The Joy of the Annunciation
Fr. Andreas Agathokleous The Feast of the Annunciation lends a pre-Paschal feeling to Great Lent, during which it always falls. The atmosphere of compunction recedes and gives way to the joy of the great feast. This is why we have a dispensation to eat fish. The hymns, the celebrations...
‘To you victorious leader of triumphant hosts’, ancient melody, 4th plagial tone (former Protopsaltis Archon Leonidas Asteris)
The Akathistos Hymn occupies an important in the reverential period of Great Lent and is one of the most popular and well-known hymns, both in terms of its melody and poetry. Its inclusion in the Triodio can be explained by the fact that the content is linked to the joyful...
Honoring the Theotokos
As a sinful follower of Jesus Christ, my ultimate goal is to joyfully spend eternity in God’s kingdom. Since becoming Orthodox, I’ve frequently turned to the Theotokos for guidance. She is the most pure, with no ego or agenda, and totally devoted to serving and worshipping God. Because of her,...
The Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God, an Example of Effective Communication
Dr. Dimitrios Khoilous The feasts of the Mother of God are a matter of joy for the whole Church. Our Lady, who is honoured at these, is the person who glorified the whole of the human race when she answered God’s invitation to participate in His incarnation, thus ushering...
The Entrance into the Temple
Fr. Alexander Schmemann It seems thousands of years removed from us, but it was not so very long ago that life was marked out by religious feasts. Although everyone went to church, not everyone, of course, knew the exact contents of each celebration. For many, perhaps even the majority,...
The person of the Mother of God in the Life of the Church
Watch now Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, at the second part of his interview to Pemptousia, talks about the person of the Theotokos, the Mother of God, in the life of the Church. Source: pemptousia.com Watch the first part of the interview: The benefit of the Monasticism to the Church and to...
Miracles of the Holy Girdle
Since today is, in one sense, the most important day in postlapsarian history, it seems fitting to relate three miracles which have occurred as a result of Mary taking the momentous decision to accede to God’s request that she bear the Lord. These miracles are all associated with her holy...
‘At your deathless Dormition’, plagial tone two (Choir of Vatopaidi)
Listen now The Choir of the Fathers of Vatopaidi sing the Doxastiko at Lauds for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in plagial tone two. Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is a 501(c)3 and an official agency of the Assembly...
Guided by the Mother of God
The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God holds a place in my life and in my heart that will take me a lifetime to unpack. It has touched me personally on three significant occasions in my ministry. As an Episcopalian, a newly ordained deacon, actually, I had...
The Holy Dormition of our Most Pure Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
Saint Gregory Palamas If ‘the death of the saints is precious and the memory of the righteous is blessed’, with how much greater praise should we keep the memory of the ‘saint of the saints’ through whom the whole of sanctity came to them, that is the memory of...
