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
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, Read more
Hieromonk Eleftherios Balakos Yesterday was the feast-day of Saint James, the Brother of Our Lord. On that day, some bishops and priests make a point of celebrating the Divine Liturgy that bears his name. I shan’t get involved with the question of how authentic or pseudonymous it is, to Read more
Dr. Nikolaos Koios, Content Coach of Pemptousia It’s been noted by theological scholarship on more than one occasion that, in Orthodoxy, dogma and ethos, theory and practice, faith and life are indissolubly bound together. Every invitation to spiritual struggle has a powerful dogmatic foundation and vice versa: the spiritual Read more
Metropolitan of Gortyn and Megalopolis, Ieremias † [Having shown what God is and that He is incomprehensible] Saint John goes on to prove that He is One, not many. This is clear to those who are convinced by the Holy Scriptures. The Lord says as much at the beginning Read more
Protopresbyter Vasileios Georgopoulos, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki For all Christians, the Lord’s precious Cross is a manifestation of God’s unfailing love for His creation, (Jn. 3, 14-15; 12, 32-33; Col. 1, 20). It is the boast of Christ’s ordeal (Gal. 6, 4) and the invincible Read more
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous We usually view other people on the basis of our own inner eyes and ‘what the heart is full of’ (Luke 6, 45). If we’re cunning, we think other people are cunning, as well; if we’re guileless, we think that other people are, too. Saint Gregory the Read more
Our blessed father Yerasimos was born in 1509, in the village of Trikala, near Corinth in the Peloponnese. His God-fearing parents, Dimitrios and Kali came from the prominent Notaras family and, from a young age, he was taught his letters, at which he excelled. While still a young man, he Read more
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Perspicacity is the healthy and unerring assessment of concepts and things so that they can be judged properly in terms of time, manner, place and occasion, and always in terms of edification. Perspicacity is the ability to identify imminent developments before they occur and thus Read more
Metropolitan of Pisidia Sotirios On October 18th, our Church honors the distinguished figure of St. Luke the Evangelist. He was a Greek from the Great city of Antioch in Syria (today’s Antakya). It was here that he studied medicine, in a city that was renowned for the development of Read more
Ioannis Karavidopoulos, Professor of the School of Theology of the University of Thessaloniki The parable of the sower is a wake-up call for self-criticism and self-knowledge. People often wonder and are surprised at the apparent failure of Christianity in the world, which can be seen to a greater or Read more
Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes In today’s Gospel reading, the Evangelist Luke presented the Parable of Sower. Our Lord Jesus Christ used examples from the daily life to express the heavenly and divine truths. He was able in this way to help the man of good will to understand and Read more