Fr. Alexander Schmemann The Third Sunday of Lent is called “The Veneration of the Cross”. At the Vigil of that day, after the Great Doxology, the Cross is brought in a solemn procession to the center of the church and remains there for the entire week – with a special […]
Protopresbyter Antonios Christou Dear readers, Great Lent is a time of strenuous, spiritual struggle with ourselves (less sleep, less nutrition, less ease and preoccupation with things we like doing, greater participation in the services and prayers, and so on). I don’t know, however, whether we truly realize the extent […]
Sotiris Stylianou The Gospel extract which is read on 12 March 2023 is from Mark (2, 1-12) and concerns the cure of a paralyzed man in Capernaum. The Lord was teaching in a certain house and so many people had come that there was no room to move. Four […]
Elder Patapios Kavsokalyvitis, Superintendent of the Skete of the Holy Trinity, Mount Athos By fasting, we learn to say ‘No’ to our desire for food and also learn to say ‘No’ to our often self-destructive will. We also learn to say ‘Yes’ to God, which is always redemptive. We’ve […]
Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos On the first Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is to say the feast of the restitution of the holy icons, as the Church once again, by the grace of God, vanquished the heresy of the iconoclasts and preserved with exactitude […]
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol The time of the Triodio is the whole of our spiritual life in miniature. If you follow the messages in the hymns every day, it’s enough to show the journey you have to make in the struggle that awaits you. It begins with the basis […]
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for […]
Archimandrite Varnavas Lambropoulos On the eve of our entry into Great Lent, everything in church speaks to us of repentance. The wonderful hymns ‘robe’ the message of repentance in a poetic manner; the Gospel reading gives us the keys to open the gates of repentance; and the Epistle reminds […]
Elder Ephraim in Arizona † Of course, we must keep the fast only as far as we’re able, with discretion, because we’re not all the same. “Unless the good be done well, it is not good”. In other words, unless good is done in a good way, method, time […]
Elder Ephraim in Arizona † At this time we’re entering the great spiritual arena of the blessed Great Lent. Holy and Great Lent is a time of compunction, for repentance, for tears, for a change in ourselves, for a new stage in the spiritual life. Like an affectionate mother […]
Great Lent is a significant period of fasting, prayer, and spiritual reflection for Orthodox Christians around the world. This solemn season marks the forty days of preparation leading up to the commemoration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is a time for Christians to examine their […]
Metropolitan Panteleimon of Antinoes Today, is Cheese-fare Sunday, which sees the closing of the period of Triodion. Tomorrow, with God’s blessing and help, we embark upon the forty day Fast of Great Lent. Great Lent is a time of spiritual struggle for Orthodox Christians. The aim of this struggle […]