Sermon preached by Dn. Jeff Smith on Sunday, August 17, 2025 Good morning. In St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he tells them that “I am a fool, I am weak. I am hungry and thirsty. I am homeless and without clothes.” He says essentially, “I am garbage. But I am also your father. So, imitate me.” And as he asks the Corinthians to imitate him, so does St. Paul imitate Christ, who was also
Saint Kyriakos (Kyriákos)1 was born in the Greek city of Corinth to the priest John and his wife Eudokίa. Bishop Peter of Corinth, who was a family relative, seeing that Kyriakos was a quiet and sensible child, made him a Reader in church. His constant reading of the Holy Scriptures awakened in him a love for the Lord, and made him long for a pure and holy life. When he was not yet eighteen years old,
Commemorated on September 28 Saint Chariton the Confessor was born at Iconium in the province of Lycaonia, and suffered there during a persecution against Christians in the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275). The example of the holy Protomartyr Thekla (September 24), who was also a native of his city, encouraged him to confess Christ, since he had a great devotion to her. Saint Chariton bravely denounced the pagan gods and staunchly confessed faith in the one
MEMORIAL SERVICES Maria Farmakides (1 year) and Klianthis (Lance) Karavangelos (10 years) Today’s coffee hour is sponsored by the Farmakides Family. PLEASE MAKE A MEMORIAL DONTION OF LOVE BY CLICKING HERE.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, With gratitude to God, I write to you for the first time as Dean of Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Your warm welcome has already made me feel at home. I look forward to getting to know you, praying with you, and sharing in the life of this beloved parish. I am deeply grateful to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America for entrusting me with this sacred assignment. His
By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts The juridical approach that has predominated in the West can make pastoral practice seem cold and automatic. Neither a focus on good works nor faith alone are sufficient to transform the human heart. Do positive, external criteria signify inner transformation in all cases? Some branches of Christian counseling too often rely on the application of seemingly relevant verses of Scripture to effect changes in behavior
By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts The image of an angry, vengeful God haunts the West where a basic insecurity and guilt seem to exist. Many appear to hold that sickness, suffering and death are God’s will. Why? I suspect one reason is that down deep the belief persists that God is still angry and must be appeased. Yes, sickness, suffering and death come and when they do
By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts It is important to note that salvation as deification is not pantheism because the Orthodox Fathers insist on the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (Athanasius, 1981). Human beings, along with all created things, have come into being from nothing. Created beings will always remain created and God will always remain Uncreated. The Son of God in the Incarnation crossed the unbridgeable chasm between them. Orthodox
By V. Rev. Antony Hughes, M.Div., St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts A young man called me recently to discuss his family’s movement toward the Orthodox Church. He told me a priceless story about how his seven-year old daughter helped him and his wife understand an Orthodox practice that is often a hindrance to inquirers. Although the family had icons in their home they could not grasp the reason for the practice of venerating
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 7, 2024 “Welcome to the 21st Century!” Pick your issue, and if its outcome conforms to a popular, desired norm you are likely to hear such a greeting. The greeting also implies that a less than desirable outcome is wrong because it doesn’t belong to our time. It might be characterized as “medieval,” “outmoded,” “out-of-date,” “primitive,” “Neanderthal,” “reactionary,” etc. None of which actually describe anything. Such labels are value judgments and
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