By Fr John Breck, November 1, 2007 The disclosure that Mother Teresa spent long years of agony, unable to sense the presence of God, led many people to doubt the sincerity of her public writings and the genuineness of her vocation. Was she a saint, or merely someone like ourselves? Or maybe both? Any doubts that Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a true saint, a genuinely holy person, have been amply, if ironically, dispelled by
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 13, 2016 She finished her story here and invited to me to eat some of the beans she had in her basket, because she’d been told “from the outside”, that I was very hungry. We ate and drank until I was full. But I saw that both the basket and the pitcher were still full, so I gave glory to God. When it was time for me to go, I
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 11, 2016 Pantelis Paschos, Professor of Theology A saintly hermit told the brothers the following story: One day, as I was sitting in the desert, I began to feel worried and sad. A thought came to me: “Get up and go for a walk in the desert”. So I walked and came to a water-course and gazing into the distance in the moonlight- night had fallen already- I saw something
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 15, 2021. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. The scripture readings today are extremely significant and apropos to the day. Saint Paul’s talking about self-emptying: the Kenosis of Jesus Christ, who came to the world, giving up all His divine prerogative to become one of us and save us in
SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Sent By God: the Life of Geronda Ephraim Saint Anthony’s Monastery is releasing a 5 volume set of books about the life of Geronda Ephraim: “In every generation God sends His chosen servants to help those who are searching for eternal life.In the last half century, there was a man who transformed more people’s lives than anyone else in the history of
By Fr John Breck, August 1, 2008 In our Orthodox tradition we are usually very careful to distinguish between the “Dormition” of the Mother of God and her “Assumption” into heaven. The former, we feel, is properly Orthodox, while the latter strikes us as a purely Western designation, derived from a Roman Catholic “misunderstanding” of the meaning of this feast, celebrated universally on August 15. It is true that some very genuine yet misguided interpretations
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 6, 2017 James W. Lillie This is why I’m telling you, don’t be quick to condemn, and to examine the actions of others. We’ve all seen people who’ve fallen into fornication, but we haven’t seen their repentance. Or we’ve seen someone who’s stolen something, but we don’t know what sighs and tears they’ve offered to the Lord”. Finally, there is an account in the Ochrid Prologue [Prologue (пролог) is simply
Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 2, 2017 James W. Lillie At Matthew 7, 1-3, the Lord warns us about the danger of judging other people. “Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the mote that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam that is
It is clear from the Holy Scriptures and Christian tradition that Mary, the Theotokos, was highly favoured by God (St Luke 1:28) and held in high regard by the Church. Along with the Apostles, she gave leadership and guidance to the Church in Jerusalem, especially among the women believers. Acts 1:14 confirms that St Mary was with the Holy Apostles on the day of Pentecost, and the tradition of the Church holds that she remained in the
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, November 19, 2016 Among the greater mysteries of the New Testament are those surrounding the Mother of God. A large segment of modern Christianity has become tone deaf in this regard, a result of centuries of antagonism towards certain aspects of older tradition. It is a deafness that grieves my heart, primarily in that it represents a great gulf within the broader experience of the faith. A few years after my
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