Charity Archives - Saint Sophia

The First Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

03/06/2025

Protopresbyter Antonios Christou Dear readers, Great Lent is a time of strenuous, spiritual struggle with ourselves (less sleep, less nutrition, less ease and preoccupation with things we like doing, greater participation in the services and prayers, and so on). I don’t know, however, whether we truly realize the extent to which another fundamental aim is charity towards others. Apart from the general principle expressed in the Sermon on the Mount (‘Blessed are the merciful* for

The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (The Commander)

02/08/2024

February 8, 2013 The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth. For his bravery St Theodore was appointed military commander [stratelatos] in the city of Heraclea, where he combined his military service with preaching the Gospel among the pagans subject to him. His gift of persuasion,

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Wednesday of Pascha: What do we Celebrate at Mid-Pentecost?

05/10/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 26, 2021 Ioannis Foundoulis Professor of the Theological School A. U. Th. † Not many of the faithful know much about this feast. Apart from the clergy and a few lay people who have close ties to the Church, many don’t even know of its existence. Few attend church on the day and most people have no inkling that, on the Wednesday after the Sunday of the Paralytic, the Church celebrates a

The Sixth Day of Christmas. Is There Room in Your Inn?

12/30/2021

Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis And she gave birth to her first born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. -Luke2:7 In the Mexican culture there is a Christmas-time tradition called Las Posadas. In this tradition, a couple dressed up as Mary and Joseph go from home to home, asking if there is any room at “the inn.” Each home takes on the role of an

We Must Respond to Bullying

02/04/2021

By Abbot Tryphon, November 23, 2019 We must end bullying by teaching children kindness at an early age More and more frequently we read about children taking their own lives, having reached a place where they would rather be dead than live another hour suffering from bullying. Too often parents and teachers have ignored the problem of bullying, dismissing it as nothing more than “kids will be kids”, and “kids can be cruel”. The truth

Christ and Nothing (Part XIII)

09/30/2020

By David Bentley Hart, October 2003 Nor will the ululations and lugubrious platitudes and pious fatalism of the tragic chorus ever again have the power to recall us to sobriety. The gospel of a God found in broken flesh, humility, and measureless charity has defeated all the old lies, rendered the ancient order visibly insufficient and even slightly absurd, and instilled in us a longing for transcendent love so deep that—if once yielded to—it will

Figures of the Nativity—Herod

12/16/2019

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, December 11, 2018 Most movies have a villain. In fact, the storyline in many movies, as well as in life in general, is the conflict between good and evil. In Christian terms, church fathers and saints have written about spiritual warfare—the conflict between Godliness and things that are against God. In the Nativity story, we have our villain, and it’s King Herod. When the wise men came to Jerusalem asking King

The Twenty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. The Feast Day of Saint Nicholas of Myra

12/06/2018

The Feast Day of Saint Nicholas of Myra AS WE WAIT FOR GOD TO BECOME INCARNATE, we look to the whole body of Christ, past and present, for models of embodied faith. The commemoration of saints has been a part of Christian worship since the second century. Today we remember Saint Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Myra in the province of Lycia during the fourth century. Very little is known about his life, but

Society: Compassion (Part III)

02/08/2018

It is helpful to observe that repentance through compassion is perhaps nowhere more available to us than in our mediated relationships with society. Living in the world, we are surrounded constantly by stories of awful vice and sin, found in the news, on the web, told through friends and the like. Our usual instinct, which is one strongly encouraged in the secular world, is to sit in judgment of the wrongs we hear about on

Society: Charity and Good Works (Part II)

01/23/2018

Charity, then, is the natural outgrowth of a soul pursuing love over and against anger. When we are committed to love, we do good. Yet, charity is about more than the one giving it. The exercise of charity and good works is one of the most important means by which we take responsibility for the anger and brokenness of other people, and seek to guide them, and not just ourselves, toward genuine love in accordance

Archive

The First Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (The Commander)

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Wednesday of Pascha: What do we Celebrate at Mid-Pentecost?

The Sixth Day of Christmas. Is There Room in Your Inn?

We Must Respond to Bullying

Christ and Nothing (Part XIII)

Figures of the Nativity—Herod

The Twenty-Second Day of Christmas Advent. The Feast Day of Saint Nicholas of Myra

Society: Compassion (Part III)

Society: Charity and Good Works (Part II)

Categories

Archives

View Our Live Stream Services

Keep In Touch

Stewardship Application

Daily Meditations

Worship Schedule

Light a Virtual Candle

Text-to-Give in 2 easy steps!

1) Text 202-899-7801 to include your donation amount

2) Follow the link to complete the one-time registration