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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 Read more…
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 Read more…
Ioannis Panayiotopoulos, Lecturer at the Theological School, Athens University One of the most wonderful stories in the Lavsaïko [Lives of the Ascetics, by Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis, written for a chamberlain at the court of Emperor Theodosios II, a certain Lavsos, from whom the book takes its name] describes Read more…
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 Read more…
Metropolitan Georgios (Pavlidis) of Nikaia, Athens († 1990) 1. What are the talents? [1] ‘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, Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom of Sourozh (Extract from a sermon preached at the University Church of Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, on 19 May 1985) And then, lastly, two events which I would like to bring together. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Crucifixion. Every male child first-born Read more…
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 Read more…
Saint Justin Popovich In the first place, church attendance is a need of the soul. Just as the hungry have need of food and the thirsty require water, so, too, do Christians have need of their ‘daily bread, which is the word of God and the spotless sacraments, the Read more…
Bishop Efthymios of Aheloos ‘The Impudence of the Heresies is Defeated’ The phenomenon of atheism arose in the West and became a world-wide movement for which Western civilization paid dearly in the 20th century. Atheism began within the Western Church as a reaction on the part of learned men Read more…
Archimandrite Varnavas Lambropoulos […] Lazarus didn’t play a part in his resurrection. How could he have done, since he was already in the grave? Christ raised Him because that is what He Himself wished. Zacchaeus, however, worked hard for his resurrection. It started with an intense desire to encounter Read more…