Christ’s Person as the Foundation of Church Life
Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid speaks for the significance of Christ’s Person for Church life. Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is an official agency of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the United States of America originally commissioned by SCOBA to create...
Guide and Redeemer
‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1, 29) Yesterday, my beloved friends, the Twelve Days of Christmas came to an end. They last from Christmas to Epiphany, with the exception of the eve of Epiphany. After the Twelve Days, the first feast...
New Year’s Message for 2017 from His Eminence Metropolitan Amvrosios of Korea
Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea Crisis! Crisis of many natures—political, social, family, youth, environmental, economic! Crisis of institutions and values. Wars, refugees, famine, poverty, unemployment, terrorism, and the ongoing ecological destruction of our planet: This is the image of humanity in a global scale. How will we exit this deep crisis...
The Holy Oblation
This is the main prayer of the Divine Liturgy, at which the blessing of the Precious Gifts and their sacramental transformation into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place. In other words, it’s the most sacred point of the service of the Divine Liturgy. It begins with the words...
The Bridge of Diamond
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia ‘Thou hast brought us into being out of nothing’ (The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom). How are we to understand God’s relation to the world he has created? What is meant by this phrase ‘out of nothing’, ex nihilo? Why, indeed did God create at...
A dignified triad
Ilias Voulgarakis Wednesday, 24 December 2137, the secondary three-man Committee for the Protection of Nature of the International Academy of Sciences was continuing its session. The three esteemed scientific chiefs, who, coincidentally, constituted an informal representation of the three largest races on earth, since one was white, another yellow and...
Traditional Greek Christmas Cookies
The most famous Christmas cookies in Greece are the traditional melomakarona and kourabiedes. Here we present the recipes for the most tasty way of cooking them, as a treat for friends and relatives. Happy cooking! Melomakarona (Christmas honey cookies) Ingredients: 1½ cups of oil 1½ cups of cooking fat 1...
Elder Germanos Stavrovouniotis (1906-1982)
Elder Germanos was born in the village of Avgorou in the Famagusta region of Cyprus in 1906, to God-fearing parents, Nikolaos and Margarita Hatzigeorgis. When, as a child, he read the life of Saint Ioannis the Hut-Dweller, he was moved to take the decision to follow the monastic way of...
Elder Ephraim from Simonos Petra: The Experience of Orthodox Church
Elder Ephraim from Simonos Petra’s Monastery, Mt Athos, Greece, speaks about the Experience of Orthodox Church today. Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is an official agency of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the United States of America originally commissioned...
Sunday before the Nativity
Metropolitan Varnavas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis THE REALLY GOOD NEWS When people are out of sorts, the last thing they usually want to hear is bad news. On the contrary, they want some good news, to give them a lift, to give them the courage to get on with life....
On Worship where it is Due
James W. Lillie In the text by Saint Nil Sorskij which we published recently on the passions of avarice, anger, sorrow and sloth, we read: “In order to defeat the spirit of ingratitude and blasphemy we say: ‘Get behind me, Satan. I worship my Lord and God and I serve...
The Hieromartyr Saint Eleftherios, a Young Bishop
This wonderful saint was the son of noble and prominent parents. He was born in Rome, where his father was an official in the imperial service, though he died in the saint’s childhood. His mother, Anthia, had heard the Gospel from Saint Paul and was, in fact, baptized by him....
