Do Receive Jesus Joyfully?
Receive Him Joyfully Can you think of something you have to do, but you don’t want to do? Maybe a chore like cleaning up your room or doing homework? Sometimes chores like those seem to take forever! In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the story of Zacchaeus. You remember that...
How Saint Ieronymos Disarmed a Potential Murderer
The Elder (Saint Ieronymos Simonopetritis) related a story of something that happened to him at that time (about 1928, when he was still Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras): When I was in Thessaloniki the father of one of my spiritual children was moved by action of the...
God Can Make Little, Humble Places Be Impressive
Do you live in a big city or a little, tiny town? God can make little, humble places be impressive. In this week’s Gospel reading, we hear about where our Lord, Jesus Christ lived. After He was baptized, Christ started His ministry—His real work! The Gospel tells us that Jesus...
The Angel of the Wilderness
Georgios N. Manolis, Theologian The life and activity of John the Baptist and Forerunner is an enduring testimony in Christ, culminating in his martyrdom for Him. Just as then, when he was active in the wilderness of the Jordan, so today his voice can be heard in the wilderness...
The People’s Saint
Maro Sideri, Theologian The holy Elder Porfyrios is an odd sort of saint. He was a monk in the world, he involved himself with an assortment of people, he embraced their pain and recognized them not from their outward appearance but from their soul. In this way he became...
Getting Ready for Christmas this Year
What do you do to get ready for Christmas? Do you buy or make presents? Do you help decorate? Do you go to Christmas parties? Do you make cookies? Do you get pictures taken with Santa Claus? This time of year, we have lots of things to do that help...
Saint Spiridon, the patron of Corfu
The holiest shrine on the island of Kerkyra (Corfu) just off the western coast of Greece is the tomb of a fourth-century saint whose body after sixteen centuries is in such a remarkable state of preservation that every year he is carried in solemn triumph through the streets on the...
A Church Service, a Hymn to Human Need
Dr. Nikolaos Koios, Content Coach of Pemptousia Hymnography is the jewel in the crown of Church Literature in Orthodoxy. A variety of metres, a combination of poetry and prose, all invested with the musical riches of the eight tones, narrate the drama of the human person in our effort...
Saints Celebrated on December 5th
Martyr Anastasius A Saint of this name is commemorated on December 5, in the Martyrologies, but neither the place nor the time of his passion is discoverable. When he saw the torments that the Martyrs gloriously endured, he ran into the arena and confessed his faith in Christ. He was...
Andrew the First-Called. The Life of a Blessed Martyr
Fotis Kondoglou 30 November is the feast-day of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. All the Apostles died martyr’s deaths , preaching the Gospel in various countries. Only one was martyred in Greece, Saint Andrew the First-Called, that is, the first who went to be with Christ. He was...
