A Narrative of Archbishop Nektarios on Why We Commemorate the Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit on the Saturday of the First Week of Lent Come, faithful, and hear how Christ our God, who is good, did not leave us to be caught in the teeth of the raging evil one but, for our salvation,…
On Friday of the First Week of Lent, a Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom, from the Holy Gospel Exhortations Listen, brothers, to how many various edifying exhortations there are: Ahab, having humbled himself, found consolation; the Ninevites, by fasting, escaped the wrath of God; Zeno, by almsgiving, was delivered from sins; the harlot, by tears,…
On Thursday of the First Week of the Fast, Concerning the Words from the Book of the Prophet Haggai: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.” Question: God, through the prophet Haggai, says: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.” Does this mean that every person becomes wealthy by God’s hand? Answer: Some say, as…
On Wednesday of the First Week of the Fast: A Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom on Wednesday and Friday Brethren, the time hath come for a good confession and for hastening unto God. Now is the season of purity, refreshing the thirsting fasters. Lo, the Healer of sinful wounds draweth near, driving away deceit and…
On the First Tuesday of the Fast, a Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom: “Let Us Cease from Our Sins” I have great sorrow in my heart for you, my children, because I see that you have not changed in any way from your unrighteous deeds. A mother does not grieve so deeply when she sees…
On the First Monday of the First Week of the Fast: A Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom The course of the good and beneficial fast has arrived—let us not grieve, nor grow lazy, brothers, nor be negligent concerning the commandments handed down to us by the holy apostles and the holy fathers. For it is…
John 1:43–51 Dear brothers and sisters! Today, during the Divine Liturgy, we heard a reading from the Gospel of John, which recounts how, on His way to Galilee, Jesus Christ met Philip and said unto him: Follow Me (John 1:43). Philip responded to this call and followed Christ. Of his encounter with the Lord, Philip said to…
Dear brothers and sisters! I congratulate you on the first Sunday of Great Lent—the Sunday of Orthodoxy! Fasting is the springtime of the renewal of our souls, a spiritually joyful time in which the radiant Sun—Jesus Christ—manifests His love, melting within us the ice of despondency, negligence, avarice, and idle talk, granting us the spirit…
Priest Alexei Lopatin In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters! Last Sunday was dedicated to an event that has not yet occurred but will inevitably take place and affect each of us—the Dread Judgment of the Lord. Today’s Sunday, which precedes Great…
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15) Have you ever noticed how frequently the Holy Gospel speaks of the commandment of forgiveness? In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that the Lord…