The practical expression of Love towards the Lord
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (On the feast day of Saint Paul of Thebes and John Kalyvitis) Our Church honours the two great saints, Paul of Thebes and John Kalyvitis. Their life stories are a little strange but quite fitting for us, monks. The former was among the first people...
On Love
Georgios Koios This period of Great Lent through which we’re passing, and also the worrying social phenomena we see on a global scale, challenge and invite us as people to reflect on and weigh up why it is that almost the whole of mankind is in turmoil. Tension between ourselves...
‘What fruit has your zeal born?’
Protopresbyter Stefanos Anagnostopoulos A very active priest had a dream once, which he described to us as follows: ‘I was sitting in an armchair, drained and exhausted from all my work. My whole body ached from weariness. A lot of people in my parish were seeking the ‘Pearl of great...
Love as a Feeling and as an Uncreated Gift of the Holy Trinity (Meat-fare Sunday)
Vasileios Touloumtsis It’s an unshakeable and irrefutable truth that every day of our earthly life is- apart from anything else- another step that brings us ever closer to our biological death. Despite the fact that this is the most certain event which will occur to each and every one...
A Journey with Sinners, Lunatics and Lovers..
Fr. Spyridon Skoutis A lot of hesitations… Some people don’t want to go to confession, others are driven mad by being woken up early to go to church, the fast seems like a mountain, but dieting for the beach is a child’s game. You see a priest on the...
Helping Teens Understand Love
http://radio.myocn.net/podcast/CRTL/On_Air/crtl021316wv.mp3 Listen Now.Love. This gift of God is expressed in joy, patience, service… But our modern society has also distorted it, devalued it to a feeling for objects or to be expressed inappropriately towards people. Listen as Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, of St. John Greek Orthodox Church in Tampa, FL, speaks...
Love as the Essence of Orthodox Asceticism
Protopresbyter Georgios Schinas You might ask why it is that we today, who are less ascetic as Christians, are overcome with fear and trembling when we hear about asceticism. It makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable. This is because we’ve lost sight of a great truth of our faith. It’s...
The Self-Sacrifice of Love for our Neighbour
Rafael Ch. Misiaoulis, Theologian Today’s Gospel reading is the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. The immediate message of the reading is obvious- that we should aid those in distress- but the following commentary puts this teaching into context. Christ is approached by a lawyer, asked a question meant...
Knowledge of God is Achieved through Love for Him
Christoforos Papadopoulos, Theologian It’s been said that good is to be identified with God, and that therefore knowledge of it is tantamount to knowledge of God. And because God’s a person, not an idea, knowledge of Him is realized through personal communication with Him. The more we love God...
Do you Judge with Love or Misanthropy?
Saint John Chrysostom From Homily XIII on the Gospel of Saint Matthew If you forgive your neighbours, before you free them of any burden, you release yourself from your sins, without any effort. And if you examine the sins of others with charity and leniency, by this judgement you...
