In English

Fasting in the Old Testament But let’s tie our words to history, examining the antiquity of the fast. It was passed down as a paternal bequest and thus preserved, from one generation to the next, until it came down to us, as our own possession. There was no wine in paradise, no animal sacrifices, no eating of meat. Wine came after the flood. After the flood ‘as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything’ (Gen. 9, 3). When perfection was rejected, enjoyment was allowed. An example of this lack of acquaintance with wine is Noah, who was unfamiliar with its use. It still hadn’t come into our life and our social interactions. Since he’d never seen its ...

When you love Christ, despite all the difficulties and the feelings you have concerning them, you also have the certainty that you’ve overcome death, because you’re in the communion of the love of Christ.

‘Having cast off the old self with its practices, and clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in the awareness of Him Who created it’ (Epistle reading, Col. 3, 4-11). On the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, the Church prepares us for the great feast of Christmas, which is approaching. It prepares us, not simply by referring to the commemoration of the Lord’s Holy Forefathers, nor only with the Gospel reading of the great banquet, but also with the Epistle reading. We hear Saint Paul calling upon us to put aside our former self and to put on a new one. It may be that some people wonder what this might mean and what connection it has with the ...

The distinction between the theology of the Orthodox East and the Latin/Protestant West is one of the major issues in theological studies. Careful examination of the path followed by the West after the schism of 1054 reveals a clear, constant deviation from the Gospel, Apostolic and Patristic view of the fundamental issues of faith and salvation. Here we shall be concerned with the matter of soteriology. As regards our salvation, there’s a clear antithesis between Orthodox and Western theology. The two views on this basic issue differ as regards the way in which the human person is seen: either as dynamic, endowed with freedom and co-responsible for its sanctification as an entity (Orthodox East); or a victim of fate which arises ...

Through fasting we return to paradise 4. Because we didn’t fast, we left paradise. Let us fast, then, so that we can return to it. Look at Lazarus, who entered paradise through fasting (Luke 16, 20-31). Don’t imitate Eve’s disobedience, don’t accept the serpent again as a symbol, urging us to eat and take care of the body. If people are ill, we don’t prescribe a variety of foods, but fasting and diet. And don’t make the excuse that you’re ill or weak. Because you aren’t telling me your justifications, but Him Who knows. Tell me, you can’t fast? You can, though, stuff yourself your whole life long and wear away your body with the weight of food. Yet I know that ...

Death’s right at our back. But we imagine it’s behind the mountains and don’t even think about it.

Fr Jonah from Taiwan speaks on the gospel reading of the 14th Sunday of Luke, about the cure of the blind man in Jericho.

Watch Fr Jonah’s from Taiwan sermon on the gospel of Luke 13, 11-17, about the cure of the infirm woman who couldn’t fully straighten herself up. Because of her infirmity, it had been eighteen years since she been able to look at other people from a natural position.

Christmas is approaching! The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Son of God on earth. It is essential for all faithful to prepare spiritually for this grant event that has an immediate relation with our salvation. Isn’t this what the Angel announced to Joseph? “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt.1,21). But it is equally important that each and every one of us personally will try to approach Christ as his Saviour, and with His grace to be redeemed from his sins. Apostle Paul, with today’s excerpt from his Epistle to the Colossians, comes to help us identify the major of these sins and eliminate them. The Apostle of Christ ...

The Holy Gospel we heard today, my Christian brothers and sisters, tells us, in the form of a parable, about the Supper of Holy Communion. Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. This Supper, which we enjoy at every Divine Liturgy, is called ‘great’ in today’s Gospel. And this Supper really is ‘great, the ‘greatest’, incomparably greater than any other prepared by royalty or magnates, because this Supper of the Church presents us with Christ Himself. His all-holy Body and His spotless Blood. Christ said this clearly when He gave His disciples communion on the evening of Great Thursday: ‘Tale, eat, this is my body’; and ‘All of you drink of this, this is my blood’. And what the ...

Nobody should say that it’s not possible for people to live a virtuous life, but rather that it’s difficult to do so. Nor can virtue be acquired by just anyone. The virtuous life is lived by those who are devout and have a mind that loves God.

The sacred canons are the practical expression of the dogma, the faith of the Church, and can be viewed as such, because otherwise dogma would be banished to the sphere of the metaphysical, of the inaccessible, beyond participation, in which case the uncreated energies would remain dormant. But dogma is not there merely to be believed and nothing more, it’s supposed to be lived, to be expressed through words and deeds, theoretically and practically, ‘believing in love and loving in truth’. So a rational consideration of the canons as a practical expression of dogma is a matter of faith and acceptance on the part of those who belong to the Orthodox Church. The canons aren’t removed from dogma, nor are ...

Do you think I derive its antiquity from the Law? Fasting is older than the Law. Just be patient and you’ll see the truth of this. Fasting was the first commandment of God in paradise. When Adam and Eve broke it, it marked the fall of the human race into sin. Don’t think that the Day of Atonement, which had been ordained for Israel for the tenth day in the seventh month (Lev. 16, 29), is the beginning of fasting. If we take a walk through history, we’ll be able to investigate its antiquity. Because it’s not something that’s recently been thought up. It’s a legacy from the Fathers. Everything that’s ancient is worthy of respect. Respect the antiquity of fasting. It’s ...

Among the greatest blasphemies ever constructed by humankind was that of Nazi Germany. Not satisfied with their political dominance, they also sought a religious dominance as well. The notion of an “Aryan Christ” was perhaps the depths of their theological blasphemies mirrored in their dehumanization and murder of the Jews. At many points in the past two millennia, the relationship between Christians and Jews has hit low points – with the Jews almost universally at the short end of the stick. But to seek to create a Christ who Himself was not a Jew is (for a Christian) the worst of insults. The second Sunday before the Nativity, in Orthodox Tradition, is set aside as the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers ...

The parable of the Great Banquet, which we heard today in the Holy Gospel, was told by Jesus at the house of a Pharisee lord during a dinner in which he had been invited with others. He took the opportunity to teach this parable from the words of one of those who ate with Him: “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). The Lord compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a great feast or banquet in which everyone wants to take part. Here they can enjoy the goods that the affectionate Father God has prepared. So he sends his servant to call the most distinguished and important people. But each refused to attend and ...

The greatest problem we face today is that we’re living without the sense of the presence of God in our lives and think that everything depends on us personally. But such a way of life leads to atheism and self-deification. In other words, the self and its satisfaction becomes the centre of our life and this makes us, apart from atheists, misanthropists as well. On all levels, today’s crisis demonstrates the secular way of life most of us lead. Modern life shows us Christians that we no longer live in a spirit of communion with God or with other people. Christians love God first and, by extension, other people, but these days we’ve forgotten that we’re one family, one body- ...

This is why you mustn’t be lazy, but rather be eager to do good. Because now’s the time for work; Later’s the time for reward. On earth, war; in heaven, rest. And of necessity you’ll do one or the other: you’ll either win or be defeated. You’ll either stay close to God or be separated from Him. There’s no third way.

The various Books of the Elders, ancient and modern, take us into the world of the monastic state. There the genuine way of the Christian/Gospel life continues, as does the human reality of blunders and failures, which are overcome through asceticism. One very important and substantial mode of asceticism is obedience. Obedience, together with chastity- of body and soul- and poverty as freedom from material bonds, are the virtues that every monastic is called upon to attain if they’re to be true to their vocation, a person dedicated to God. But obedience isn’t a feature only of monastic life, but of that of all those who want to live in accordance with the Gospel and for Christ to be their ‘Lord and ...

For many people with a secular outlook, decorating the Christmas tree is the essence of Christmas. In Greece, this custom was imported from abroad and was introduced by the Bavarians*. The first time a Christmas tree was decorated was in Otto’s palace and thereafter it spread throughout Athens. After World War II, the tree and its multi-coloured balls became a feature of all Greek houses. Its forerunner was the Yule log, a large piece of wood from a pear or wild cherry tree. According to popular thinking, trees with needles kept at bay the demonic beings, the kalikantzari. In the old days, the Yule log was placed in the hearth on Christmas eve. The ash from the logs protected the house and the ...