The grace of God descends on humble people. Those who are proud are surrounded by woeful circumstances, in order for them to become humble and be saved. The humble always welcome God’s mercy. Humble yourself in all things before other people. Abase yourself and you’ll see God’s glory. Strive to make everyone else look down on you, so that God may glorify you. Saint Isaac the Syrian
We cannot recognize God without God. Those who know Him better become more humble. They fear Him and love Him. Those who have fear of God have a treasury full of blessings. The fear of God protects people from sin. Saint Andronik from the Monastery of Glinsk
If the extreme of the most perfect meekness is to treat with inner serenity and love someone who’s provoking you when they’re standing in front of you, then certainly the extreme of anger is to use various words and wild actions in order to clash with someone who has wounded you, even though they’re not there. Saint John of the Ladder
A lot of care needs to be taken in the preservation of the institution of marriage. People shouldn’t pay attention to calumny, which gives rise to misunderstandings. We especially recommend that the husband, as the head, shouldn’t betray the love and connection he has with his wife, because the devil and his minions will never cease their hostile efforts to wound the root of life. Elder Iosif Vatopaidinos
We often become annoyed with direct and sincere people because they openly reveal our weaknesses. But we should honor and thank them. They’re like surgeons who, with their sharp words, cut away the infected parts of the heart. They awaken the conscience of the soul, which has been made moribund by sin. Saint John Kronstadtskij
Dear brothers and sisters, You are invited to participate in the 1st e-Meeting with Elder Ephraim and the friends of the “BIZANTICONS ARTS” store in Bucharest, which will take place Thursday 1st April 2021, 07:30-09:30 PM. Elder Ephraim 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 e-Meeting is organized by the web magazine PEMPTOUSIA and the Bizanticons Arts Store in Bucharest. You may register in advance for this meeting: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMsfumqrDguG9OrTMN5Yr2HskJca88jVkXk After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you need any help please contact: nikos@gouraros.net or alexandru@librariabizantina.ro
In today’s Gospel, the paralytic arose immediately, took his bed upon his shoulders and walked past everyone. And everyone was amazed and glorified God saying: “We’ve never seen the like”. Let’s look at the marvellous powers the Lord reveals for us in this miracle: He reads people’s hearts, discovering faith in some and malice in others. Source: www.porphyrios.gr/ He forgives the soul its sins and makes it healthy, purified of the source of sickness and disability. He restores health to the sick and paralyzed body by the power of His word. How wonderful, how dreadful and how breathtaking and life-giving is the presence of the living Lord! Let’s dwell for a moment on this presence of the living Lord. The most important thing on the path of ...
Previous post: Iconoclasm was a form of religious ideology, which cast doubt on and, in the end, rejected the fact of God’s incarnation, which is the prerequisite for the renewal of the world and of our own glorification. If Christ cannot be depicted, this means that he was not a real human person. The icon of Christ declares and emphasizes the truth of divine incarnation. It highlights the presence of God Who came into the world in order to save us. All the ancient heresies which made their appearance in the first millennium after Christ were dealt with by the seven Ecumenical Synods. The victory of Orthodoxy, which is celebrated by the Church on the first Sunday of Great Lent is ...
‘From heaven Gabriel cries Hail to the Virgin’ . Glad tidings indeed today for Orthodoxy. A feast of the Lord and the Mother of God. Of the Lord because is has to do with Our Lord Jesus Christ who was conceived in the womb of the Mother of God. Of the Mother of God because Our Lady served, played an important role in, the plan for God’s incarnation, the incarnation of the second Person of the Consubstantial Trinity. Today’s feast is the beginning of all the feasts which are concerned with the person of Jesus. In Greek, the name of the feast is Evangelismos meaning, literally ‘good tidings’. What is this good news? The message announced by the Archangel Gabriel to ...
On the first Sunday of the Fast of Great Lent, the Church celebrates the triumph of Orthodoxy over the heresies. The specific historical event which was the basis and starting-point for this celebration was the victory of the Church against the iconoclasts. The latter proclaimed that the use of icons is anti-Christian. They would not accept the veneration of the icon of Christ, nor the honor paid to the other icons or to the relics of saints. This attitude of theirs was not superficial, but came from a more profound denial of the depiction of Christ, which, in the end, led to a denial of his incarnation and his presence in the world as a real human being. The way ...
Every Friday during Great Lent, crowds of the faithful flock to churches to honor the Mother of God, to sing ‘Hail’ to the ‘sweetly-smelling incense’, the ‘precious myrrh’, Our Lady. Orthodox churches are redolent with the ineffable fragrance exuded by the pure figure of the most blessed Mother of God. This is why the faithful, together with the hymnographer sing aloud: ‘Hail, scent of Christ’s fragrance’. The fragrance of Christ! This is the exquisite, sublime aroma exuded by the Virgin Mary. In a world that was choking on the stench of sin, in an atmosphere that was suffocating with the fumes of moral decay and religious delusion, the Mother of God became the ‘august tabernacle of the fragrance,’ the vessel of ...
Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and, during the procession with the holy icons, we commemorate those who affirmed the Orthodox faith not only through their teachings but also through their struggles unto death. The Church is therefore justified in choosing for the Epistle reading a passage from chapter eleven of Hebrews, a chapter which has been rightly called ‘the iconostas of the faith’. True riches or mere decoration? The dominant place on this iconostas is occupied by the Prophet Moses. The cost of his faith for the saint was enormous, since he refused- Saint John Chrysostom says ‘hated’- to be considered the son of a heathen princess with all the attendant comforts and pleasures and chose to share in the sufferings ...
The Feast of Orthodoxy was established in the ninth century, on the occasion of the victory of the right faith , concerning the human and divine person of Jesus Christ and the honor rendered by us to the saints, through the holy icons. Gradually, however, the feast became more general and acquired particular significance in the sense that it began to constitute a commemoration of the victory of Orthodoxy over every form of misbelief, i. e. heresy, and of the victory of the Church over its various enemies. In order to promote the triumph of Orthodoxy, in the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa the Creed is read with a special supplication. The Creed is the best encapsulation of the basic ...
Dear Friends, We would like to announce that the Web Magazine Pemptousia organizes the “1st Digital Fellowship with Metropolitan of Dimitriados Ignatios“ which will take place on Tuesday, March 23 at 19:30 (Greek Time). The topic of speech and discussion: GREEK REVOLUTION 1821. FROM MEMORY TO THE FUTURE. The total duration of the Digital Fellowship will be 2 hours. Romanian and English simultaneous interpretation will be available during the speech and discussion. You could watch the e-Meeting live on pages here: English interpretation via Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) here: https://www.facebook.com/MyOCN Romanian interpretation via Doxologia.ro here: https://www.facebook.com/doxologia.ro
11/9/88 Monastery of Vatopaidi Dear M. The Grace of Christ be with your spirit. I received your letter and read its contents with care. What is commendable is not so much the issues in themselves, but your own good intentions and determination for a stricter life in Christ and in this I wish you always progress without end. The subject of food, as our most necessary duty and responsibility, concerns all of us. Indeed, I might say, it holds us in thrall, especially because of the particular extravagance of our own generation. But to give up one of the main forms of food, especially to do so suddenly, is neither beneficial nor laudable… on the excuse that perhaps we’re altogether too fond of it. ...
Theological Online Conference Sunday 21 March, 7 p.m. Athens Time (12:00 Eastern) with the participation of His All-Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch On the occasion of the feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the 1st Sunday of the Fast, the Saint Maxim the Greek Institute and Pemptousia are organizing a Theological Online Conference on 21 March, at 7 p.m. Athens Time (12:00 Eastern) at which the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Eminence Ierotheos, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Ayios Vlasios, His Eminence Ieronymos, Metropolitan of Larissa, Elder Efraim, Abbot of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, Archimandrite Zacharias of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex, George Mantzaridis, Professor emeritus, A. U. Th., and ...
On March 17, we celebrate the memory of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland Dismissal Hymn in the third tone: ‘Holy Hierarch, equal of the Apostles, Saint Patrick, wonderworker and enlightener of Ireland: Intercede with the merciful God that will He grant to our souls forgiveness of offences’. A dismissal hymn indicates why we honor a saint, but is not an account of his or her life. In this case, ‘enlightener of Ireland’ does not give us any indication of what this entailed. The best known written work we have by Saint Patrick is his ‘Breastplate’ or ‘Lorica’. It is by no means certain that Saint Patrick wrote it himself, though this does not mean that he didn’t. The earliest manuscript we have ...
Dear friends, You are invited to participate in the 2nd e-Meeting from Mount Athos with Elder Ephraim and English Speaking Byzantine Chanters, which will take place Monday, March 22, 2021, 07:30-09:30 PM Athens time (12:30 EASTERN). Elder Ephraim will talk in Greek and we will offer simultaneous English Interpretation for the entire session, including the homily as well as the questions & answers session. The e-Meeting is organized by the web magazine PEMPTOUSIA and the AGES Initiatives. You may register in advance for this meeting: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwpd-uoqjIiHNavnWjnzV2XSoTN7qGowMS8 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please install the ZOOM “Desktop or mobile” app in order to be able to listen to the different languages. Instructions here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362233-Upgrade-update-to-the-latest-version OR Sign in to Zoom desktop client. Click your profile ...
Beloved parishioners, we are now embarking on the time of Great Lent, a period which will bring us to Easter. In this, we rather resemble the ancient Israelite people who left the country of slavery (Egypt) and made their way to the Promised Land. As is true with all our everyday affairs, a decision isn’t a result. Nobody gets to where they want to go automatically, all at once, just by deciding. It requires the effort of the journey and patience in the face of the current and concomitant difficulties we encounter in our progress towards our desired goal. This is the case with us, too. The time of Lent is associated with external difficulties (as with the Jews in the ...
