~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,
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
~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
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
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
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
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,
Commemorated on July 25 Saint Anna was the daughter of the priest Matthan and his wife Mary. She was of the tribe of Levi and the lineage of Aaron. According to Tradition, she died peacefully in Jerusalem at age 79, before the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. During the reign of Saint Justinian, the Emperor (527-565), a church was built in her honor at Deutera. Emperor Justinian II (685-695; 705-711) restored her church, since Saint
Martyr Christina of Tyre Commemorated on July 24 The Martyr Christina lived during the third century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was governor of Tyre. By the age of 11 the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina’s father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess. To this end he placed her in a special dwelling where he had set up many gold and
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025 Jesus had done many miracles before raising Lazarus from the dead, but that last one made him a rock star in Jerusalem. The crowds gathered for many other reasons, but the raising of Lazarus excited the crowds to a fever pitch. The prophecies about the coming Messiah in the prophets added fuel to the fire. Still Jesus was not looking for adulation. He
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