~Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Christmas Eve – December 24, 2012 In the Western Rite on Christmas Eve the Prologue from St. John’s Gospel is read. It is a good choice for this night. Do you remember it? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…” “En arxn ain ho Logos…” John equates Jesus, the Son of God, with a word that came to
By Father Stephen Freeman, July 22, 2021 St. Augustine, in his Confessions, offered this simple statement: “Noverim me, noverim te.” “If I knew myself, I should have known Thee.”1 There is probably no writing in the life of the early Church as “self-reflective” as Augustine’s. His Confessions have sometimes been called the first “modern” writing. They are certainly the first writing that can properly be described as “autobiographical.” He gives us the first truly “interior” view of an
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
By Fr. Maximos (Constas) The shift from exterior to interior is not simply a monastic idea. It’s part of basic Christian living. We don’t do this because we’re told to, but because it’s what’s good and best for us. This is what’s best for us. I’m reminded of one of the many wonderful quotes from Augustine’s Confessions where he says to God, “I was looking everywhere for you, but I was looking outside of myself.” I
By Fr. Maximos (Constas) Growing up we used to read newspapers in the house, and now they’re harder to find. The rise of the internet has had a very negative impact on journalism. The text of the newspaper is literally surrounded by advertisements, all of them literally screaming for your attention. There are ever-new methods of attracting your attention. It’s a struggle just to focus on the text in front of you, and I think
© 2020 Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
