Ξένες γλώσσες

Most of the miracles performed by Jesus were the result of a request by people who needed the miracle, and only occurred after He had previously examined their faith. There were, however, miracles which he Himself wished to perform. We heard of one such today. The reason why Jesus wished to perform a miracle in this particular case, with the two possessed men, is because the latter were abandoned, marginalized by others, even their relatives, and this is why the Lord was interested in redeeming these men from the power of the evil spirits. In today’s Gospel reading, Saint Matthew the Evangelist narrates the story of the cure of two men who were possessed, and who lived among the tombs outside ...

The Elder was asked: ‘When will Cyprus be liberated?’ He answered: ‘Cyprus will be liberated when the Cypriotes repent. Make some religious bases to get rid of the Turkish, English and American bases’. In other words, he saw Cyprus as a spiritual problem, not a political or national one, and that its resolution would come through the repentance and prayers of the people.

Today we shall speak about the great spiritual sickness known as egotism. Egotism is an absurd passion and is literally a scourge of the human race; we all suffer from this great sickness. Egotism makes fools and a spectacle of those who suffer from it. God calls upon us to struggle against this egotism and defeat it, to make ourselves free of it. The ‘old person’ is the passionate state of the soul and is literally egotism. All the passions, all sins, all falls, have their origin, their starting point in egotism. It’s a great evil. It won’t leave us alone, but tyrannizes us day and night. In general, everybody suffers from this evil, me more than anyone, sinner that I am. *** When I ...

Don’t be troubled in sorrows and temptations, but, with the love of Jesus, lighten your mood and your listlessness.

Do you pray with faith? You’re heard! Do you repent with faith? You’re granted mercy! Do you confess with faith? You’re forgiven. Are you patient with faith? You’re sanctified!

When God sees good intent on our part, He’ll help us. And He’ll make this small intent so great, that the wondrous salvation of our souls will be achieved.

‘The voice of the Lord is upon many waters… the Lord is upon many waters… the Lord will bless His people in peace (Ps. 28, 3, 11). The extreme western point of the azure waters of the Cretan Sea, under the protection and care of the Lady of the Angels, devotion to whom is unfailing in this craggy outcrop of Crete, the birth-place of saints and heroes, was chosen to host the second international conference on digital media and Orthodox pastoral care. Gathered under the aegis of His All-Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch, through the unstinting love of the local shepherd, His Eminence Amphilochios, and the paternal blessing and care of the Very Reverend Abbot of the Holy and Great Monastery of ...

The Church cures our deformation through its teaching, through the Gospel message, through asceticism, through its holy sacraments and through the pastoral care of its bishops.

Here’s a mystery: in His omnipotence and His omniscience, He knows everything, including what’s going to happen in the future, but He’s not the cause of any evil. God has precognition, but doesn’t preordain.

The above prohibitions should not be confused with instances where certain saintly women disguised themselves in order to enter men’s monasteries. What distinguishes these women from the followers of Efstathios is the reason behind their actions. Their motive was not to denigrate their sex nor to condemn procreation, as was the case with the repressive supporters of Efstathios, who were opposed by the Synod of Gangra. It was rather the social conditions of the time that compelled them to act as they did. These women entered men’s monasteries either because their families wanted to marry them off against their will (Saint Efrosyni, Saint Apollinaria); because they were being pressured into forming a relationship (Justinian and Saint Anastasia the Patrician); or ...

People divorce because of their sensuality and their egotism. Nothing else. All the other reasons are invented afterwards to justify what they’ve done.

Apart from the Nativity of Christ, our Church celebrates the birthday of only two other people: Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and the Honourable Forerunner, Saint John the Baptist. And it’s natural that the birthday of the latter should be honoured, since the Lord Himself praised him as being the greatest among those born of women. The fruit of prayer It has rightly been said that the upbringing of a child begins long before it’s born. If the apple’s going to fall close to the tree, the apple-tree itself needs a great deal of care and proper growth. Both the parents who gave us Saint John the Forerunner were righteous and blameless before the Lord and observed all His ...

Nobody’s infallible, especially when they’re still imperfect and full of badness. There are lots of things they don’t know, and they’re not very good at others. They lack experience and are fighting an unequal struggle, as well.

The path of life is all pain and tears; all thorns and nails; crosses everywhere; anxiety and sorrow. Every step is a Gethsemane. Every slope’s a Golgotha. Every second’s a spear-thrust. ‘If we could squeeze the earth like a sponge, it would drip blood and tears’. ‘The days of man are but as grass, as the flower of the field he shall wither’, says the psalmist. The rose produces thorns and thorns the rose. What is beautiful is linked to pain, but pain produces joy. It’s normal for a rainbow to appear after a storm. Unless there’s a storm, the stars don’t all come out. Discernment- illumined by Christian faith and philosophy- sees. It has the ability, through sight, to see far beyond ...

Egotism is an absurd passion  which is literally a scourge of humankind. We all suffer from this dread disease. Self-centred people are made ridiculous and a spectacle by their egotism. God calls upon us to fight this egotism and overcome it, to cast it off.

In the previous section, we said that the Church is a Hospital, a healing center. It heals man’s sick personality. If the darkening of the nous is the real illness, then cure consists of the illumination and livening of the nous. The subject of Orthodox psychotherapy should be viewed in this perspective. It is not concerned with psychological balance, but rather with the illumination of the nous and man’s union with God. There is a very telling Church hymn in which we ask God to resurrect the mortified nous as He resurrected Lazarus. We chant: Let us, O faithful, imitate Martha and Mary and send to Lord godly acts as ambassadors so that He comes to raise our nous, now lying dead ...

Don’t be dictatorial in the way you speak, though this doesn’t mean that you should deny true values. Just be aware of your own limitations.

Stress is caused by the eradication of the religious sense. Unless you have love for Christ, unless you concern yourself with holy matters, you’re bound to be full of melancholy and badness.