Prayer is like shafts of light cast on the dark depths of our inner life, showing us what passions or attachments are lodged in us. When this happens we must urgently pronounce the Holy Name, so that a feeling of repentance increases in the soul. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.
Read MoreOnce we have found the center of our life in our own heart and have accepted our aloneness not as a fate but as a vocation, we are able to offer freedom to others. Once we have given up our desire to be fully fulfilled, we can offer emptiness to others. Once we have become poor, we can be a good host.
Read MoreMany churches around the world have limited gatherings at their parishes to the core liturgical services, meaning that Sunday School, Youth Meetings, Bible Studies, sporting events and other activities are cancelled. Understandably there is a sense of worry that children, teenagers and youth will miss out on all these services for at least the coming weeks. However, this is also a great opportunity to take stock of what we see as the core or central activities of the church.
Read MoreThe Church’s imitation of Christ’s works is a necessary course of life for us, in which we may discover our salvation, strength, security and victory. It was not for Himself that Christ was baptised, nor was not for Himself that He was crucified, and, consequently, not for Himself that He fasted forty days.
Read MoreConsecrate me upon Golgotha, from the height of Your Cross, as You consecrated Your Beloved Disciple John. Remit my life, as You remitted John to Your Mother. Grant that I may take her to my own home, to be with me and within me, for she is the living evidence of true consecration and of Your Presence. Grant me to bear Your Presence to others.
Read MoreThe Feast of Immersion (Baptism), namely Epiphany, or the Divine Manifestation, is one among the major Lordly Feasts. It ranks third in importance after Easter and Christmas. Almost to the closing of the fourth century, most churches held one celebration for the Birth of Christ and His Baptism and called it Epiphany: considering that both have one end in view, i.e., the manifestation of Christ's divinity to the world.
Read MoreHe found man reduced to the level of the beasts: therefore is He placed like fodder in a manger, that we, having left off our bestial life, might mount up to that degree of intelligence which befits man’s nature; and whereas we were brutish in soul, by now approaching the manger, even His own table, we find no longer fodder, but the bread from heaven, which is the Body of Life.
Read MoreYou are He, O Lord, with whom we have laid our life. O Lord, who fills all, guard us in every place where we shall go. And the compunction that has become ours through prayer, and the contentment of heart of upright living, guard them for us, unstolen and without regret.
Read MoreI will tell you by what Christian ministry should be measured: our willingness to die to the world. If you have truly died to the world and taken Christ into your heart, be certain that your service can never fail, but will rather continue to shine from generation to generation.
Read MoreHold Him in your arms like Mary his mother. Enter with the Magi and offer your gifts. Proclaim His birth with the shepherds. Proclaim His praise with the angels. Carry Him in your arms like Simeon the Elder. Take Him with Joseph down to Egypt.
Read MoreThe Holy Mystery of Repentance is in truth another baptism. It is the power of God to forgive and cleanse us from all sin and to grant us the knowledge and strength to live the life into which we have been baptized, the life of Christ.
Read MoreThere is indeed a healer: He who on the cross asked for mercy on those who were crucifying him, who pardoned murderers as he hung on the cross. Christ came on behalf of sinners, to heal the broken-hearted and to bind up their wounds.
Read More“And so in like manner, the Father calls them sons in whomsoever He sees His own Son.” - St Athanasius, Against the Arians
Read MoreThe mother repents, the daughter repents. The father repents, the whole family repents. The priest lives a good life, the entire church lives a life of repentance. That is how it goes. The king of Nineveh repented, then the whole city repented—and God had mercy on Nineveh, a city that has become an example to the world for all generations.
Read MoreThe Church as an icon of the Holy Trinity is a communion of the faithful, and brings about a communion amongst the faithful, the same as that which is in God.
Read MoreViewing authority in the church in light of koinonia quickly dispels any perception of domination or authoritative rule in the worldly sense. Instead, authority in the church begins to be seen as a reflection of God’s communion with the world in Christ.
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