~Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 1, 2006 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! “We cannot do great things,” said Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “but we can do small things with great love.” St. Francis came upon an almond tree in the dead of winter. He said to it, “Speak to me of God” and the
~By Father Stephen Freeman, July 17, 2023 The language of “self-emptying” can have a sort of Buddhist ring. It sounds as we are referencing a move towards becoming a vessel without content – the non-self. Given our multicultural world, such a reference is understandable. It is, however, unfortunate and requires that we visit the true nature of Christian self-emptying. Our self-emptying is deeply tied to shame and the Crucified Christ. As a touchstone, I cite
Sophia Kafkopoulou On 6 January, our Church celebrates Theophany, one of the great feasts of the Lord. Jesus’ baptism is the event which formally confirmed the advent of the Messiah. Although the Lord Himself had no need of the remission of sins, He nevertheless came to John ‘to be baptized by him and to fulfil all righteousness’ (Matth. 3, 13-15). As regards Jesus, the Gospel stresses that, as soon as He entered the waters of
~By Father Stephen Freeman, December 28, 2022 I was browsing through some online material recently and came across a conversation between a non-believing sceptic and a Christian apologist. The question was asked (right off the top): “Why a virgin birth?” The apologist did a decent job of responding, giving a fairly common explanation of “why Christ had to be born of a virgin.” Something about it left me empty. Thinking about it – I believe
~ By John Athanasatos St John Chrysostom is celebrated in the Orthodox Church three times a year. His repose is on September 14 but since that is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Feast was moved to November 13th. In addition, Chrysostom is celebrated on January 27th and again on the Feast of the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs (Jan 30th), along with St Basil and St Gregory the Theologian. On
On October 18, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Evangelist Luke. He was one of the Seventy who were early emissaries of Christ sent out to do missionary work. After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray the
~ Who was Saint Longinus and what is his story? By Zachary Porcu “Longinus” is the name given to the Roman centurion who had been serving under Pontius Pilate, the governor who oversaw Christ’s execution, and was said to have stood at the foot of the cross, witnesses Christ’s death. According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, St. Longinus was the one who said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54) following the earthquake that
~Sermon Preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 11, 2005 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! When we want to express love to a special person we often tack on the little word “so”. I love you soooo much and, of course, the more you want to express it the longer you stretch the word. St. John uses
Metropolitan Panteleimon of Veria, Naousa and Kampania ‘Let those who desire to come after me deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8, 34). A few days ago, our Church celebrated the universal elevation of the honorable and life-giving Cross; and today, the Sunday after the Elevation, the Gospel reading reminds us of the importance of the Cross in our lives. Because, although Christ ascended the Cross for our salvation and although
Fr. Gennadios Manolis, Theologian The Lord’s Precious Cross is the supreme symbol of sacrifice and sanctification for the Church of Christ, Who was crucified and then rose, because the Cross, together with the Resurrection, are the two pillars which support the life for the Church and its members. The honour paid by the Orthodox Church to the Precious Cross on 14 September (though not only on that day) began in the very first, Apostolic years,
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