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The People’s Saint

11/06/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on December 14, 2019 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 first a people’s saint and then a saint of the Church. Before his canonization, believers, disbelievers and unbelievers who had felt

Things I Learned in a Mirror

11/05/2026

~By Stephen Freeman, February 10, 2025 In my morning mirror, my father’s face stares back at me. As a child, people would say, “You look like your father.” I couldn’t see it, except that my ears were shaped like his. I had no idea that the ears whispered my destiny. The notion that there is something within us that sets the pattern of our life, and particularly its end, is nothing new. In Orthodoxy, we describe

Revisiting the Golden Rule

11/04/2026

Sermon preached by Subdeacon JD Swartz on Sunday, September 29, 2024 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ is in our midst! For the sake of those who, like myself, have a short retention span, I would like to begin by re-reading this morning’s Gospel, Luke 6:31-36: “The Lord said, ‘As you wish that men would do to you, do

The Mystery of Time (Mark 1, 1-8)

11/03/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 2, 2021 Archimandrite Nikanor Karayannis ‘The beginning of the Gospel of Christ’… The word ‘beginning’ in today’s Gospel reading is enough in itself to evoke the start of the new year, the threshold of which we reached a few days ago with the feast of Christmas. The Christian notion of time In the old days, people were in awe of the dark enigma of time. They tried to explain it through philosophy

Great Martyr St. Elpidophoros of Persia

11/02/2026

November 2 Saint Elpidophoros lived in Persia in the 4th century and suffered for Christ in the period of the years 330-335, together with the other saints Akindinus, Pigasius, Anempodistus and Affonius. Presumably, the basis for his life story was an ancient narrative composed by an eyewitness of the events. Saints Akindinos, Pigasios and Anempodistus were secret Christians and served at the court of the Persian Shah Shapur, Affonius was one of the tormentors who

Sts. Cosmas and Damian

11/01/2026

On November 1st of each year, the Holy Orthodox Church commemorates the holy Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian, two extraordinary brothers who were renowned physicians and martyrs of the early Church. Born in Asia Minor, these beloved saints of the Church earned a distinctive reputation for offering their services of healing to those in need. In their deeds, Saints Cosmas and Damian were living examples of the commandment of Christ to His disciples: Heal the sick,

The Useless God

10/30/2026

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 7, 2025 The statement, “God is useless,” is, undoubtedly, sure to strike someone as an insult, not a statement of a faithful believing Christian (much less, a priest). That reaction tells me much about how we feel about the word, “useless,” rather than how we feel about God. In current American parlance, “useless,” is mostly a term of abuse. Who wants to be seen as useless? Consider this excerpt from

To Love and the Lord Loves Us

10/29/2026

Sermon preached by Dn. James Wilcox on Sunday, June 2, 2024 Acts 11:19-30; John 4:5-42 Today, on this fifth Sunday of Pascha, we come to a text — as you just heard —which happens to be the longest interaction between Jesus and any other character presented to us in Scripture. And the extended dialogue we just heard between Jesus and the Samaritan woman all takes place in what can be considered sacred territory. Long before this episode,

Holy Protection of the Theotokos

10/28/2026

The Feast of the Protection commemorates the appearance of the most holy Theotokos in the Church of Blachernae in Constantinople in the tenth century, as recorded in the life of Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ’s sake. While the multitudes of the faithful were gathered in church, Epiphanius, the friend of Saint Andrew, through the Saint’s prayers, beheld the Virgin Mary above the faithful and spreading out her veil over them, signifying her unceasing protection

The Consequences of Rationalism in Our Life

10/27/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on December 4, 2019 Archimandrite Athanasios (Anastasiou), Former Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Great Meteora We might define rationalism as excessive dependence on our reason, its elevation to the supreme authority and absolute value. It’s a culpable attitude of mind and outlook on life rather than a simple sin. Essentially, it’s lack of faith. Rationalism is the most typical and insidious expression of pride, which underlies all our sins, invades all our

Daily Meditations

The People’s Saint

Things I Learned in a Mirror

Revisiting the Golden Rule

The Mystery of Time (Mark 1, 1-8)

Great Martyr St. Elpidophoros of Persia

Sts. Cosmas and Damian

The Useless God

To Love and the Lord Loves Us

Holy Protection of the Theotokos

The Consequences of Rationalism in Our Life

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