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Fear: Cause and Cure

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 25, 2021 Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis The Christian faith doesn’t doubt the existence of fear in people’s lives. It accepts it as a reality and interprets it. Fear is the product of our Fall into sin- that which opened the gates for every kind of fear to enter our life, and therefore the tragedy of our time on earth. But with Christ’s coming, we found our true path again and once more felt the

Saint Porphyrios Kavskokalyvitis (Part I)

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on December 2, 2021 George Arvanitis ‘Now you must be thinking, from what I’ve told you, that – well, I don’t know – I’m quite something. Well, I’m nothing, although I do try and am just beginning, it seems, to get a taste of the things that I talk about. I try to, I want to, and I actually do feel love for others, although I don’t want to force myself. But very often

His Name is Compassion

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 7, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (9:27-35) The two blind men said to him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”  Whether from desperation or from the well-spring of faith and deep understanding, they call him “Son of David,” in other words, Messiah.  And they pray for mercy for the healing of their eyes. Still, mercy is like a virus.

The True Christian

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

St. Athanasius the Great

By Fr. Matthew Swehla, June 10, 2018  Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐνηνθρώπισεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν He became man, that we might be made god. This is perhaps the most quoted sentence from any of the Church Fathers. It was written by St. Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria, in the Fourth Century, in his theological treatise, On the Incarnation. This month we commemorate St. Athanasius, along with his successor, St. Cyril of Alexandria, on January 18. St. Athanasius was

Faith is Love, Faith is Trust

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, July 2, 2017 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (8:5-13) Today’s Gospel gives us the opportunity to talk about what faith is, what faith means. I will be drawing from the book AGAINST RELIGION by the renowned philosopher/theologian Christos Yannaras who makes the argument that faith is not what we think it is. Fr. Alexander

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: The Beginning of the Gospel

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, December 31, 2017 The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (1:1-8) John prophesied that something new was coming, something different, Someone greater than he. John baptized with water meant to cleanse from sin. Ablutions with water were common religious rites as a symbol of the purification, often merely ritualistic, but in the case of John, attached to repentance. Let’s talk for a moment

Two Dimensions

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 19, 2017 Let me preface my words with a quote from Thomas Merton. “Our real journey is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.” There are two major themes that today’s parable of The Rich Fool touches upon, if indirectly. The first is that there is there is

The Authenticity of the Vision of Christ in the Life of Saint Silouan

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on September 24, 2021 Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou Christ is the miracle that astounds us. He is the sign that God gave to all generations of all times. In His Person, every problem, every impasse, every tragedy received its solution. Being imitations of Christ and bearing Him in their heart, the saints are also the sign of God for their generation. They become tangible examples of the love of God in a world plunged into

The Tree Heals the Tree

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, September 14, 2017  Readers of the New Testament are familiar with St. Paul’s description of Christ as the “Second Adam.” It is an example of the frequent Apostolic use of an allegoric reading of the Old Testament (I am using “allegory” in its broadest sense – including typology and other forms). Christ Himself had stated that He was the meaning of the Old Testament (John 5:39). Within the Gospels Christ identifies His own