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They are blooming: in total there are 40 sisters. Thousands of faithful pilgrims were at our Monasteries of Patrokosmas and Parigoritissa who celebrated their feast days between August 22-24. Metropolitan Sotirios presided over Great Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgies. In his homilies, the Metropolitan spoke about how sorrowful our Panagia is with what is happening in today’s society, and what is waiting for us; at Patrokosmas, he emphasized the important work done by St. Kosmas under difficult circumstances. Together with Metropolitan Sotirios during the holy services and the Divine Liturgies were dozens of clergymen from our Holy Metropolis, but also from other Orthodox jurisdictions. During the Divine Liturgy at Parigoritissa, His Grace Bishop Irénée (OCA) concelebrated; during Great Vespers at Patrokosmas, ...

‘Byzantium' at the Met In 1997, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art hosted an exhibit called “The Glory of Byzantium.” It covered the period from 843 to 1261, the time stretching from just after the resolution of the iconoclastic crisis until the restoration of the authority of the Eastern Roman Empire, following its fall to the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It was a wonderful selection of icons, fabrics, metalwork, mosaics, and illuminated manuscripts. When I saw it (I went twice) I thought that it would be the last time I would ever see so much magnificent Byzantine art in one place. It’s nice to know that I was wrong. Until July 4, the Metropolitan offers an equally glorious exhibition, this one called ...

The Light of Christ, which is a Person, the Lord Himself, comes into the heart of those who desire God and is the good change of the right hand of the Most High . The whole of our struggle is summed up in our change. The passions aren’t mortified, but are transformed and the whole of our being is drenched in the Uncreated Light of the Divinity.

The Choir of the Fathers of Vatopaidi sing the Doxastiko at Lauds for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in plagial tone two. %audio%

It’s true that within the realm of Christianity, there’s often more talk of sin than there is of virtue. This is, in essence, a path of deprivation, the aim of which is not so much the quest for the good but much more the avoidance of the bad. There’s no doubt that such a position imbues sin with dimensions greater than those it actually has; produces guilt complexes; and projects God’s world in Manichaean terms, where the forces of good struggle against those of evil. And all of this within a culture which seeks, frenziedly promotes and sometimes actually creates delinquent patterns of behaviour, marginalizing the search for the good, which it understands as being reserved exclusively for special occasions. Come ...

The rapid changes in modern culture, for the most part the result of the global economic crisis, have influenced the thinking of many social and political analysts . Already, the age in which we live is being called ‘liquid modernity’ (as opposed to ‘late modernity’ which was prevalent at the beginning of the 21st century) precisely because of the fluidity which governs our society, our culture and, in the end, our life itself. After the economic crisis and the repercussions it has had on all facets of human life, many experts are now talking and writing about a redefinition and re-evaluation of the aims and values and the achievements of progress which should characterize human history from here on forward. The ...

Sobriety is the natural state of mind of those who haven’t become drunk and it denotes perception, prudence and care. This is why people who are sober are on guard and look carefully at what they can achieve. Their minds are sharp, they’re incisive and super intelligent. They’re not laden with cares, nor do they become easily discouraged.

Fr. John Parker I am an unworthy man, unworthy to be called an Orthodox Christian, not to speak of the priesthood, and I write, admittedly, from the comfort of my Mount Pleasant, SC, home. There is no Mount nearby, but it is, indeed, a pleasant seaside community on the East Coast of the United States. As such, I ask myself: how to deal with ruthless, pitiless, pitiful souls who are so darkened that their life is spent taking the life of others – and worse, thinking that they are doing this at the direction of and with the blessing of God himself, with eternal reward? Perhaps I will be criticized for my suggestion, sitting in my pleasant, mountless town, but we read ...

We call on the State and Federal Governments and State Education Departments to withdraw funding and ban Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) programs from Australian schools. We oppose the programs because it is not an anti-bullying program: • It exposes children to sexually explicit adult content; • It exposes children to queer and gender theory; • It encourages crossdressing and gender transitioning even without parental consent; • It teaches children that ‘STIs are no big deal’, without advising long term physical and mental outcomes; • It promotes risky sexual behaviours and multiple-sexual partners as ‘normal’ and even aspirational; and • It removes parental rights to determine the best outcomes for their child. We respectfully request that: • a genuine anti-bullying program that is more inclusive and representative of ...

We would like to raise awareness of a radical new program being introduced into our schools framed as an anti-bullying program; it is called the Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA). The SSCA received $8 million of Federal government funding in order to develop an anti-bullying program specifically for same sex attracted and transgender children.  This is the only funded anti-bullying program in Australia despite the fact that instances of bullying for such children make up less than 1% of all bullying cases. A close reading of the resources on the SSCA website and the Minus18 website (the two are intrinsically linked) can lead to the inference that this program is more than an anti-bullying programme. The material presented is sexualised and promotes gender theories that ...

Interpreting the phrase ‘I was hungry and you gave me food’, the Fathers of the Church say that some people have been saved without performing any works of charity. First and foremost was the robber who was crucified on the right of Christ, although there were also saints, such as Mary the Egyptian. So the Lord was talking about spiritual nourishment rather than charity. In the Gospel we’re told: Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of the Father who sent me’ . What is the will of our Heavenly Father? Our salvation. And Saint Symeon the New Theologian, interpreting the same phrase, says: ‘When we observe the commandments of Jesus Christ our Saviour with love then ...

The passions enslave people, destroy their reasoning, bind their will and make them sin. And from repetition of a sin we have habit, which is when we commit wickedness even if we don’t want to, and that then leads to perdition.

Moses the Ethiopian was tall as a tree, strong as Samson, and black as a starless night. He was also a very wicked man. Moses had a mean temper and evil ways. Stealing was his passion. Moses was a slave in Egypt. He belonged to a govern­ment official. Moses' master tried to curb his slave's temper and to reform him. But all his efforts proved vain. It was not possible to change a man as bad as Moses. His master then decided to sell Moses. But everyone had heard of his evil ways and no one would be found to buy him. Who wanted a slave like Moses? The official tried to give him away. But no one would take Moses, even ...

If we want to be delivered from evil and to avoid temptation, let us believe in God and forgive those who’ve offended us in any way.

The last decades of the 16th century saw the beginning of a new period in the history of the Monastery, a period marked by distinct economic recovery and an increase in its influence which were to continue until the War of Independence of 1821. Donations from Russian princes became markedly more frequent, while systematic visits by Vatopaidi monks to their territories for the collection of alms began. Most important, however, was the beginning of the annexation of large metochia in the Danubian countries, while in Turkish-held regions new metochia were acquired and the existing ones were extended and their potential exploited. Building within the Monastery complex became more frequent and its spiritual and cultural influence made itself felt, particularly in ...

Christianity’s a strange life, a weird phenomenon. All the religions of the world are logical. Christianity’s the exception. It’s faith which Christ gave us once and for all, and this is proof that it alone is true. All the other religions are logical, but ours is beyond reason. It has to do with a fact which is revealed to us. We don’t judge that fact, but when we accept it, it informs us. This is why Christianity has always seemed foolish to the sages of this world. And monastic obedience confirms precisely this foolishness. May we be worthy of accepting and implementing Christ’s obedience.

At the same time, we know from the sources that both the state and the Church recognized the aesthetic value of the monuments of the ancient religion. Thus, for example, in an edict of the emperors Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius, in 382, there is mention of a pagan temple in Mesopotamia, which was to remain open so that people could enjoy the aesthetics of the statues which were on display. In an edict of 399, Arcadius and Theodosius ordered that the decorations of public buildings be preserved, while another, by the same emperors, forbade any destruction of temples which were devoid of idols and, even if there were any idols there, no destruction of them was permitted unless sacrifices were still ...

Let our tongues sing and let our minds investigate what it is we’re singing, so that we sing with the spirit and the mind.