~By Fr Stephen Freeman, June 23, 2025 My parents enjoyed farming. They both grew up on farms. Both did hard work in the cotton fields of the South. I never heard them complain about that. We had a small home in a 50’s subdivision. My Dad had a garage built in the backyard. Behind the garage, he put in a garden. It could not have been more than 25’x25′. They planted tomatoes, green beans, okra,
Sunday, September 13: 1st Day of Sunday School (please register online). Father Steve will celebrate his last Orthros and Divine Liturgy as Protopresbyter of Saint Sophia Cathedral, and immediately following the Divine Liturgy in the EAC Ballroom, the Clergy and Parish Council will hold a Reception to Honor and say Farewell to Father Steve. Sunday, September 20: Father Augustine will celebrate his first Orthros and Divine Liturgy as Protopresbyter of Saint Sophia Cathedral and immediately following the Divine Liturgy, the
George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 15 August 2023 In the hymnography of the Orthodox Church, the Mother of God is called ‘god after God, holding second position to the Trinity’. Some people may feel that these terms are excessive and dogmatically unfounded. This is certainly not the case, however, since they convey the quintessence of Orthodox theology and anthropology. The Mother of God isn’t merely the
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 12, 2024 A young friend recently lost his mother. It has been an occasion of reflection for me, thinking about the emptiness created by such a loss. Despite all of the confusion and conundrums in our contemporary culture surrounding gender issues – they only serve to underscore the fact that male-and-female, on the most fundamental level of the human psyche, are core realities – subject to debate, but not subject to dismissal.
Monk Arsenios of the Skete of Koutloumousiou, the Holy Mountain 31 August 2023 If we see that some saints enjoy greater glory than others, this is due to the fact they have even a little bit more of Christ’s humility within them, nothing else. There are saints who have astonishing ascetic achievements to their name, but have less glory than others who performed fewer ascetic feats and this is due to the amount of the
Monk Arsenios of the Skete of Koutloumousiou, the Holy Mountain 30 August 2023 So humility which comes as a natural result after we sin, especially when these are mortal sins, is one thing, and the humility of Christ is another. For sinful people, humility’s absolutely necessary for them to stay alive, so that they won’t be swallowed up by the devil. The humility of Christ, on the other hand, is a divine garment, it’s magnificence,
Monk Arsenios of the Skete of Koutloumousiou, the Holy Mountain 28 August 2023 When the most glorious and richest kings on earth have in mind to build their throne and their royal palace as a whole, they don’t leave a stone unturned until they find the most precious material that nature is able to offer, so that the palace won’t lack the slightest thing in terms of luxury goods. And if they themselves were able
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 14, 2024 Mary, the Theotokos, was described by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century, as the “New Eve.” Like Eve, she is the “mother of us all,” if we have the eyes to see her properly. She is a quiet figure in the New Testament – not a preacher or worker of miracles. We see the story of her humility and openness to God as she embraces His condescension: “Be
Published by Pemptousia Partnership on September 6, 2019 Gina Poulou, who is a soprano with the Greek National Opera, has had the most astonishing experience. When the Holy Belt, the relic of the Mother of God, was in Nea Ionia, Athens, in 2017, she reverenced it. A few days before, a small tumor had appeared on her neck as had others in her breast. These unsettling symptoms, together with the pain she was feeling, terrified her and she
~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 6, 2025 In the Transfiguration, Christ is seen speaking with Moses and Elijah on the top of a mountain, shimmering with a light of unbearable brightness. It is an event unlike anything else in the gospels, deserving the Great Feast that is associated with it. That Christ is seen speaking with Moses and Elijah is itself an affirmation that in Him, the whole of the Law and the Prophets find
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