The Use of the Internet in the Pastoral Practice of the Church
Sister Sara Communicating via the Internet The manner of expression of the Internet is, in the first place, that of presence: to communicate on the Internet you have to be on the Internet. You enter an open stadium where everyone is playing in the same way. If you open...
The doctors were always noncommittal
My name’s Garyfallia and I was born with spina bifida, a rare deformity of the spinal membrane which almost always causes paralysis of the legs and/or arms and even learning problems, depending on how high up the spine the deformity is. Thank God I don’t have any paralysis, but from...
Good grounding and large families: two great gifts in the Church
Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis The prayers at a wedding make reference to providing children with a good upbringing and to ‘the enjoyment of procreation’. It may be that the Fathers of the Church, by and large, praise the superiority of virginity over marriage, but at the same time they consider...
Variations in the Spiritual Life (Teachings from Athos)
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Even though we’re in the season of winter, we had a fine day yesterday, with lots of sunshine. We felt the weather had taken a turn for the better, and then today it changed again and we’ve got turbulence. We can’t get out to do...
Euthanasia: the Church accepts it only from God!
Angelos Alekopoulos People are free and autonomous and can decide on matters pertinent to their lives and even as regards their death. According to the Church, people are an image of God, autonomous, certainly, but only in terms of their relationship with others. Our freedom has to do with...
The importance of children in Orthodox Tradition
Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis In the Old Testament, children are considered to be a blessing from God and are called ‘the crown of the aged’ . Sons are called ‘young olive plants around the table’ of their fathers. In the New Testament, Christ blesses the children and appears to highlight...
LIVE 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care “The Living Water”
#DMOPC18 at Orthodox Academy of Crete, Kolymbari June 18th – 21st 2018 Join live, follow along, and continue the conversation with #myOCNContributors, Dr. Norris Chumley, Jonathan Jackson, & Chris Vlahonasios of Transfigure Media presenting at pemptousia.com 2nd International Conference for Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care in Crete. #DMOPC18 Join live, follow along, and continue the conversation with #myOCN Development Director...
Can sins be forgiven through vows?
Dr. Nikolaos Koios, Content Coach of Pemptousia The age we live in is full of contradictions. On the one hand, people are stubbornly indifferent towards their Relationship with God, but on the other, references to superstitions, zodiac charts and para-religious phenomena abound. You’ve got people who consider those who...
How the monks on the Holy Mountain make kollyva
I.M. Hatzifotis Separate memorial services are not held for monks on the Holy Mountain. Together with the kollyva for the Saint, a small saucer of kollyva is prepared for the departed. Abbots over the last 100 years are commemorated, as are priest and monks over the last thirty. Kollyva...
‘For I have come to set a man against his father’. Does Christianity damage the institution of the family?
Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis It has been claimed by some that Christianity is not merely no help to the family, but that it actually contributes to its breakdown. In other words, it has damaged the prestige of paternal authority within the context of the small family. This reasoning has been...
Self-absorption as a source of psychological problems
Dr. Nikolaos Koios, Content Coach of Pemptousia Elder Sophrony, at Essex, called the internal and event he external state of egocentric people demonized spirituality which engenders all the passions and sins. The same saintly Elder, who lived in our own times, considered pride to be the root of all...
Cut off the passions before the soul becomes accustomed to them – 2
Abbas Dorotheos When I was in the coenobium, the Abbot, with the consent of the Elders, made me guest-master. I was, at the time, recovering from a serious illness. Strangers came and I stayed up with them; camel-drivers arrived and I looked after them. And there were lots of times...
