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Light and Lights

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on January 26, 2022 Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis ‘Because the Lord has prepared it to be his throne and dwelling-place, the soul which has been granted spiritual union with the light of Christ and has been illumined by the moral beauty of his inexpressible glory completely becomes light, completely becomes a persona*, completely becomes an eye. There is no part of such a soul that is not filled with the spiritual eyes of the light;

The Thirty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent: St Anastasia the Roman

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, October 29, 2017 Saint Symeon the Translator We find two Anastasias in the Lives of the saints, both of whom were of prominent and famous families and who confessed their faith. Both were daughters of mighty Rome. The first was married against her will by her parents, but never came together with her husband, nor even slept with him, pretending she was ill, though in reality because he was a pagan.

Holy, Glorious Apostle Thomas

Commemorated on October 6  The Holy and Glorious Apostle Thomas was born in the Galilean city of Pansada and was a fisherman. Hearing the good tidings of Jesus Christ, he left all and followed after Him. The Apostle Thomas is included in the number of the holy Twelve Apostles of the Savior. According to Holy Scripture, the holy Apostle Thomas did not believe the reports of the other disciples about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Today the Orthodox Church Celebrates the Elevation of the Precious Cross

By Georgios N. Manolis, Theologian, September 27, 2019 The Lord’s Precious Cross is the supreme symbol of sacrifice and sanctification for the Church of Christ, Who was crucified and then rose, because the Cross, together with the Resurrection, are the two pillars which support the life for the Church and its members. The honour paid by the Orthodox Church to the Precious Cross on September 14 (though not only on that day) began in the

Saints Joachim and Anna: The Story of the Great Faithfulness and Love

This homily was delivered by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas at the Ecumenical Vespers Service for the Feast of St. Anna where he was featured as guest homilist at the invitation of His Excellency Archbishop Allen Vigneron at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, Michigan. When we humans do our human things and live our human lives in cooperation with God, miracles happen, even though the eyes of the world see

Ex nihilo (2)

By Fr John Breck, March 1, 2008 In the prologue to his Gospel, the evangelist John takes up the account of creation given in the first chapter of Genesis, in order to illustrate the story of redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, the eternal Son and Word of God. “In the beginning,” out of His infinite otherness, with God and as God, the Word comes forth, to create the world and to save it from death

Dormition of the Virgin Mary

Published by Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, August 15, 2021 Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell

Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene

The Holy Myrrh-Bearer Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene, Commemorated on July 22 A woman whose name has entered forever into the Gospel account was born and grew up in Magdala. The Gospel tells us nothing of Mary’s younger years, but Tradition informs us that Mary of Magdala was young and pretty…. It says in the Gospels that the Lord expelled seven devils from Mary (Luke. 8:2). From the moment of her healing Mary led

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: From the Depths of Hell

By Fr John Breck, April 1, 2009 The final Old Testament reading for Holy Saturday vespers—Daniel 3:1-57, the story of the three young men in the fiery furnace in Babylon—is composite, drawing upon both Aramaic and Greek (Septuagint) traditions. The latter modifies and amplifies a detail the Church’s patristic witnesses consider essential. That small detail is a typological image that announces the primary theme of Orthodox Pascha or Easter: the descent of Christ into the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Thursday of Pascha: The Urgency of Resurrected Faith

By Fr John Breck, September 2, 2007 In an era increasingly hostile to Christian faith, our greatest challenge is to proclaim and to live out the most basic and essential affirmation of that faith: that Jesus rose from death to bestow life on the world. Best-selling, easy-to-read novels can provide welcome distraction when we’re feeling too tired or cooped-up to concentrate on serious literature. Those potboilers, the kind we find in airport bookstores or on