deification. In other words, the self and its satisfaction becomes the centre of our life and this makes us, apart from atheists, misanthropists as well. On all levels, today’s crisis demonstrates the secular way of life most of us lead. Modern life shows us Christians that we no longer live in a spirit of communion with God or with other people. Christians love God first and, by extension, other people, but these days we’ve forgotten that we’re one family, one body- ...

This is why you mustn’t be lazy, but rather be eager to do good. Because now’s the time for work; Later’s the time for reward. On earth, war; in heaven, rest. And of necessity you’ll do one or the other: you’ll either win or be defeated. You’ll either stay close to God or be separated from Him. There’s no third way.

The various Books of the Elders, ancient and modern, take us into the world of the monastic state. There the genuine way of the Christian/Gospel life continues, as does the human reality of blunders and failures, which are overcome through asceticism. One very important and substantial mode of asceticism is obedience. Obedience, together with chastity- of body and soul- and poverty as freedom from material bonds, are the virtues that every monastic is called upon to attain if they’re to be true to their vocation, a person dedicated to God. But obedience isn’t a feature only of monastic life, but of that of all those who want to live in accordance with the Gospel and for Christ to be their ‘Lord and ...

For many people with a secular outlook, decorating the Christmas tree is the essence of Christmas. In Greece, this custom was imported from abroad and was introduced by the Bavarians*. The first time a Christmas tree was decorated was in Otto’s palace and thereafter it spread throughout Athens. After World War II, the tree and its multi-coloured balls became a feature of all Greek houses. Its forerunner was the Yule log, a large piece of wood from a pear or wild cherry tree. According to popular thinking, trees with needles kept at bay the demonic beings, the kalikantzari. In the old days, the Yule log was placed in the hearth on Christmas eve. The ash from the logs protected the house and the ...

We should fast without hypocrisy and cleanse the soul from sins. ‘Pour oil on your head and wash your face’ (Matth. 6, 17). This saying is inviting you into sacramental rituals. If you pour oil on your head, you’re anointed; if you wash, you’re made clean. You have to realize within your inner self what the command means. Cleanse your soul from sin. Anoint your head with holy chrism so that you can become a partaker of Christ, and then you can enter the fast. Don’t alter your countenance, the way the hypocrites do. Your face is blackened when your inner disposition is overshadowed by a meretricious external appearance, when it’s hidden by falsehood, as if with a curtain. Hypocrites ...

God allows righteous and virtuous people to suffer terrible illnesses in order that they may be cleansed of even the slightest traces of their passions, and so that they will gain an even greater crown in heaven. In any case, since He allowed His own beloved Son to suffer on the Cross, what can we say about people who, however holy they are, still have stains and blemishes from sins.

12 August 1984 In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. So often we ask ourselves and one another a very tormenting question: How can I deal with my sinful condition? What can I do? I cannot avoid committing sins, Christ alone is sinless. I cannot, for lack of determination, or courage, or ability truly repent when I do commit a sin, or in general, of my sinful condition. What is left to me? I am tormented, I fight like one drowning, and I see no solution. And there is a word which was spoken once by a Russian staretz, one of the last elders of Optina. He said to a visitor of his: No one can ...

If we talk about it as being in stages, the divine will appears in four forms. The first is divine approval, that is what God wants most. The second is dispensation, where God withdraws paternally, because of our weakness. The third is divine sufferance, when God intervenes and chastises. The fourth and most lamentable is abandonment, which occurs when people live with such ingrained cruelty and callousness that their provoke God to abandon them.

Fasting is a prophetic command ‘Sound the trumpet on the day of the new moon, in the glorious day of your feast’. (Ps. 80, 3). This is a prophetic ordinance. For us, the readings (Is. 58, 4-6) resound louder than the trumpet and any other musical organ, announcing the awaited feast of feasts . We’ve learned the grace of the fast from Isaiah, who rejected the Jewish mode of fasting and showed us the true way. And the Lord says: ‘Do not look dismal, but put oil on your head and wash your face’ (Matth. 6, 16-17). Let us, then, behave as we’ve been taught, let’s not be seen frowning in the days to come, but let’s look at them with a ...

You might ask why it is that we today, who are less ascetic as Christians, are overcome with fear and trembling when we hear about asceticism. It makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable. This is because we’ve lost sight of a great truth of our faith. It’s summed up by Saint John of the Ladder: ‘love is conquered by love’*. What is it that binds us to our passions? We’ve fallen in love with them! In our fall, in our malice, we’ve fallen in love with them and embrace them tightly. We love our passions fervently: our gluttony, our debauchery, our pride, our egotism, our vanity and all the rest. How can we be cured of this? Only with commandments of a legal ...

We aren’t concerned with our own faults and sins, but we find plenty of transgressions in others. We fish them out and when we do so we make sure everyone hears about them. It’s become a bad habit now that, as soon as we hear something bad about somebody else, we go and spread it abroad. Our tongue burns and we hurry away to tell other people what we’ve heard and seen.

The issue of freedom is of great importance in the Orthodox view of humankind. According to this, people are made to be free. Freedom is the result of the fact that we’re made in the image of God and have the opportunity and potential to use our independent power to reach the state of being in the likeness of God. This isn’t an innate potential, but is effected through grace, through our encounter with God. Freedom in Orthodox theology isn’t a free decision made from among a variety of choices. Real freedom is the transcendence of choices, of necessity, of corruptibility and sin. We experience real freedom when we’re removed from the passions that bind and restrict us. Our ontological freedom ...

If your prayer isn’t fervent, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t pleasing to God. Sometimes such prayer may be thought of as sacrifice, if you humble and censure yourself before God.