Welcome to The Daily Prayer Team messages by Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, each day includes a passage of scripture, a reflection and a prayer. Sponsored by Saint John Greek Orthodox Church in Tampa, FL. Jesus said “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; […]
As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But […]
The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent; but they cried out the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” Matthew 20:31 We have already discussed that the Biblical Greek word for “oil” is “eleon.” This is closely related to the word for “mercy” which is “eleos.” There is […]
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Christ is the living truth. “I am the way, and the truth and the life” (John 14, 6). Therefore, He is life without beginning, unlimited (ἀπεριόριστος), unbound (ἀδέσμευτος), co-eternal with the Father, inseparable and undivided from him. “Praise be to God and Father of our […]
Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou There is more to Lent than fasting, and there is more to fasting than food. This principle lies at the heart of the Lenten Triodion, the main hymnbook of Lent. Lent is without doubt the richest and most distinctive season of the ecclesiastical year. The Lenten […]
Saint Neilos was born into a wealthy and illustrious family and was probably a pupil of St. John Chrysostom from as early as when the latter was preaching in Antioch. His birth and personal attributes were such that he was raised to the rank of prefect of the capital. The […]
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Any serious observer of the creation of the world, no matter from which side they approach it, the material or the spiritual, will feel the presence of an inexpressible mystery in all phenomena. But only a healthy spirit will be able to orientate itself properly […]
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery The theology of the person, as this is revealed in the hesychast ascetic tradition, is the most significant counter-argument to post-modern individualism and relativism. The ascetics of introversion and of conscious tranquillity (hesychia) is not a psychological proposition but the authentic and […]
Petros Panayiotopoulos, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Christmas 1914. The trenches. A different kind of cease-fire Today we call it the First World War. Then they called it the Great War. Many European countries were involved in it, in a horrendous conflict without any clear […]
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery Beloved Fathers and brothers, today we celebrate the greatest event of all time and all ages: the birth of Christ, the ‘capital of all feasts’, according Saint John Chrysostom. God enters our life, in time, in history as ‘Jesus Christ the man’ […]
Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou All the inspiration to attain the Kingdom of Heaven comes from the awareness of our spiritual poverty, which helps us humble our spirit and depend our life on Him Who is able to save us. In the crisis we are now going through, we perceive the […]
Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou Weeping Question: Could we say that in the monastery everything happens purely because God is guiding the hearts of the other people? Answer: Everything will work out for salvation for those who love God (Rom. 8:28), for those who have the desire to repent and weep before […]