Sister Parakliti, Holy Skete of Saint Mary Magdalene, in Liti The grandeur of Great Friday and Great Saturday lies in the fact that human reason is incapable of comprehending that the Son of God died. In a war, for example, we can evaluate how tragic the situation is by Read more
Greek Byzantine Choir Listen now ‘The Day of the Resurrection’, the doxastiko at Lauds, Easter Matins, set to music by Iakovos Protopsaltis and recorded at a concert in Ghent which took place on 19/4/2012. Recorded by V. Zakharis, image by I. Panousakis. Source: pemptousia.com
Saint John Chrysostom Whosoever is a devout lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful bright Festival. And whosoever is a grateful servant, let him joyously enter into the joy of his Lord. And if any be weary with fasting, let him now receive his reward. If any has Read more
Saint Nicholas Velimirovich The fourth evil-doer was Pilate, Caesar’s representative in Jerusalem, who in a sense stood for the whole of the pagan world at the trial of Christ. Pilate looked down on the Jews, and the Jews returned the favour. At first he wasn’t of a mind to Read more
Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis a) The Cross leads to the Resurrection, Great Friday bears fruit on the bright Sunday of Easter. Sorrow, listlessness and despair make way for the joy and peace of the Resurrection. Without the Cross, the Resurrection is inconceivable and without the Resurrection the Cross has no Read more
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your Read more
An Extra Prayer Team Message on Holy Thursday about a Woman Who Died on Holy Thursday The Story of Eva Cledaras, the woman who died at the same hour as the Lord Here is another inspiring story, that I post every year on Holy Thursday, about another inspiring woman, Read more
Anastasios Aslanidis In their works, the hymnographers of the Orthodox Church express their approach and perception of events, as presented by Orthodox tradition, in a particular way. With the Gospel and hymnographical texts as our guide, we shall approach the role of the disciples in the preparation of the Read more
James W. Lillie On Lazarus Saturday, I realized I couldn’t find my copy of the services for Great Week, so, naturally, I went down to the local supermarket and bought another copy. This ease of access to Church supplies (charcoal, wicks, incense, televised services for the sick and so on) Read more
When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Matthew 26:1-2 In the Holy Week narrative, during the early days of the week, Jesus, according Read more
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, Read more
An Extra Message for Holy Monday about a Woman Who Died on Holy Monday The Story of Stavroula Anthopoulos, the Woman who had nothing and yet had everything What follows is an inspiring story about a woman named Stavrula who died on Holy Monday, 2004. I post this story every year Read more