Saint Basil the Great Archives

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent. The Epistle Reading for the 4th Sunday in Lent

03/28/2025

By Metropolitan of Pisidia Sotirios † In today’s Epistle, Saint Paul calls hope ‘a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul’. A ship without an anchor runs the risk of being dashed against the rocks along a coast. When people without hope are faced with the adversities of life, they’ve got nothing to lean on. What an anchor is for a ship, or air for the lungs, hope is for our spiritual existence. Hope is

Ecclesiastical New Year

09/01/2024

For the maintenance of their armed forces, the Roman emperors decreed that their subjects in every district should be taxed every year. This same decree was reissued every fifteen years, since the Roman soldiers were obliged to serve for fifteen years. At the end of each fifteen-year period, an assessment was made of what economic changes had taken place, and a new tax was decreed, which was to be paid over the span of the

The True Christian

01/31/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 18, 2021 Metropolitan Nikolaos (Hatzinikolaou) of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki In the Gospel readings, we often come across the Apostles invoking the authenticity of their personal witness in order to be convincing: ‘which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have touched’ (1 Jn. 1, 1). ‘We know that his witness is true’ (Jn. 21, 24). The Samaritans [1] and the Honorable Forerunner also

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Circumcision of Christ. St. Telemachus, Peacemaker

01/01/2024

On January 1 the Greek Orthodox church commemorates Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Saint Basil was born in the year 330 in Caesarea, to a family renowned for their learning and holiness. His mother, Emilia (commemorated on July 19) and his grandmother Macrina (commemorated on June 14) are Saints of the Church, together with his brothers and sisters: Macrina, his elder sister (July 19), Gregory of Nyssa (January 10), Peter of Sebastia (January 9), and

Evangelist Luke, “the Beloved Physician”

10/18/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on October 18, 2021 Archbishop Lazar Puhalo It has become a commonplace of for critics to suggest doubts about the authorship of Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts. Such doubts are, however, clearly unfounded. The evidence is conclusive that both treatises were written by a physician, and Luke was “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14) who wrote them. Both books demonstrate a knowledge of medicine and in both there are clear signs of medical

The Kontakion of the Indiction

09/01/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on September 3, 2021 Theodore Rokas Apart from the saints who are remembered on the day, on September 1 our Holy Church also celebrates the beginning of the Indiction, that is the start of the new ecclesiastical year. Among the hymns for the feast is the following, the kontakio for the Indiction, which reads as follows: ‘Maker and Master of the ages, God of all, who are indeed transcendent, bless the course of this

The Eighth Day of Christmas. The Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great

01/01/2023

To the pen of St. Basil the Great belong commentaries on Sacred Scripture, a treatise on the Holy Spirit, epistles, sermons and rules for monastic life. He did much for the establishment of the order of the Liturgy, and wrote numerous prayers. The Church reveres him as a fighter for the purity of the faith, a great hierarch and theologian, calling him a “universal teacher.” Only on two other saints – John Chrysostom and Gregory

How Unintentional Are Unwittingly Committed Sins?

07/21/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, December 3, 2017 Ioannis Kornarakis, Emeritus Professor of Pastoral Psychology and Confession, University of Athens († 2013) All of us have had the experience of unwittingly committing a sin. And, of course, every confessor/spiritual guide often hears, at almost every confession, the assurance or claim on the part of the penitent that a particular sin was unintentional. ‘Honestly, father, that sin occurred without me realizing. It was entirely unintentional. I didn’t

Great and Holy Saturday

05/01/2021

Introduction On Great and Holy Saturday, the Orthodox Church commemorates the burial of Christ and His descent into Hades. It is the day between the Crucifixion of our Lord and His glorious Resurrection. The Matins of Holy Saturday is conducted on Friday evening, and while many elements of the service represent mourning at the death and burial of Christ, the service itself is one of watchful expectation. Commemoration of Holy Saturday On Great and Holy

The Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. Christ Is Born, Glorify Him! (Part I)

11/19/2020

The feast of the Entrance of Mary into the temple marks the first specific liturgical announcement of the birth of Christ. On this festival, for the first time in the season the canon of the Nativity of Christ is sung at the festal vigil.1 Christ is born; glorify Him! Christ comes from heaven; go to meet Him! Christ is on earth; be exalted! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! And praise Him in

Archive

The Fourth Friday of Great Lent. The Epistle Reading for the 4th Sunday in Lent

Ecclesiastical New Year

The True Christian

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Circumcision of Christ. St. Telemachus, Peacemaker

Evangelist Luke, “the Beloved Physician”

The Kontakion of the Indiction

The Eighth Day of Christmas. The Feast Day of Saint Basil the Great

How Unintentional Are Unwittingly Committed Sins?

Great and Holy Saturday

The Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. Christ Is Born, Glorify Him! (Part I)

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