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Efthymios N. Tsigaridas There are in the Monastery three fragments of wall-paintings, whose origin is unknown. Two of these are from decoration of the Late Comnenan period, while the third belongs to decoration of the Early Palaeologan period. On the two earlier fragments, measuring 50 x 65 and 65 Read more
James W. Lillie At Eastertide, at some undetermined place and year, the Emperor Constantine I made his Oration to the Assembly of the Saints, either in Latin (Oratio ad sanctorum coetum) or Greek (Λόγος τῷ τῶν ἁγίων συλλόγῳ). It is a lengthy and not terribly interesting text, but given Read more
George Mantzaridis, Professor Emeritus, Theological School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki While the Samaritan woman was talking to Christ, she basically didn’t understand what he was saying. He was talking on the level of eternal life. She automatically transferred what she heard to the level of this transitory life. There Read more
Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou This Gospel reading is exceptional, loaded with great and sublime truths which the Lord condescended to impart to a dissolute woman, a heretic who had led a reckless life and hailed from Samaria, an abomination for the Jews. The reconciliatory way that Christ relates with this Read more
Alexandros Christodoulou, Theologian In general terms, Saint Païsios set the greatest store in the spiritual struggle on repentance and unceasing prayer. It was through repentance that he received revelations from heaven. He used to say that the life of a monk was one of repentance and prayer. The monks Read more
One of the brethren was troubled and went to see the Elder. He begged him: ‘Elder, say a prayer for me to be rid of my sadness’. He put his hands on the man’s head and prayed as he usually did. Then he said to him: ‘Listen, son. In the Read more
George Poulos In recent years there has been a rash of new religions erupting on the community skin, a kind of social disease to which the seasoned Christian is immune, but which afflicts the well-intentioned but more impressionable young. The merchants of these new religions, which can be better Read more
Saint Peter the Damascan We shouldn’t despair when we’re not as we ought to be. Of course, it’s bad if you sin. But why do you slight God and, in your ignorance, consider Him powerless? Is He Who made this wonderful world for you perhaps unable to save your Read more
Elder Moses the Athonite † Saint John Chrysostom shows us five practical ways to repent. He says: The first way is to condemn yourself for your sins. The Lord esteems this action greatly. If, of your own volition, you condemn your sins, you’re less likely to repeat them. No Read more
During the Occupation [of Greece by the Germans in World War II], Fr. Georgios Ayiopavlitis was a gardener and he was inducted into the Resistance. Together with other monks, he assisted Allied escapees, but was betrayed by a Romanian [For most of WWII, Romania was an ally of Germany]. He Read more
James W. Lillie We know very little concerning the martyr Nestor, other than that he was a close spiritual brother of Saint Dimitrios. He may have volunteered to fight the giant Vandal, Lyaeus, in order to prevent other Christians being drafted in to do so against their will. According Read more
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 Read more