The Need to Knead
Archimandrite Varnavas Lambropoulos ‘If you don’t want to knead, you’ll spend ten days sifting flour’, that is, finding excuses for your laziness. The folk saying’s got it right. And if that’s true for the genuinely tiring task of kneading bread, how much more so is it of the...
Our ‘Good Image’
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous It’s not unusual for people to be very concerned that others should have a good image of them. This demonstrates a lack of self-awareness, humility and seriousness. In the depths of their being, the dominant feeling is one of egotism, the basis for vanity. In other...
Rely on the Grace
Archimandrite Georgios Kapsanis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou † If you allow the thought that you can rely on your own powers and proceed in that vein, then pride enters. You lose what you’ve gained and you need to start again from the beginning, to humble yourself,...
That we should not despair, even though we sin often
Saint Peter the Damascan Even if you are not what you should be, you still ought not to despair. It’s bad enough that you’ve sinned, without maligning God by regarding Him, in your ignorance, as powerless. He it is Who, for your sake created the great universe that you...
The mystery of the divine ‘Being’ is the ineffable mystery of love
Metropolitan Amfilhije (Radović) of Montenegro and the Littoral The truth is that the Son is the revelation of the Father and is testimony to the fact that, without a profound investigation of the mystery of sonship, it is impossible to delve into the sacred mystery of real paternity. Fatherhood...
Holy Communion – 2
We don’t take Holy Communion just because we’re in church and something’s moved us to do so, or because others are, or because we’ve become used to doing so. We have to be prepared. First of all, we have to be aware what a special gift Holy Communion is for...
Holy Communion
At this point, the curtain of the Royal Doors is usually closed, and preparations are made for the Holy Communion of the priests and the faithful. While this is happening, the Communion Hymn is sung, which is often verses from certain psalms, but may also be other hymns or extracts...
A scandal, many sins and a saint!
Ioannis Panayiotopoulos, Lecturer at the Theological School, Athens University One of the most wonderful stories in the Lavsaïko describes...
The Human Condition
Saint Justin Popovich We humans find ourselves on the road between paradise and hell, between God and the devil. All our thoughts and reflections, and every one of our feelings, bring the soul a little closer to paradise or hell. If a thought or reflection is rational (that is...
What Have You Done With The Talents?
Metropolitan Georgios (Pavlidis) of Nikaia, Athens († 1990) 1. What are the talents? ‘Talents’ are the various qualities, gifts and endowments which we have received from God. All kinds of things. Different in quality and in quantity. One person receives a lot, another receives less. One spiritually and intellectually,...
For Atheists
Fr. Dimitri Dudko † (1922-2004) Atheists Today I’m addressing you. Don’t your realize that you’re being fed garbage? Have you ever looked to see what atheist literature consists of? *** It’s not the last word in science. It’s a distortion of the facts. An aberration of thought. A perversion...
Archimandrite Zacharias: “My Acquintance with Elder Sophrony”
Watch now Archimandrite Zacharias, from Holy Monastery of Honourable Forerunner, Essex, England, speaks about his spiritual father Elder Sophrony. Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is a 501(c)3 and an official agency of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the United States of America . It is...
