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Sunday of Thomas. Renewal Sunday (Antipascha): The Eighth Day after Pascha

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ  ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!  CHRIST IS RISEN! Renewal Sunday (Antipascha): The Eighth Day after Pascha (Saint Thomas Sunday) Some icons depicting this event are inscribed “The Doubting Thomas.” This is incorrect. In Greek, the inscription reads, “The Touching of Thomas.” The Slavonic inscription is, “The Belief of Thomas.” When St Thomas touched the Life-giving side of the Lord, he no longer had any doubts. This day is also known as “Antipascha.” This does not mean “opposed to

The First Thursday of Great Lent. Charity and Lent

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

St. Gregory the Theologian the Archbishop of Constantinople

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos (not far from the city of Cappadocian Nazianzos). His father, also named Gregory (January 1), was Bishop of Nazianzus. The son is the Saint Gregory Nazianzus encountered in Patristic theology. His pious mother, Saint Nonna (August 5), prayed to God for a son, vowing to

The Feast of the Three Hierarchs

January 30, 1999                                                                                                                                                       St.

What is ‘remembrance of death’ and what does it mean for us?

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 14, 2022 Archimandrite Georgios Kapsanis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou † Remembrance of death (memento mori) helps us to overcome our former self because it brings humility into our soul. When we forget death, we suffer from the illusion that we’re going to be on earth forever, and this increases our arrogance, our greed, our carnality and our propensity for exploiting other people. Remembrance of death gives us a sense

Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople

Commemorated January 25 Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos (not far from the city of Cappadocian Nazianzos). His father, also named Gregory [January 1], was Bishop of Nazianzus. The son is the St. Gregory Nazianzus encountered in Patristic theology. His pious mother, St. Nonna [August 5], prayed to God for a

Athanasios and Cyril, Patriarchs of Alexandria

In the half-century after the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea in 325, if there was one man whom the Arians feared and hated more intensely than any other, as being able to lay bare the whole error of their teaching, and to marshal, even from exile or hiding, the beleaguered forces of the Orthodox, it was Saint Athanasios the Great. This blazing lamp of Orthodoxy, which imperial power and heretics’ plots could not quench

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

By Saint Gregory Nazianzen, the Theologian Clap your hands together, all people. For unto us a Son is born, unto us a Child is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders. . . . Let John the Baptist cry aloud: Prepare ye the way of the Lord! And I too will cry aloud about the power of this Day. He who is without flesh has become incarnate. The Son of God becomes the

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

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

Holy Pentecost Sunday

After the Saviour’s Ascension into the Heavens, the eleven Apostles and the rest of His disciples, the God-loving women who followed after Him from the beginning, His Mother, the most holy Virgin Mary, and His brethren-all together about 120 souls returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Entering into the house where they gathered, they went into the upper room, and there they persevered in prayer and supplication, awaiting the coming of the Holy