Ξένες γλώσσες

Those who want their words to have an effect on their audience shouldn't stop giving encouragement and advice on the same things, nor should they change the subject until they've seen that a previous exhortation has taken root properly in their souls. That's what teachers do; they don't go on to reading with the children until they've learned the letters properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeskW7dmOMI

On Holy Saturday the Church directs and concentrates our attention on our Lord’s tomb. In the whole liturgical year, there is no day with a more complex character than Holy Saturday, for this day shares both in the sorrow of the Passion and in the joy of the Resurrection. The celebration of Easter, which has been more and more advanced, has ended by annexing the greater part of the day of Holy Saturday. It is possible to distinguish in Holy Saturday two consecutive parts, one of which still belongs to the time of the Passion, and the other already to the time of Easter… Source:athirma.gr As we have indicated, Holy Saturday already ‘pierces’ into the rite of Christ’s burial which is ...

When Christians talk about death, they don’t do so with pessimism, they aren’t resigned to it, they don’t think it natural. They see it principally as an enemy which must be defeated through Christ. ‘The last enemy to be destroyed is death, (I Cor. 15, 26); ‘The Word became flesh’ (Jn. 1, 14); ‘that he might destroy him who holds the dominion of death, that is, the devil’ (Heb. 2, 14). God became a human person in order to destroy death and sin and to defeat the devil. Christ assumed a mortal body, one that was subject to suffering, in order to overcome death in His own body. Through His crucifixion and resurrection, He defeated death and gave us the opportunity ...

The fourth evil-doer was Pilate, Caesar’s representative in Jerusalem, who in a sense stood for the whole of the pagan world at the trial of Christ. Pilate looked down on the Jews, and the Jews returned the favour. At first he wasn’t of a mind to become involved in Christ’s condemnation: ‘You take him and judge him in accordance with your law’ (John 18, 31), he said to those who brought the charges. Later he adopted a position in Christ’s favour and after a trial of sorts said to the Jews: ‘I find no fault in him’. (ibid, 38). In the end, in the face of threats such as ‘if you free him you’re no friend of Caesar’s’, Pilate agreed ...

I say this because, in poetic thought we find revealed the kernel of a culture of incarnation, of a Church of incarnation, of a spiritual theater of incarnation, where the Other is not like our self, is not as we are, but actually is our self. This is stated in a different, but equally exceptional manner in the Doxastikon of Mattins on Great Saturday, which is what I would call a manifesto of Orthodox theology which, with the powerful lightning of the last days, transforms the important but imperfect «Give to the stranger» into the absolutely radical and extremely ontological «Give me this stranger». I therefore considered that tonight, in a place such as America, a place of such powerful migration, in ...

The Mother of hell is vainglory, which makes a fierce flame and feeds the poisonous snake. Whereas everything else ends with death, it continues to squabble even after death, to show off its nature over the dead body.

I mentioned the overwhelming feeling of liberation that we experience on Easter night, and I want to draw your attention to two texts which are good examples of this. The first is the Sermon of St John Chrysostom, which is read towards the end of the midnight vigil: Have any wearied themselves with fasting, let them now enjoy their payment. Has anyone laboured since the first hour, let them today receive their due. Did any come after the third hour, let them feast with gratitude. Did any arrive after the sixth hour, let them not hesitate: for there is no penalty. Did any delay until after the ninth hour, let them approach without hesitating. Did any arrive only for the eleventh ...

Virtue is a really good, really beautiful thing. Virtuous people are at peace with themselves, pleasing to God and accepted by others. Even without wishing to, virtuous people attract the attention of others. Why is this so? Because they're like a pure fragrance which people want to smell.

The service of Great Saturday is effectively a funeral service for Christ, and yet it is the most colourful service of Holy Week, because we have already begun to celebrate the Resurrection. The Epitaphios which represents the tomb of Christ, is adorned with an array of flowers, and is carried in a solemn and yet joyous procession outside the church. There is on Great Saturday a clear, steady progression from sorrow to joy. The Engomia or Lamentations – those beautiful dirges that we sing on the evening of Great Friday in honour of Christ’s death – begin in the sombre plagal first, then becoming brighter and ending in the joyful and festive third tone. This progression continues and accelerates into ...

There's no worse torture than thought itself. There's no hell greater than thought that's completely cut off from the Creator and God of all thought, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Word. Human thought without the Lord Jesus can know neither itself nor the world around it.

I am probably in serious trouble for saying that, so allow me to quickly move on before I really put my foot in it. Let us now turn our attention to the service of Great Friday that takes place on Thursday evening. At this service, we have the reading of the Twelve Gospels, which tell us the accounts of Christ’s trial, suffering and death. The fifth gospel sees Christ sentenced to death by crucifixion, and so, after this Gospel Reading, the priest takes the crucifix that stands before the altar, and, preceded by lights, he carries it around the church in procession and places it in the centre. Bear in mind what I said earlier: how the church expresses her ...

A large part of the responsibility for people's spiritual state lies with the family. If we want to rid children of various internal problems, then advice, coercion, reason and threats aren't going to be enough. They'll probably just make things worse. Correction comes through the sanctification of the parents.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou, Lamb of God, Who didst take upon Thyself the sin of the world, Who by Thine ascent to Golgotha didst redeem us from the curse of the Law and didst restore Thy fallen image; Who didst stretch Thy most pure hands on the Cross, gathering together in one the scattered children of God, and by the descent of the most Holy Spirit didst call all men to unity; Thou which art the brightness of the Father, before going forth to this great and sacred work for the salvation of the world, didst pray to Thy Father that all may be one, even as Thou art one with the Father and the Holy Ghost: do Thou ...

As we progress towards the Passion, events unfurl with dramatic speed, rich in significance and with a breathtaking plot as they proceed towards their culmination. We've already seen two actions which are related to the person of Christ and which are entirely opposite in nature. On the one hand, there was the sinful woman  who came to Christ and paid Him humble honours; and, on the other, there’s one of His disciples, who reneges against Him and approaches the High Priests and Scribes in order to betray Him. The action of the woman indicates that His teaching had borne fruit, had convinced people about His love and kindliness. And the Lord indicated His pleasure at her act, accepted her gift and ...