Ξένες γλώσσες

There’s a worse inundation than water: if you're inundated by the passions. When the passions start to burn, when they begin to smoke and blacken everything, when they give off their stench and it gets everywhere. Where will people go then and who will save them? Only under the hand of God, only under His protection, in the refuge from above. The flood of the passions almost engulfed David but he fled from them and found refuge in the strong arm of the Lord Most High: He escaped the fire, the smoke and the stench of the passions that were pursuing him. He escaped to the protection from above.

The danger in setting the period between conception and implantation as an acceptable time to destroy the already conceived child is that it is both arbitrary and artificial without any real medical, scientific or theological meaning. It has instead the meaning each individual involved cares to give it. Therefore, while one person may speak scrupulously and compassionately only about cases of rape and incest, the less scrupulous will use this "dispensation" — not oikonomia — to cover every "traumatic" pregnancy. And, by accepting for whatever "good" reason the legitimacy of the termination of pregnancy after conception, there is no way to intellectually or theologically forbid the taking of that life at a later stage for reasons which may be less ...

When children are hurt and wounded by something serious, don't let it bother you if they behave badly. They don't really want to, but can’t help it when it's hard for them. They're sorry afterwards.

But what is the criterion for assessing such a presence or absence of Christ within a person’s being? How is this presence «measured», that is, how does it become visible, how does it become perceptible? How is it revealed, if, indeed it is revealed, this «Christification» to recall a word used by Father Justin Popović? How does the spirit become flesh? The answer is simple and not at all theoretical. The fundamental criterion for Christification, the discovery of the Christ-bearer, is the revelation of the identity of the energy of Christ and the Christ-bearer by imitation and type. Just as the Church is an image and type of the Holy Trinity, so the human person is made in the image ...

Wine and the Holy Scriptures: the books of the Bible, texts inspired by God are full of poetic hymns to the vine and its produce and contain numerous symbolic references to them. How can we forget Psalm 103, that wonderful hymn to God, the Maker of heaven and earth, Who gave us food brought forth from the earth, wine to gladden our heart, oil to make our face shine and bread to strengthen our heart (verse 15)? In Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, it mentions that, after the flood, Noah became a farmer. He began to cultivate the earth and, among other things, planted a vineyard. From the grapes he produced, he made wine. One day, he drank ...

The Myrrh-bearing women were those who followed Christ and His Mother. They stayed with Him at the time of His saving Passion and anointed the Lord’s body with myrrh. When Joseph and Nicodemus asked Pilate for the Lord’s body, they took it down from the Cross, wrapped it in a sheet and with choice spices laid it in the hewn-out tomb. They then rolled a large stone to cover the entrance to the tomb and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat opposite the tomb. The ‘other Mary’ certainly refers to the Mother of God. They weren’t alone, however, since Saint Luke mentions that that there were also other women there. The Lord’s resurrection is the renewal of human nature, a reconstruction, ...

We should not be disturbed in our spiritual life by any hostile force. On the contrary. we should have trust in the words of God: ‘Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it, for God is with us, the Lord our God. He it is you are to regard as holy, he it is you are to fear’ (Cf. Is. 8, 12-13)

Very often, in our minds we think that the religious life has to do with God and that sin also has to do with Him. This is a mistake. The Church is a sanatorium, the disease is our own and we go there to be cured. The Doctor’s well, so we haven’t done Him a favour by going to hospital. His commandments are our medication. But even if we take the medication, we think we’re doing it for Him, so that He’ll be satisfied. Christ came into the world and showed us the mystery of the Church so that we could be cured. Very often we think that what we’re doing- fasting, labouring, praying, or anything else it might be- ...

To condemn means that i have no patience and love for others. And I have no patience with them because I don't have love. Condemnation means that all the others aren't like me. It means that if I'd been in their place, I'd have acted better and more effectively.

The table is where the family gathers. Everyone’s there, sharing the day’s news, relaxing and exchanging views and experiences, all in connection with the consumption of a meal. Apart from the obvious, the whole process reinforces family ties and gives parents the opportunity to find out what their children really like. At the same time, it’s an educational process, since very young children often learn new words in the course of the meal. Scientific studies have shown that the more frequently family members eat together the higher the chances are that they will remain united and that the children will enjoy good close relations and good communication with their parents. Parental involvement with their children, as well as activities performed in common ...

Through repentance we receive a second baptism and are cleansed of the sins we've committed after baptism. When we repent, when we acknowledge our iniquities and decide not to commit any more sins, to hate them, we immediately received forgiveness of our transgressions and from being sinners, from one moment to the next, become righteous, like the robber who gained paradise because he repented.

CHRIST IS RISEN! With the journey to Pascha having reached its ultimate destination at the glorious Resurrection of the Lord, the Orthodox Church has now embarked on the Pentecostarion period. Pentecost (the descent of God the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem - Acts 2:1-11) will be celebrated on June 19th. This year’s feast will have added significance because it will mark the commencement of the Holy and Great Council on the island of Crete in Greece. Shepherded by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Council will bring together Primates from the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox sister churches to deliberate on various matters under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Following January’s confirmation of the Council’s convocation, many articles in multiple languages have ...

When you don’t live with Christ, you live in melancholy, in sorrow, in anxiety and in worry. You don’t live properly. Then all sorts of abnormalities appear, even in our organism. The body’s affected, the endocrinal glands, the liver, the gall bladder, the pancreas and the stomach. People tell you: ‘If you want to be healthy, drink your milk in the morning, eat your egg, your butter and a couple of slices of toast’. But if you live with Christ, if you love Christ, you’ll be fine with an orange or an apple. The best medicine is to devote yourself to the worship of Christ. Everything’s cured. Everything works properly. God’s love transforms everything, reconstructs it, sanctifies it, rectifies it, ...

When God doesn't give us something we keep asking for, He has His reasons. God also has His 'secrets'. Let's not go chasing after what we want but leave it to the will of God.