In English

This examination of the issue of abortion, the Orthodox concept of oikonomia and certain individual situations used to support and promote the "right" to an abortion has been undertaken primarily because there is a legally and culturally perceived "right to an abortion" in America. Fetus removed for mom's health reasons Young people growing up today cannot remember a time before the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade in 1973 legalized abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Should Roe be reversed by the High Court, legislative initiatives guaranteeing access to abortion presently exist in many states and at the federal level, strongly suggesting that the procedure has become institutionalized in our present culture and will not be either ...

Just looking at something isn't in itself a sin. What is a sin is looking at things with envy, pride and greed.

Warm and balmy weather is followed by thunderstorms and rain. A soul which finds relief from sorrow in mourning and which has been cooled by tears enjoys a special calmness and serenity which, like the scent of perfumes, emerge from and are released by pure prayer.

The Elder often advised us to have spiritual dignity and generous pride. These were the virtues that distinguished him, too, as everybody knew who met him. I once went to visit him in his old kelli of the Precious Cross and after our chat I said goodbye to him, but he accompanied me for quite a way. As soon as I told him not to tire himself out and to go back to his kelli, he said goodbye and went back. If I hadn’t said anything he’d have gone with me as far as our representative’s house in Karyes. I should also say that he rarely showed his gift of foresight and never to show off, but only for the benefit of ...

«One evening in a not so fashionable taverna, a young Chinaman came in with his merchandise displayed on a wooden tray hanging from a strap round his neck. A host of trinkety things were glinting on there, both weird and not so strange. My eye was caught by some cheap-looking little red plaster birds. Each of them was standing on a plastic tree trunk, without even a dry leaf to indicate that there were better times. At the end of the trunk there was a little button, like a protruding knot. You pressed it and the bird sang. I quickly grabbed three, as if there was a fear they’d fly away. I didn’t ask how much each cost, and didn’t ask for ...

The Gospel for the fourth Sunday in Lent, Mark 9, 17-31), presents Jesus as coming face to face with an ancient problem which affects the whole of humanity: the ability of people to overcome evil. For as long as there have been people on earth, evil in its thousand and one forms- poverty, hunger, wars, refugee crises, sicknesses and death- has held sway over their lives, suffocated their hopes and, often enough, driven them to despair. Philosophers, economists, politicians, scientists, religious leaders and even soothsayers have, for centuries, struggled against it on a daily basis. Sometimes more successfully, at other times less so, the human race has managed to make some progress towards the improvement of the quality of life, ...

Just as a healthy eye desires the light, so, if fasting's undertaken with discretion, it's followed by a desire for prayer.

Who is able to act as confessor depends on the bishop’s discernment. In many places in Greece, the bishop selects certain priests and appoints them as confessors through a special prayer and the ‘laying on of hands’. Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain allows all priests to act as confessors without any particular prayer of appointment. Regardless, no one can act as a confessor without the blessing of the bishop, for he is the spiritual father par excellence of all those under his jurisdiction, clergy and laity alike.  The ideal is that the confessor/spiritual father should be a priest with whom the spiritual child can easily have regular contact - if not the local parish priest, then at least a ...

People who are overcome by the desires and pleasures and spend their lives out in this world will quickly fall into the snares of sin. And once sin's occurred, it's fire on dry grass, a stone rolling down a steep slope, a gully channeling rushing streams. And it plots people's perdition in all manner of ways.

Elder Païsios has no need of any praise or introduction from us. With his imitation of Christ’s love, he satisfied both God and other people and this is why he’s widely praised in the Church of God. He had the rare gift of being able to bring solace to people of all works of life, irrespective of their level of education or their spiritual state. I remember the case of a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst who came to visit out monastery after an encounter with the Elder. Not only had he found peace, but he also told me that what the Elder had said to him was the last word in modern psychiatry. It’s well known that the Elder didn’t read books, other than ...

All the evil you'll ever come across is the offshoot of the love of money. Wherever you find it growing: in the home, in the market-place, in the courts, in the legislatures or in the highest places in the land.

Let's not expect spiritual understanding from people who don't believe in God. Let's pray that God will forgive them and show them His light. And don't tire yourself out trying to talk about the truth to people who are full of selfishness and wickedness (even if they do call themselves Christians), because they've got no room for it.

Few would argue against the statement that the Sacrament of Confession is on the decline in the Greek Orthodox Church. While it is not my intention here to explain the reasons for it, one could speculate that this decline is due to the morally and spiritually lax standards of our modern society to which we have become accustomed. Perhaps sins which in the past would have given rise to a sense of regret and a desire to be forgiven now seem to us to be normal. This decline may also be due to the individualistic attitude of modern society which has influenced Christians also, and which extends even into the area of religion. What I mean by this is that ...