Saint Helen, my most favorite Champion
Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D. I was just visiting Shepherds’ Field the other day that is the precise location where the angels appeared to the shepherds to share the Good News, that Jesus Christ was born, over two thousand years ago. And once again, although I am so terrible...
St. John Cassian (February, 29): How Should We Pray
Feast of St. John Cassian the Roman is on February 29, and for non-leap years on February 28. St. Cassian (360-435) was a monk, known for his mystical writings. He visited many Fathers in desert and wrote about their life and teachings. Because of his disagreement with St. Augustine’s teachings...
What’s in the Name?
During my last visit to the monasteries in Egypt, I was asked by family members to baptize their child at the monastery. When I went there the day of the baptism, the monk priest in charge of baptisms asked me to baptize all the kids that came that day—which totaled...
Who is the newly-proclaimed Saint Meletios?
Evagoras Makhaira On 27 November, 2013, the Ecumenical Patriarchate entered two new names into the Calendar of Saints of the Church: Porfyrios Kavsokalyvitis and Hieromonk Meletios, from Ypseni, Rhodes. Many Orthodox will already know about Saint Porfyrios, who lived recently (1906-1991). But who was Saint Meletios? He was born...
A Remarkable Royal Family
W. J. Lillie February 3, Feast of Saint Werburga While it may be true that history doesn’t repeat itself, it is also true that human beings do. Each generation, each person, is born into the same spiritual state as the generations who have gone before. It’s true that a...
The Holy Martyr Tryphon of Apamea
Saint Tryphon was born in Lampsakos, in Phrygia during the reign of the Emperor Gordian. From a young age, his task was to be a goose-herd. The ignominy of his work, however, did not deprive him of, but actually increased his spiritual knowledge through his exalting humility and his overwhelming...
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 Saints Stand By Us
Dr Petros Panayiotopoulos When we refer to the life of a saint, we tend to extol their actions and promote them mostly on the basis of the wonderful things they performed. From very ancient times, it was thought that this elevation and emphasis, sometimes even exaggeration, in the narrative of...
Saint Dimitrios The Myrrh-Yielder – 2
James W. Lillie Another point of interest is that the church of Saint Dimitrios, for 60 years (1430-1490) remained as part of the local Church, when almost all the other churches in Thessaloniki had been turned into mosques after the fall of the city to the Turks in 1430. This...
Saint Dimitrios The Myrrh-Yielder – 1
James W. Lillie Saint Dimitrios is the protector and patron saint of Thessaloniki, a saint from whose relics myrrh flows and also a Great Martyr. There are actually conflicting accounts in the sources, but the overwhelming view is that he was born and bred in Thessaloniki. As a young man,...
