Daily Meditations Archives - Page 15 of 344

Pentecost Saturday for Souls

06/22/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on June 19, 2021 Petros Panayiotopoulos, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Our holy Church offers us another opportunity to remember and honor our dead people, our beloved persons who passed away, and all her members by whom we are in communion through God’ s love and the grace from the sacraments, beyond this sense of time. To say it in other words, by this care we confirm the unity of

Repentance for the World – Prayers by the Lake XXIX

06/21/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 7, 2022 This XXIX prayer of St. Nicholai of Zicha from Prayers by the Lake, echoes the prayers of Pentecost. It teaches us a profound way of praying for the world. In our days, such a prayer is deeply needed. For all the sins of men I repent before You, Most Merciful Lord. Indeed, the seed of all sins flows in my blood! With my effort and Your mercy, I choke

Why Don’t the Orthodox Feel Guilt?

06/20/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on May 30, 2021 Fr. Andreas Agathokleous There’s clearly confusion among a good few members of the Church as to how to live, how to behave and what constitutes a sin. There’s also a strong attachment to their sinful past and this increases their feelings of guilt. Nobody wants to live without joy, without appreciating life, without a thankful recognition of the many gifts which have been bestowed on us by God’s love. I

Apostle Jude the Brother of the Lord

06/19/2024

The Holy Apostle Jude, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, is descended from King David and Solomon, and was the son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed (Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord) by his first wife. The Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Gospel, “… neither did his brethren believe in Him” (John. 7:5). Saint Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria, explains this passage. He says that at the beginning of the Lord

The Light That Began It All

06/18/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 13, 2014 The reading is from Matthew 5:14-19 (Holy Fathers) This Gospel is used to point to the importance we place on sharing the message of Christ to the world. The Holy Fathers of the Fourth and all the other six councils met in order to ensure that the Gospel was understood correctly. The intimation is that the bushel with which we try to hide the

The Slow Road to Heaven – Why the Spiritual Life Doesn’t “Work”

06/17/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 30, 2018 We live in a world of practicality, a fact that has produced the marvels of technology that power us along and connect the world in its web. I have a nearly two-year-old grandson who has grasped some of this connection for many months now. He loves buttons – not the ones on your shirt – but the ones on any device. If there is a button in reach,

On the Sunday after the Ascension

06/14/2024

Sermon Preached by Father Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 23, 2004 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ! It is easy to get distracted these days. The world is changing before our eyes. Sometimes it is difficult to find solid ground, to find something firm to hold on to, something sure, something unchangeable, and something solid, something safe. Society is

The Ascension of Jesus Christ in Glory

06/13/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on June 10, 2021 Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou ‘God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.’ The Ascension is the last event in Christ’s earthly life. Of course, Pentecost is the fulfilment of God’s dispensation, which is why is called ‘the last feast’. God the Father was well pleased to see man as he had conceived him before the foundation of the world and sent the Holy Spirit

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Wednesday of Pascha: The Apodosis, or Leave-taking, of Pascha

06/12/2024

On Wednesday of the sixth week of Pascha, we celebrate the Leavetaking of the Feast. While most Feasts have their Leavetaking on the eighth day, Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, has its Leavetaking on the thirty-ninth day. The fortieth day is the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension, which marks the end of the Lord’s physical presence on earth. He does not abandon us, however. He has promised to be with us always, even until the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: Apostle Bartholomew of the Twelve

06/11/2024

The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana of Galilee and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, it fell by lot to the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip (November 14) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In their preaching they wandered through various cities, and then met up again. Accompanying the holy Apostle Philip was his sister, the