Daily Meditations Archives

The Soprano and the Miracle of the Holy Belt

08/07/2026

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

Look Who’s Talking

08/06/2026

~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

The Beauty of Nature as a Stimulus for Spiritual Enquiry

08/05/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on August 12, 2020 Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis, Professor of the Theological School, A.U.Th. The way of life in large cities has degenerated in recent years. Pollution of the atmosphere, accumulation of garbage, electromagnetic and noise pollution, lack of greenery, the ecological crisis, the commute between home and places of work, traffic congestion as well as the alienation and isolation of people, despite the flourishing social networks, have all contributed to the heavy atmosphere. Permanent

Behold Your Mother

08/04/2026

~By Father Stephen Freeman, August 11, 2025 Christ’s words from the Cross to St. John, “Behold your mother,” are both an intimate whisper of a son’s care for his most beloved as well as a cosmic directive to the whole of humanity and creation. This woman is Woman – and her significance abides and will not fade. She points us towards the deepest realities of what it means to be human and, in doing so,

The Great Paraclitic Canon

08/03/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on August 7, 2020 Archbishop Stylianos of Australia † The time from August 1 to 15 is a period in the Church’s year during which the Orthodox soul turns to Our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God, with eyes full of contrition. For the two weeks before the feast of the Dormition, the bells ring at sunset and crowds of the faithful go to sing the Great Paraclitic Canon. Of course, we have

Love and Being

07/31/2026

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 21, 2025 Perhaps the most intriguing statement in the New Testament is St. John’s simple, “God is love.” As mysterious and awesome as the revelation of the Divine Name (“I am that I am”) to Moses might be, St. John’s statement gives a content that echoes and enfolds the death and resurrection of Christ itself. Indeed, any other statement about God runs the risk of obscuring this essential revelation. More

Equality between Women and Men in the Church

07/30/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on August 21, 2019 Protopresbyter Vasileios Kalliakmanis Let’s examine how women have been treated in Orthodox theology. It’s well known that Saint Paul proclaimed: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’. In saying this, we don’t want to demolish the differences which exist between men and women, as has happened in recent years, but rather

Let’s Try and Remember Who We Are

07/29/2026

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 23, 2025 I intend this to be a short and heartfelt homily. Short because if I start waxing eloquently at length I might get lost in a passion or two. There are times and places for that, but not here and now. At trying times like these it is necessary to commit ourselves more deliberately to the Gospel. I have learned the hard way that the

Christ’s Compassion

07/28/2026

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on October 6, 2019 ‘And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her’ Teachers of little children train them in accordance with a system, whereby they attempt to teach them the subject of the lesson by beginning with the easiest aspect and then proceeding to the more difficult ones. This is also what the Lord did with His disciples: first He cured ordinary ailments, then He expelled demons from people’s souls, then

Saint Panteleimon the All-Merciful

07/27/2026

By Christina Dedoussis St Panteleimon was born about 284 AD in the city of Nicodemia. His father, Evstorgios, was an idolater while his mother, Evoulis, was a devout Christian. She raised her son, whose real name was Pantoleonta, in the Christian way of life. She passed away while her son was still young. Initially Pantoleonta was educated in his native tongue and then in Greek. His father sent him to study under the famous physician,