Hieromartyr Methodios Bishop of Patara (June 20)
Metropolitan of Pisidia Sotirios On June 20th, the Church honors the memory of St. Methodios, Bishop of Patara in Lycia, also known as the birthplace of St. Nicholas of Myra. St. Methodios rose to prominence before St. Nicholas, during the last great persecution of Christians by the Roman emperors....
Do You Know Where the Word “Bible” Comes From?
It comes from the Greek word, “biblos,” which means “book.” And today’s Gospel reading starts with that very word. It starts “The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.” The words “the book” are the very beginning of the New Testament, when we learn about our Lord, Jesus Christ. Why...
14,000 Innocent Children: Christmas Has a Cost
Christmas can be too comfortable sometimes. As the Nativity Season unfolds, churches are celebrating the birth of Christ. Gifts are being shared, kitchens are busy preparing traditional foods, and retreat speakers have returned home from their visits to parishes. While all these events may be well intentioned, they frequently point...
Sermon on the feast day of the holy martyrs Demetrios and Nestor (26&27 October)
Metropolitan of Pisidia Sotirios October 27th is the day the Church honors the Martyr St. Nestor, whose life and martyrdom are directly linked to the glorious Martyr St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki. It is for this reason that the lives and testimony of these famous saints be studied together. In...
Holy Martyr Aimilianos (18 July): free man and servant
When Julian the Apostate came to power as emperor (361), he scorned both the good that had been achieved by Saint Constantine the Great and everything he had gained from his own Christian upbringing. He upset public order with his tyranny and railed against God, doing his level best, with...
Alexander Schmorell, the New Martyr
Yannis Zervos Alexander Schmorell was the co-founder – along with his friend Hans Scholl – of the anti-Nazi resistance group the ‘White Rose’, which tried to stir up the conscience of the Germans against the regime by distributing leaflets through the post. We were made aware of his canonization...
The 40 Martyrs of Sebaste: Confession through martyrdom
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi A troparion of the liturgical Service in honour of the Forty Martyrs says: ‘Suffering with bravery at present, we are rejoicing at what we are anticipating, said the martyrs’. There was evident readiness from the very beginning to employ the confessionary approach to Christianity. What...
Saint Dimitrios The Myrrh-Yielder – 2
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...
Saint Dimitrios The Myrrh-Yielder – 1
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,...
The Holy New Martyr Christodoulos from Kassandra – 27 July
Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite The new martyr and servant of Christ Christodoulos was from Kassandra, the first leg of Halkidiki, from a village called Valta. When he was still young, he left his home and went to Thessaloniki and, when he’d learned how to make thick woollen cloth and...
