In English

Publican and the Pharisee During a recent talk at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, New York, Bishop Savas Zembillas, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, read one of my favorite Rilke poems, “Archaic Torso of Apollo.” The talk was about encountering the holy in popular culture, and the poem has to do with the transforming effect art can have on us. Describing the headless statue, Rilke speaks of the power still suffusing it. Without this radiant power (I quote Stephen Mitchell’s translation), this stone would not, from all the borders of itself, burst like a star: for here there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life. Art can bring us to such moments, even, as Bishop Savas suggested, ...

Today's verdict on the part of the Greek justice system has restored the honour of those who have been so unfairly treated for almost a decade. The Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaid glorifies God for permitting those people to be vindicated. It can now continue its spiritual and charitable tasks without let or hindrance. Thanks are due to the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, the Church of Greece, the Patriarchates of Alexandria and Jerusalem and to all the clergy and laity who supported us all these years.

Today, 21 March 2017, the three-member Court of Appeals in Athens declared all the defendants innocent in the case of the Monastery of Vatopaidi land exchange. This verdict comes at the end of eight difficult years for Abbot Ephraim and the other defendants, including two years of judicial sessions and sixty days in court. In December, the Public Prosecutor had made a recommendation of acquittal for all the defendants in the case, stating that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing on their part. The courtroom was filled to capacity with hierarchs, clergy, monastics and lay people, who expressed their approval and relief by a generous round of applause.

We have an exaggerated idea of our own importance. But anything that’s revealed to us actually comes from eternity. We’re surrounded by God’s mysteries. And we ourselves are the greatest mystery. We don’t even know who we are, where we come from or where we’re going.

In recent times, the ecological crisis has been brought increasingly to our attention. Scientists, the media, Hollywood, thrash metal bands, and a horde of environmentalists from politicians to tree-hugging hippies and pseudo-Buddhists, have all had their say. But there is one voice on environmental issues that seems to only speak in hushed tones, and this is the voice of Christianity. Some people claim that Christianity, far from being concerned about environmental issues, is the prime culprit for the ecological crisis. These people point to the creation of the first human beings in the book of Genesis, where God says to the first-formed: “…fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the ...

‘And God said , “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so’. (Gen. 1, 9). But where will they be gathered, Lord, where will the water be kept when it reaches the land. He said: ‘At my command, gulfs and chasms have appeared in the earth which are as deep as the heavens are high, and the waters will be gathered there. On the surface, they’ll be the same as the surface of the earth’. Photo: Spyros Drosos ‘And it was so’. The waters under the sky were gathered together and the earth appeared. That must have been a strange and wonderful sight that would have astonished ...

The Church boasts of the Precious Cross and experiences its message at every point of its worship. At every service, throughout the whole of the Church’s life, the presence of the Tree of Life is palpable. The Precious Cross is highlighted as a source of power and life at the mid-point of Great Lent, reminding us that the path leading to our resurrection with the Risen Christ involves being crucified, according to Saint Justin Popović. If we don’t endure the Cross, we won’t reach the Resurrection. Source: agkyriaki.gr The Precious Cross is a weapon against the devil: ‘Lord, you have given us a weapon against the devil’, says the hymnographer . It’s the sign of the grace of God. From being a ...

People want to be cured, which is why they cry: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me’.

          Our entire life is preoccupied with the spiritual law. This is the reason why we have withdrawn from the world and have forsaken family life, which itself is not something sinful. We have abandoned these in order to express our love towards the Lord in a unique way, obeying the first commandment precisely. Having been called by the Lord, we have followed Him in order to obey this commandment. We withdrew from society and denied our family to follow the proper, or rather the undisturbed way, preoccupying ourselves with inwardness and paying attention to the meanings of things. In this way, we hope to be able not only to win over practical sin but also to eliminate it as ...

As a living continuum of tradition, Byzantine music occupies an important position in the musical past of Veria. Today, gifted singers continue this musical tradition, which is perfectly attuned to the architectural and iconographic decoration of the Byzantine churches of the town. Iordanis Koutsimanis, the Protopsaltis of the church of Saint Anthony in Veria, follows in the footsteps of older chanters in the town, much to the delight of the faithful there. We hear the melodic intonation** of the Kontakion by Vasilis Mavranangkos and thereafter the katavasies ‘I shall open my mouth’ by the Protopsaltis Iordanis Koutsimanis. %audio% * ‘Katavasies’ are hymns sung at Matins. They’re called ‘katavasies’ (hymns of descent) because, in former times, the chanters would ‘descend’ from their choir stalls and ...

Ingredients: 5 cups of strong (bread) flour 3 cups (roughly) of warm water 1 teaspoon of salt Fresh brewer’s yeast, about the size of an almond (or a packet of quick yeast) A little sugar to get the yeast started. Method Dissolve the yeast in a half a cup of warm water. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the flour and add the water and yeast. Mix and gradually and add the rest of the flour until you have a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead well. If you require more water, simply moisten your fists and continue to knead until the extra moisture has been absorbed and the dough is the right texture. Shape the dough into ...

Truth is the characteristic of the virtuous life. Telling the truth is everyone’s duty and we owe it to ourselves and to those around us. People who tell the truth respect themselves first and then those who are listening to them. The truth is a double adornment for those who confess it and it makes them perfect in virtue.

The word “helper” itself presupposes an action for which Adam needs help. The only work that the text refers to is to protect and cultivate Paradise. The first interpreters of the sacred text understood that labor in Paradise was not handy work, but spiritual effort, meaning a labor toward perfection. According to several Christian writers, the human person was created physically perfect, but spiritually imperfect. St. Irenaeus of Lyons believed that the first man and woman were not made morally perfect from the beginning because in that case all their actions would have no moral significance. “Though they were made having the image and likeness as their potentiality, they were required to become the image and likeness through spiritual labor ...

In my 24 years as an Orthodox Christian, I’ve heard countless homilies about the evils of the culture in which we live. Most of those homilies have gone on to exhort the hearers to live sanctified lives in the midst of the culture, but very few have found anything to say about how we might go about redeeming the culture itself. By this point, I’m ready to paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous comment about the weather: “Everybody complains about the culture, but nobody does anything about it!” A recent book examines this phenomenon from a general Christian perspective. The book is called The Culturally Savvy Christian, by Dick Staub, and it’s one of the most refreshing books I’ve read in a long time. Staub’s ...

So long as we work for our bread, it doesn’t matter what our job is. Of Adam’s sons, one was a farmer the other a herdsman. All occupations are good, so long as we remain close to God. Saint Paul, in order not to eat bread without having earned it, worked with his hands. He made tents. And the great saints of our Church also worked. Christ Himself also worked in a carpenter’s shop. He was God and Human, but He still worked. Work is always a virtue for people.

GAMBLING DEMONSTRATES THE INSUFFICIENCY OF USING SCRIPTURE ALONE The stand of many twenty-first-century Protestants against gambling demonstrates that the Bible is not a sufficient authority for Christian ethics and practice, or at least must be supplemented by the tradition of the church.  Christians cannot oppose games of chance for money or other valuables unless they accept at least the earliest part of Christian tradition in addition to Scripture, as a guide or supplement to it or as a means of interpreting the holy text. Scripture itself does not plainly speak against gambling, even though many Christians strenuously discountenance this activity on moral grounds.  On the other hand, many non-biblical bearers of the apostolic tradition of the church did oppose gambling, which may ...

If children are brought to hospitals and old people’s homes under circumstances in which they’re comfortable, this allows them to become acquainted with sickness and bodily decline as a natural part of life, which makes it easier to link death to biological causes. Moreover, if children go to a cemetery with a relative whose intention is to look after a family grave, this is an opportunity to explain things to the children. Placing flowers, lighting an oil-lamp or candle for praying, or communicating with the person departed are experiences which teach children directly and allow questions to surface regarding, for example, the manner of burial, life after death, and communication with the departed. In general visits to cemeteries provide children ...

Every member of the Church isn’t just a guest, but is also an apostle of the Gospel of Christ.

The spiritual unity and communion in Christ between the Holy Mountain and Russia is not something recent. It goes back to the last one thousand years. Those who contributed to this unity were mostly Russian Hayiorite monks, from the times of St Antony from Esfigmenou, the founder of the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra (beginning of the 11th century) to St Silouan the Athonite and his disciple, blessed Elder Sofroni (20th century). In the lives of those Saints one may recognize the mutual benefit derived both by Russia and the Holy Mountain. The saints’ country is Russia. This country initially offered them Christ and His Most Holy Mother but they were destined to mature spiritually and accomplish their deification in the Garden of the ...