Saint Nectarios of Pentapolis   Only the Son of God can free us, because He is Himself true freedom. Only if we follow the Savior are we able to remain free and can cast off the slavery of sin. So, if we wish to be free, we should follow Christ...

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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...

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† Dionysios, Metropolitan of Servia and Kozani   Every day, a task is performed on earth. It’s the greatest, most important, most sacred task that humans can aspire to. It’s the Divine Liturgy, the continuation of the Last Supper at which Jesus sat with His disciples. People are capable of...

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Saint Ignatius Brianchaninoff   The prayer of repentance has been given to all, without exception. It’s been given to those who are dominated by the passions and to those who fall into in sin in practice. They, too, have the right to cry out to the Lord for their salvation....

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LIVE Adult Education: Forming Christian Culture Sponsored by St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda, MD.  These are not classes on high theology that are intimidating or difficult to understand. We focus on the “down to earth” and practical ways we should understand and live our faith. In His parables to...

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George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki   Our first duty as people is to investigate and know ourselves. And our greatest error lies in the fact that we are usually entirely indifferent to the examination and recognition of ourselves and are concerned...

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Metropolitan Anthony Bloom †   17 December 1989 In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Ten lepers came to the Lord; ten men who were ritually unclean and therefore, ritually rejected by their community, unable to attend the common worship of the Temple, unable to...

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Saint Theophan the Recluse   God is everywhere. And when He finds a heart that isn’t opposed to Him, a humble heart, He enters it and fills it with joy. The joy of the heart which has God within it is so great that it attaches itself to Him and...

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George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki   This personal nature of the truth is of prime significance for us. The living truth cannot be objectified, because its objectification would be tantamount to its ossification and necrosis. Knowledge of this truth is an...

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Has anybody ever told a lie to you? Have you ever been untruthful about something too? In today’s epistle reading, Saint Paul writes, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature and have put on the new nature.” Saint Paul knew that “Do...

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The suffering hermit lay in bed for about three weeks. Each day, after the Liturgy, a hieromonk came with the Precious Gifts so that she could make her communion. On the fifteenth day, her face was transfigured; it shone with a supernatural light and took on the expression of blessed...

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One evening, Papa-Fotis visited one of the houses in town where he sometimes stayed. Before he went to sleep, he told the man of the house: ‘First thing in the morning, you and me have got work to do’. They got up, left Mytilini and went to his little monastery....

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George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki   Orthodox Christian theology has always distinguished between two kinds of knowledge: the secular and the divine. Secular knowledge functions on the level of created matter and is unable to approach the uncreated, that is the...

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Metropolitan Ioïl (Frangkakos) of Edessa, Pella, and Almopia   ‘When he heard that John had been delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee’. Christ’s behavior towards people wasn’t monolithic. He reacted in a variety of ways. In any case, He became incarnate, was made manifest to people and revealed His wisdom...

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Hieromonk Georgios M. Thanasou   Epistle Reading Eph. 4, 7-13: “The Humility of Christ” Today is the first Sunday after the great feast of Theophany. As with all the feasts of the Lord, the Church acclaims the event of God’s Epiphany through its sublime hymns. The Nativity, the Baptism, the...

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