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The Second Day of Christmas Advent: St. Matthew the Evangelist

16 November 2017 Any reference to the Apostle St. Matthew, author of the first book of the New Testa­ment, is made with such solemnity and reverence that speaking of him as a man seems almost sacrilegious, so close to the divine is he con­sidered. But when Jesus came upon Matthew, he was a man who could scarcely be viewed with little but contempt by the human eye; the divine sight of Christ, however, saw in

The First Day of Christmas Advent: The Christmas Fast

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on November 16, 2021 Georgios Arabatzoglou Another blessed period of fasting begins, a time of spiritual struggle and an effort to turn our mind to God, each of us with the strength and spiritual ‘nobility’ at our disposal, and, as always, in conjunction with the advice of our spiritual guide. This fast begins on 15 November and lasts until 24 December, while on 25 December, when we celebrate the Nativity of Christ, we have

Martyr Longinus, the Centurion Who Stood at the Cross of the Lord

He stood transfixed at the foot of the Cross, watching and wondering, full of awe and amazement.  And then all at once, something was born in him – a spark of faith, a brand-new beginning.  And his life was changed forever. The divine Matthew the Evangelist describes the moment of his conversion to Christianity with enormous power: So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things

The Tragedy of September 11th

By Fr. James Kordaris Every September for the rest of our lives, we will remember the horrible events of September 11. And yet, as Orthodox Christians, we will also remember that three days later, the Church raises up before us the Cross of Christ. How provident that the commemoration of this horrible tragedy will always be followed by the commemoration of the great victory of the Cross [September 14]. We are reminded that what was

What Matters is a New Creation

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 17, 2019 The Gospel is According to Luke 12:16-21 The Lord said this parable: “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and

The Summer Lent: Celebrating the Feast of SS. Peter & Paul

By Catherine K. Contopoulos On June 29, we celebrate the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul, two men whose dedication to the formation and sustenance of Christianity in the first century AD made them true pillars of the Church. Both men were chosen by Christ to minister to the world and both were given new names to mark their new life in Christ. They both embraced their martyrdom in Rome circa 67 AD. On June

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 21, 2021  Pascha (Easter) comes with a great note of joy in the Christian world. Christ is risen from the dead and our hearts rejoice. That joy begins to wane as the days pass. Our lives settle back down to the mundane tasks at hand. After 40 days, the Church marks the Feast of the Ascension, often attended by only a handful of the faithful (Rome has more-or-less moved the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (3)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 14, 2021 Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos Fasting is a theological action, and sin has a theological hypostasis. We don’t avoid sin because it will upset our nervous system or because it’s better for our health to do so. A God who needs things like that isn’t the God of the Gospels, but is Zeus or Cronos and all those who, when they became angry, launched bolts of lightning and did wicked things

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and the Importance of the Human Body (2)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 13, 2021 Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos Once upon a time I thought that if a person saw a saint, they’d immediately be astonished, as I was when I saw a man of God. One example would be Elder [now Saint] Païsios with whom we were in close contact for so many years. People would go to him and would change just at the sight of him, without him saying anything at all

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Tuesday of Pascha: Not Religion, But Life

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 3, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (4:18-23) In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! In order to grow more and more into the likeness of God, we must constantly be changing. Growth implies change.  In this Gospel we see the birth of Christian discipleship beginning