We think of as polite and cultured those people who aren’t conceited and don’t look down on others of their acquaintance who benefit from their generosity. They don’t ignore them, don’t think disparagingly of them, but appreciate them as they did at their first meeting.
In his second epistle to the Corinthians, at chapter 1, verse 26, the Holy Apostle Paul enumerates the dangers facing the Apostles. There were eight such dangers, the last being ‘perils among false brethren’. A short interpretation provided by the late Panayiotis Trembelas states: ‘in perils from people who were false friends and who bore name of “Christian” under false pretences’. Trembelas was right to point this out because false friends are those who come to us as friends, whereas in fact they’re anything but, because they have a different outlook, which is hostile towards us. Saint Paul departed this life on earth in 64 A.D, as a martyr. We may assume that he wrote the epistle sometime between 50-60 A.D. ...
Let us be ashamed then, my friends, ashamed, and bemoan our excessive indifference. Thirty-eight years that man had been waiting without getting what he wanted, but he didn’t give up. And he’d failed not through any carelessness of his own, but through being hindered and pushed aside by others. But he still wasn’t disheartened. On the other hand, if we’ve persisted for ten days to pray for something and haven’t obtained it, we can’t then be bothered to continue with the same fervour. And we often wait upon other people for a long time, enduring a lengthy campaign and performing servile tasks, very often with nothing to show for it, but we can’t abide to wait upon our Master with ...
I abandoned surgery in order to preach about Jesus Christ. I didn’t even think about the prestige of being a surgeon, which I certainly enjoyed.
In a gold-mine, even the most insignificant vein isn’t overlooked, however difficult it might be to work. So, with the Holy Scriptures, you ignore even a jot or tittle at your peril. Everything needs to be examined. The Holy Spirit has dictated them and there’s nothing in them unworthy of our attention. See what the Evangelist says here: this was the second sign that Jesus performed on His way from Judea to Galilee. John didn’t merely add the word ‘second’, but is emphasizing the miracle Christ had worked among the Samaritans. He wants to show that, even though there was a second sign, those who saw and believed had not attained the same stature as those who believed without ...
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. In one of his homilies St. John Chrysostom says that anyone endowed with power can rule, only a king can die for his people. And this we see so wonderfully and tragically manifested in God become Man in the Lord Jesus Christ. He himself says in the Gospel that the rulers of the earth subdue their people, rule over them with power but He calls us to be rulers of another kind, to give our lives to people so that they be able to follow the example given in freedom, liberated from fear and liberated by Him from sin and evil. And yet, there is a condition to this. We ...
Too much talk and discussion is people’s Achilles’ heel.
God doesn’t need anything. He rejoices, however, when He sees someone finding peace with His image and honouring it with love. If someone comes to you to ask for something of yours, don’t say in your heart that you’ll keep it for yourself, for your own sake, and that God will find another way to supply their need. Because that’s what’s said by the unrighteous, who don’t know God. Just and virtuous people are sensible of the honour paid to them by their impoverished brother or sister and don’t transfer it to someone else. They don’t allow themselves to miss the opportunity to be generous.
Fight bravely against the wicked one who envies you, bear with fortitude, patience and faith whatever befalls you. Don’t allow the enemy of your soul to tyrannize you. He comes in sheep’s clothing and pretends to want the good of your soul.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We have heard today in the Gospel of a man who for thirty eight years had laid paralysed. The only thing that separated him from healing was the possibility to reach the waters, which the angel brought into motion once a year. Thirty eight years had he attempted to move towards healing but someone else has been quicker than he and stolen healing from him. How many are there now in the world, how many have been and will be in this world of ours who need healing, who are paralysed by fear, paralysed by all that prevents us from moving with boldness and purpose towards fullness of life? ...
Let’s not think too much about sins or dwell on them. Let’s confess them and then make changes and concentrate on good things.
What is sanctity? Freedom from all sin and an ample measure of virtue. It’s nature resembles the light of the sun and the whiteness of snow, whereas the nature of sin is like darkness, with a lack of light, with stench and corrosion.
The struggle waged by Christians isn’t so that they can say to God: ‘I’m all right. I deserve to be saved’ because then they’d be Pharisees. It’s to say to God: ‘Lord, despite my weakness and my sinfulness, I love You. And, as an expression of my love, I try to observe Your commandments and Your holy will. It’s up to you whether You give me salvation and whether You give me Your Grace’.
The whole of the thought of the Athonite Elder (Aimilianos Simonopetritis) can be summed up in the teaching that ‘we reach God via our neighbour’. This is the central theme of his work. But what is it that gives our communication with other people authenticity and validity? We should say at the outset that, among other things which we already know, our relationship with our neighbour should be imbued with a spirit of ‘delicacy’, extreme sensitivity, so that we won’t wound them in the slightest. This ‘delicacy’ isn’t merely another moral imperative, like so many others. If we’re to learn how to behave with tact, we must first separate ourselves from the earthly, the things of the flesh, which should ...
We should never have confidence in ourselves until the day we die.
Christ Is Risen! We mourn the innocent victims of the unconscionable van attack in Toronto. Our hearts break for the families who awake to a new reality without their loved ones. We struggle with this senseless act of evil. However, we should not despair. We should not lose hope. We shall persevere and be strengthened by the infinite love and mercy of the Resurrected Lord. Therefore, let us pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives. Let us comfort, support, and give courage to the affected families. I am asking all the Reverend Fathers of our Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) to offer special memorial service prayers this Sunday for our fallen brothers and sisters. May ...
We have to try to be free of impure thoughts, especially when we pray to God. Because stench can’t co-exist with fragrance. If we don’t allow wicked thoughts, which come from the devil, we’re doing very well. Because the impure spirit is able to exercise effective influence only on people who suffer from the passions. Those who don’t, he tries to influence from afar.
Saint George is one of the most beloved saints of the Eastern Church. In particular, the people of Cappadocia, his homeland, had recourse to him for help and assistance from very early on and his honour and fame spread throughout the world. The achievements of the saint didn’t remain only in the Lives of the Saints and hymns, but were adopted by the folk muse and made into a song. ‘The Song of Saint George’ tells of the slaying of the dragon and the rescue of the princess. The most widely-accepted interpretation of the myth is that the dragon represents the devil, which is defeated by the faith of the saint . Ελληνικά (Καππαδοκική διάλεκτος, Φαρασιώτικα) Αγιώρ’ Αγιώρ’ αφέντη μου ...
Is the kingdom of God not eternal then? Jesus says that this is why He was born and came into the world (John 18, 37) and we say: ‘May your kingdom come’, as if it hadn’t already done so. But this wish has another meaning. God comes when we receive His grace. He Himself asserts: ‘The kingdom of God is within you’ (Luke 17, 21).
I followed your pace beyond my living consciousness through the rough path of Life crossing my destiny again. I travelled thousand miles across the center of the earth one more time willing to comfort the thirsty souls. A healing feat to the lament of my people. I was searching you in a blindness light. I lay my hands to your celestial vault facing Your Glory in a ceaseless devotion hearing your powerful voice calling me with an harp. I kept you silently, as a talisman in my heart. I sighed in the edges of Your Eyes I looked at you … remembering all the pain I had as a Child of Despair… I stood there without fear ready to serve You with humbleness. Listen to my pray Dear Lord… Please give my people strength to survive Please give them HOPE to ...
