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Sotiris Stylianou The Gospel Reading for the 4th Sunday of Matthew (Matthew 8, 5-13) is concerned with the miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant. While the Lord was in the town of Capernaum, he was approached by a Roman, a pagan, who held the rank of centurion in the army, that Read more…
4th Sunday of Matthew In the Gospel reading for the 4th Sunday of Matthew (5, 14-19), Christ calls his disciples ‘the light of the world’. That Christians have always accepted that they should set an example to non-believers can be seen from, among other texts, the Epistle to Diognetus, which was written Read more…
Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos ‘For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life’ (Rom. 5, 10) In our spiritual tradition, the attitude of people towards God is often portrayed as Read more…
An excerpt from a homily by St. John Chrysostom (Hom. 4, 3.4: PG 61, 34-36) It became clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive; in fact, it persuaded the whole world. Their discourse was not of unimportant matters but of God and true religion, of the Gospel way Read more…
Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis An acquaintance of Saint Païsios once asked him to pray for a girl who’d become involved with the occult. The saint said: ‘I have to feel her pain’. The man didn’t understand and thought the saint meant that he’d cause her pain, but was told: ‘Tell Read more…
Archimandrite Dorotheos Tzevelakos ‘So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light’. People are erratic. They can ascend to union with God, ‘a little lower than the angels’; and they can also descend into total depravity, becoming like the demons and worse than animals. Read more…
Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos On 14 June 2023, a fishing boat smuggling migrants capsized in international waters in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Pylos, Greece. The boat, which left Tobruk, Libya, on 10 June, was carrying between 400 to 750 migrants. Greek authorities were able to rescue 104 survivors including Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans, and Palestinians. Read more…
Saint Theophan the Recluse What can we do when the mind wanders here and there and we can’t gather it in prayer? If we’re alone, at home, we can delay the start of prayers, or, if we’ve already started, take a short break. If, after a little while, the Read more…
Elder Ieronymos, Aegina Don’t get angry. They’ll mock you and you’ll suffer. Don’t be afraid. If they offer you pepper, give sugar in return. Think: ‘I don’t have pepper, I have sugar and that’s what I’ll give. Sweeten other people with your sugar, that is with your kind words. Read more…
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous People today have a real need to speak and to be heard. When the most profound experiences are shared, the pleasant ones are intensified and the unpleasant ones are alleviated But only when those who are listening ‘listen with their heart’. If you’re going to listen Read more…
Bishop Irinej of Yekaterinburg and Orbits There’s a wind called the libecchio which is unbearably hot and destructive. Wherever it blows, all the plants in the fields and gardens dry up. But the thick, hard thorns aren’t affected. The libeccio destroys only useful plants whose fruits are used as Read more…
Sotirios Theologou Today Christ gives all of us an invitation which concerns our life and the course we wish to pursue. In the Gospel reading, we hear about the call of Christ’s first apostles and their acceptance of his invitation. Andrew and Peter and the sons of Zebedee, became Read more…