In English

Allow yourself whatever's constructive for you, but not what causes spiritual damage, upset and turmoil. What rational person would drink from a glass which they knew had been poisoned?

Eve of All Souls Another visit by the Autonomous Intervention team from Neapoli, Thessaloniki, to the suffering people at Idomeni. And this was perhaps even more of a landmark. Saturday of All Souls and you set out for the poor souls who are piled together between closed frontiers, hounded out by catastrophe, making their way forward through suspicious territory, with hope as their basic, if not their only, baggage. You drive along and your mind goes to tomorrow’s Gospel reading. ‘I was a stranger’. He reminds us of it twice. You eat up the kilometres and wonder what you’re doing, how much it helps and what it is you’re not doing. Hugely significant. The sun’s hot, which is a comfort, since it’ll dry ...

In everything we do, we need to be careful what we say and how we say it. Our thoughts should always be focused on how we can please God. And we should want nothing more than we want Him. We shouldn't be in a hurry to judge what other people say and do and we shouldn't interfere in issues that are none of our business.

If you sow uncultivated land, you'll just waste your seeds, and, instead of wheat, you'll harvest thorns. We, too, if we sow prayer in our soul while our flesh is fat, we'll harvest sin instead of good fruits. Prayer will be lost or polluted in the midst of vain thoughts. Our flesh comes from the earth and if we don't cultivate it, as we would the earth, it'll never yield good fruit, the fruit of truth.

Source:wikimedia commons The spirit which hasn't been darkened by sin looks up high into the heavens, it doesn't look down at the tomb. But the spirit that's been darkened by sin looks into the grave and doesn't see the heavens at all. Sin and virtue govern our spiritual vision, depending on the aims of each, and each reveals its own world.

Correct teachings are of no value if we ignore them in the way we live our lives.

‘Athos Ithaca’ is a poem closely related to monasticism and its Christian character is revealed through the importance of monasticism in Orthodoxy. Monasticism is a mystery, in which a person leaves modern society in order to join the monastic community. Although a monk leaves modern world, he loves life and society. Also, he has to be devoted to ascesis. He should seek the real freedom far from any passions. The only way to gain this freedom is through ascesis, which is the fight against human desires, and obedience, which helps monk to fight selfishness. The target of monasticism is love for God and people. By saying to the young monk that he did not reach the end of his journey in ...

Source:www.42evolution.org As often as you can, lift up your heart in gratitude to God, to the Holy Spirit, Who gives you life and light. And, at the same time flee far away from the spirit of doubt, of unbelief, and from the passions, which, like the cunning serpent, the thief and destroyer finds the opportunity to slither into us.

2. The Role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate In the absence of an Emperor, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has been entrusted by the Church with this leadership role. The Great Church in Captivity - the epithet coined by Sir Steven Runciman for the See of Constantinople during Ottoman rule - has served as the Ever-Illuminant Lighthouse of the Orthodox World. This is not a romanticized view of the Ecumenical Patriarchate but a historical reality. Its power does not derive from government support, nor does its prestige spring forth from a conjured reality; instead, Constantinople's primacy of honour comes from the canons and decisions of Ecumenical Councils, Church Tradition and a certain phronema (mindset) inspired, by among other things, Constantinople's influence over ecclesiastical ...

Theosis is a distinctive feature that characterizes Orthodoxy and assumes central importance in its overall theological framework. It is the ultimate goal toward which all people should strive and the blessed end for which all things were made. Theosis of man constitutes central subject, prominent aim and purpose and, finally, religious ideal of Orthodoxy. In Orthodoxy, theosis is the very substance of Christianity, because it describes the descent of God to the limit of our fallen human condition and presupposes the union of the created beings with the Divinity. There is richness of forms of the spiritual life in Orthodoxy, but monasticism remains the most classical of all. The goal of the monastic life is union with God in renunciation of ...

Source:wikimedia commons When we're grouchy, the whole atmosphere around us is poisoned and we start being nasty to one another. Irrespective of what others do or say to us, we have to stay calm and forgive any discourtesy aimed at us.

The media coverage was surely pleasing to the ROC with commentators often describing it as the "most powerful" Orthodox Church and other such misleading claims. This includes the impression that the meeting followed a 1,000-year separation despite the ROC only becoming independent from its Mother, Constantinople, in 1448 - but why let facts get in the way of a good headline. Needless to say, ROC officials did not correct the record; the Joint Declaration even referenced "the shared heritage of the Church of the first millennium" in spite of the fact that the ROC has minimal actual connection to it. Such statements may elevate the ROC in the minds of some, but they are disconnected from reality in the minds ...