It’s often been observed that some nuns find it difficult to express certain troubling thoughts to the Abbess, and that they find it easier to do so to the Elder. Of course, it’s obligatory for the Abbess to agree to hear the thoughts of all the nuns, but in such a case we see that the Elder can be of help in the resolving the situation to the spiritual benefit of the nun concerned. Besides, the Elder is more easily able to reconcile and placate the nuns regarding any friction or pettiness which disturbs the interpersonal communion of the nuns, especially when certain passions are prevalent which tend to appear more often in the feminine nature, such as envy, jealousy, complaining ...
My dear friends, This evening it has been my pleasure, after accepting the honour of an exceptional invitation, to speak from the chair of the late Archbishop Iakovos. To speak, that is to say, from under the shadow of a radiant person and servant of the Church who was known for the acute perception of his gaze. But also to speak from the chair of a migrant to whom the Ellis Island medal was awarded in 1986, for his creative integration into and contribution to American society. And we all know what Ellis Island was. I shall end, therefore, with his words, which demonstrate the immediate and imperative need on the part of the modern world, and particularly of the Orthodox Church ...
‘Son, your sins are forgiven’. This phrase, as used by Christ to the paralytic at Capernaum, links sickness with sin and forgiveness with cure. This is why Christ first cures the centre and root of the sickness, that is to say sin, and then goes on to provide a cure for the body. This cure is proof that ‘the son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins’. Unless there’s a relationship and connection between forgiveness and cure, Christ’s words are incomprehensible, hanging in the air, without any cohesion. Christ is declared the victor over sin He lifts and shifts away the weight of it and cures the symptoms, one of which is sickness. Christian teaching and science But all ...
There are some ‘progressive’ people who see the Church as their enemy. Yet is there anybody who has more love and who desires our happiness more than the Church, more than God Himself? The Church takes care of everything that’s compatible to our nature and suffers with the soul and body of every Christian.
Guard your mouth against superfluous, acrimonious and gratuitous words. Practice the Jesus prayer and self-restraint and the Lord will surround you with the priceless gift of His love. "Book of the Elders"
Christ applied the balm of humility to the wound of ambition, the desire for pre-eminence. If the ‘messenger of great counsel’, that is Christ, was so humbled, then we, too, should be prepared to follow the same path. ‘He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross’, as Saint Paul emphatically stated. The higher people rise, the more they should humble themselves and not be proud. Authority has been given to them not for them to be domineering, but to serve others. Saint John of the Ladder says: ‘Not only to cut, but also to take care of the wounds of others. It’s only through humility that leaders acquire a natural mode of behaviour ...
So from the middle of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th, monasticism in Greece, both men’s and women’s suffered a sharp decline. Even the Holy Mountain itself was threatened by a lack of monks. On the occasion of the millennium celebrations for the Holy Mountain in 1963, Ecumenical Patriarch Athinagoras said pointedly: ‘Together with the millennium, we’re also celebrating the dying breath of the Holy Mountain’. Divine Providence, however, had no wish to see the end of Athonite monasticism. And so now we can talk not only about repopulation but a blossoming of the Holy Mountain. With their virtuous lives and their spoken and written words, charismatic elders, such as Iosif the Hesychast with his disciples, Saint Païsios ...
Apostle Paul, Byzantine enamel, 12th Century, Victoria and Albert Museum, London How can you compare him to anyone else, given that he suffered almost every day on behalf of all the inhabitants of the world, all together, and for the gentiles, and for the cities and for each person individually. To what iron or to what diamond? What can you call that soul of his: golden or adamantine? It was more resistant than any diamond and more valuable than gold or precious stones. It outdid the resilience of a diamond and the value of gold. So with what element can we compare it? With nothing that exists. But if gold could become diamond and diamond gold, then we might compare ...
There continues to be much said and written about the historic Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. The discourse is often critical and infiltrated by individuals who hold extreme – some say fanatical – positions, criticizing and condemning those who oppose them. One hierarch told me this week that his elderly mother called him after being “informed” about the Council and proceeded to list for him all of its shortcomings. Listening in on the deliberations at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, I thought it might be helpful for the Orthodox faithful – as well as those interested in the Council and Orthodoxy more generally – to get a sense of the atmosphere and goings-on in the room. Of course, the deliberations ...
The characteristic feature of true repentance is profound emotion, devastation and sorrow of the heart, which is sad not because it’s going to be punished, but because, with its sin, it saddened and angered God Who is such a loving and tender Father. It’s the sighs, the compunction, the prayers, the fasts, and the tears. That repentance is genuine and real.
A dialogue between a disciple and his elder (Elder Efraim Katounakiotis): ‘Elder, I say the prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, but I don’t understand anything’. ‘You might not, but the devil does. It burns him and he flees. Ah, well, son, you want to see a miracle through prayer, through the Jesus Prayer?’ ‘Of course I do’. ‘Very well, then, I’ll pray to God to show you a miracle so you can understand the power of the prayer - the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me”, to which all the Patristic books refer, but particularly the Filokalia’. The Elder prayed and kept a three-day fast with only a little water. ‘Come here now, son’, he said to him after the three ...
The theological approaches to the excerpt are very interesting, but what should attract our attention is the link between the reading and the wedding service. On the basis of what has been said so far, can we make the following observations? 1. The presence of Christ at the wedding, renews the past, without extinguishing it: the miracle is performed with pre-existing material, water (an observation from as early as Irinaios). In other words, the old, pre-marriage person is renewed in a fresh relationship with their spouse. The love which already exists for a natural reason between the partners is sanctified by the Church and increased. It prays that ‘perfect love may be sent down upon them’. 2. Marriage is nourished, maintained and ...
Information about the story of Peter after the Resurrection is scant and we have no real sketch of the course of his life and no fixed point to use for satisfactory dates. In the history of the Early Church, Peter again played a leading role in the first action of an administrative nature by the Apostles, when he recommended to a common assembly of the faithful that they should elect a replacement for Judas Iscariot. Apostle Peter. Byzantine icon, 14th Century. Dumbarton Oaks collection On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood with the other disciples and spoke to the assembled crowds with such boldness and eloquence that 3,000 were baptized. Thereafter, when he was in the temple with John, he healed a ...
Orthodox women’s monasticism was founded almost at the same time as that of men. When Pachomios the Great formed the first men’s coenobium in Tabenissi, he was followed a few years later by his sister and then other women who desired the monastic life. Pachomios founded a women’s monastery for them, not far from the men’s. In the end, he became the founder of nine men’s and two women’s monasteries. He appointed his sister, Maria, to direct the women’s monasteries, which functioned on the basis of the rules of his own coenobium. He appointed Elder Petros, a monk of advanced age and great virtue, to the instruction of the nuns and the supervision of the monastery. Something similar happened with Basil ...
‘Whoever wishes to be first among you, let him be the servant of all’. The last time Christ went to Jerusalem was dramatic, not only for Him, but also for those who were following Him. ‘They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid’ (Mark 10, 32). The more the crowds flocked to Him, the more Christ spoke to His disciples about this and about His death. He spoke about the cup of death and the baptism of blood. He made it clear to them that their path would in many ways resemble the way His own life would end. The disciples were afraid. Until then, ...
The mind of a person is like the rudder of a ship. Just as a ship without a rudder goes off course, the same is true of our mind. It’s closely connected to the heart and, when it’s disturbed, the whole of the inner and outer person is disturbed and they don’t know what they’re doing.
More than all other people, it’s Paul who shows us what we are, how noble our nature is and what measure of virtue we’re able to achieve. And now he arises from the place he has arrived at and, in a clear voice, to all those who condemn our nature, he defends us on the Lord’s behalf, urging us towards virtue, stopping the shameless mouths of those who blaspheme and proving that there’s very little difference between us and the angels, if we but guard ourselves. Without having a different nature, without receiving a different soul, nor living in another world, but, having been brought up on the same land and place, with the same laws and customs, he surpassed all ...
