Daily Meditations Archives - Page 3 of 325

The First Wednesday of Great Lent: How Elder Iosif Resolved the Issue of a Priest-Monk Who Mocked Him

03/20/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on August 18, 2021 Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery The humility, goodness and love which Elder Iosif [Vatopaidinos, (1921-2009)] bore in his soul moved God and were the solace of our brotherhood, who looked to him as our guide. Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol tells of an event which shows the extent to which God was well-pleased with the spiritual labours of the Elder and also reveals the careful attention required in a

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: On the Beginning of the Great Fast

03/19/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes at Forgiveness Vespers at the start of Great Lent on Sunday, March 13, 2016 I always look forward to this night because it is so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful, so instructive. We have begun the great fast again, and I’ve been thinking about it: every year we go through the Fast, we reach Pascha, we have a great celebration, and then we start life all over again as

The First Monday of Great Lent: Clean Monday

03/18/2024

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis Today the Orthodox Church begins the journey of Great Lent. Today is known as Clean Monday. The reason why Lent begins on Monday is that we have a forty day fast PLUS Holy Week. In the Orthodox Church, Holy Week begins with the Saturday of Lazarus, so Lent ends the day before, on a Friday. Thus working back forty days from Saturday of Lazarus, we end up starting on a Monday.

Return to Paradise (The Friday of Cheese-Fare)

03/15/2024

By Metropolitan Anthony Bloom 6 March 2022 In the person of the old Adam, the human race fell, when it sinned against love; and God’s dread judgement will be a crisis (i.e. judgement) for human love. Humankind was called to total unity of the whole of our lives with God, through love, but fell because it wanted to learn the secret of being through cold logic and the blind perception of the flesh. And it

The Interior Focus of Great Lent

03/14/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, February 26, 2017 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (6:14-21) As we prepare to begin the Great Fast, here are a few important points to remember. First, God is love, a kind and compassionate father to us. We must never forget that because love is the reason for all spiritual effort. “God does not love us because we are good, but because he

Marriage and Holiness

03/13/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on June 8, 2021 Is marriage a path to sanctity and holiness? Upon seeing an article with a title containing the word “holiness,” one would think that the article discusses monastery life, or a life devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ and the service of His Church. However, in the Orthodox Church, marital life is also a holy life, as marriage is a sacrament (mysterion); it carries the sanctifying and purifying grace of the

To Walk on Water

03/12/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 21, 2016 at St. Mary Orthodox Church. The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (14:22-34) The storm through which the Lord calmly and peacefully walked is a metaphor for the storms that rage inside of us. All scripture is metaphorical. The deepest meanings lie below the surface. There is a work usually ascribed to St. Symeon the New Theologian called “Three Forms of

Words from St. Isaac of Syria

03/11/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 4, 2021 St. Isaac stretches love and mercy to its farthest limits, occasionally beyond the bounds of canonical understanding. He remains a saint of the Church and his words are very important to hear. Let yourself be persecuted, but do not persecute others. Be crucified, but do not crucify others. Be slandered, but do not slander others. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is

Before the Judgment Seat of Christ

03/08/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 23, 2017 For a Christian ending to our life: painless, unashamed, and peaceful; and a good defense before the dread judgment seat of Christ, let us ask of the Lord. From my childhood, I have memories of the phrase, “Great White Throne of Judgment.” It comes complete with an abundance of frightening images and threats. It is the last possible moment before all hell breaks loose and the preachers at

The Mystical Life

03/07/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, June 12, 2016 Let me begin with a quote from Walt Whitman which could be said by every mystic in every tradition, “I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.” And this by Fr. Thomas Hopko, “You can’t know God but you have to know him to know that.” Now to the reading. John’s Gospel reflects a cosmic and mystical