Monastery of the Holy Zoni in Samos

The Monastery of the Holy Zoni, located on the eastern side of Samos in Vlamari, was built in 1695 by Hieromonk Meletios, who had the desire to build a monastery in honor of the Holy Zoni on the foundations of the old church that existed in the area which bore the same name, but of which he did not know the exact location, nor were there any remains to help him, so he chose roughly the area and built the church in the place where it stands today. In this work he had the help of many lay people, and before a church existed at this location in antiquity there was a temple of the goddess Demeter in the same place.

At the request of the founder Hieromonk Meletios, a seal of the Ecumenical Patriarch Kyrillos of Akarnanos was issued in 1696, according to which the Monastery was recognized as Stavropegial.

Initially, the church and some monastic cells around the church were built to meet the housing needs of the initially few monks. Later, with the increase of monks, the cells multiplied and slowly surrounded the church area, at the same time a fortification wall was built, which protected the holy icons, the holy objects, the collections of texts and the monks themselves from the then frequent (18th 19th century) pirate raids.

Saint Makarios the Protopsaltis (+ 1836)

Our Venerable Father Makarios the Protopsaltis of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Bucharest, was the most famous music teacher of his time and a great composer of ecclesiastical music. He was born in Perieți of Romania around 1770 to a pious family in which all three siblings dedicated their lives to the Church. Having a God-given love for the Church and the gift of singing, he learned to chant from an early age and learned the Greek language.

Having spent some time on Mount Athos, Saint Makarios returned to Bucharest where he served as a preacher due to his deep theological knowledge and oratory skills. He then studied Byzantine music at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. Upon his return to Bucharest he became the abbot of Golgotha Monastery near Târgoviște. Saint Makarios re-established the old school of the monastery and served as a teacher of psalmody and a preacher.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - The Sabbath (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Weekly Festal Cycle

The Sabbath (Savvaton-Saturday)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou    

The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and according to the Old Testament, on this day God "rested" after creating the world in six days and blessed and sanctified this day (Gen. 2:3). That is why the Jews, according to God's command, had to refrain from all work on this day, except for some necessary work, and to pray to God, but also to go to the Synagogue or the Temple and read the Prophets of Old Testament.

According to Christian teaching, on Great Saturday the soul of Christ together with His Divinity was in Hades, where He smashed the gates of Hades and freed the righteous of the Old Testament and this is considered as the First Resurrection. Thus, as we chant in the troparia of Great Saturday, on this day "the Only Begotten Son of God rested from all his works, keeping the sabbath due to the economy of the death of the flesh."

If in the Old Testament the seventh day of the week was characterized as the Sabbath, the week was characterized as Sabbaths, that is why there is the expression "on the first of the Sabbaths," that is, the first day of the week.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - Preparation Day (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

The Weekly Festal Cycle
 

Preparation Day (Paraskevi-Friday)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou   

If every day of the week has its particularity from a liturgical point of view, because it has its special celebratory significance, the day of Friday is a very important day, because it reminds us of Great Friday, on which Christ was crucified, died according to His human nature and He was entombed. Just as every Sunday we remember and celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is characterized as the weekly Pascha, so every Friday reminds us of the day of Great Friday, on which Christ was crucified and died on the Cross.

We all know from the narratives of the Evangelists, as quoted in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and as taught by our Orthodox Tradition, that on Thursday night Christ gave His Disciples the Secret Supper, the Divine Eucharist, and then in Gethsemane He made the Great Prayer to His Father, saying "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). And then He was arrested by the mob, after the betrayal of Judas. The decision made on Wednesday was implemented on Thursday night to be completed on Friday, therefore Wednesday and Friday are two fasting days.

Hieromonk Christophoros Papoulakos Has Been Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Hieromonk Christophoros (Papoulakos) was numbered among the Saints of the Orthodox Church with an official proclamation of his canonization by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on August 30th 2024, during a meeting of the Holy and Sacred Synod.

Christophoros Panagiotopoulos, known as Papoulakos (born in Armpounas of Achaia in 1770 and died in Andros on January 18th 1861), was a Greek Orthodox monk, missionary and preacher.

It should be noted that in May 2023, the Synodal Committee on Nomocanonical and Dogmatic Issues of the Church of Greece, in its meeting, gave a positive recommendation for the canonization of Papoulakos.

The suggestion went to the Permanent Holy Synod who in turn recorded Saint Papoulakos in the Hagiologion of the Church and a little while ago it was approved by the Patriarchate.

Homily One on the Beheading of John the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily One on the Beheading of John the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1960)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, today's Gospel reading presents us with a terrible picture, it tells of the death of the greatest Prophet, recognized by the Savior Himself as greater than all those born of women. Everything in this gloomy picture bears the imprint of something terrible, indescribable. This unfortunate woman presiding at the table, this mad dance and this noisy applause of the feasters - and then suddenly this head, steaming with warm blood, brought on a platter and given by the executioner to the young girl, who, in turn, gives it to her mother; this hellish mixture of hatred and mad joy, dancing and murder, blood and lust - all this makes the heart tremble and fills it with horror.

Reading the Holy Scriptures, and especially the biographies of the greatest righteous men, God's saints, on earth, one involuntarily wonders within oneself: why is it so? The majority of people, and almost all of them, find a calm, quiet existence on earth, receive various pleasures in life, consolation in their sorrows, but for them - God's chosen ones, faithful and firm - such a terrible life, full of torment and persecution, and often such a terrible end.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - The Fifth Day (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Weekly Festal Cycle

The Fifth Day (Pempti-Thursday)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou   

In the weekly festal cycle, Thursday is dedicated by the liturgical tradition of our Church to the Holy Apostles. This can be seen in the troparia of the Parakletike and in the apolytikia of the day, which are: "Holy Apostles, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences."

The great value of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ is that they left everything and for three years followed Christ, they were found worthy to see Him preach, to work miracles, and three of them, namely Peter, James and John, were found worthy to see Him in His glory on Mount Tabor and participated in His great prayer in Gethsemane. All the Apostles participated for the first time in the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist that took place at the Secret Supper, and then they saw the Risen Christ.

We must know that after His Resurrection, Christ did not appear to His enemies to make them believe, but He appeared to the Apostles and the Myrrhbearing women who had been properly prepared, despite their mistakes, to lead them to deification. This was the purpose of the appearance of the Risen Christ, so that through purification and illumination, he would lead them to deification.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - The Fourth Day (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

The Weekly Festal Cycle

The Fourth Day (Tetarti-Wednesday)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou   

The Fourth Day points us to the week of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and especially to the Council of the High Priests, Scribes and Elders that took place in the court of the High Priest Caiaphas, in order to arrest Jesus by deception and to put Him to death, but not on the feast of Passover so that there is no commotion among the people (Matt. 26:1-5).

Also, on this day we remember the fact that on the same day that this Council was held, Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Disciples of Christ, went to the High Priests and asked them what they would give him to hand over Jesus to them. And they gave him thirty pieces of silver and from then on Judas sought to find the right opportunity to hand Him over to them (Matt. 26:14-16).

These two sad events happened on the Fourth Day, so we have the beginning of the plan of the High Priests and Pharisees for the arrest of Christ and His death. That is why this day is considered liturgically mournful and the Church prescribed a strict fast, in order to remember these tragic events and not to continue them in our lives.

Do We Honor the Phanouropita More Than Saint Phanourios?

By Father John Papademetrios

Tonight and tomorrow we commemorate Saint Phanourios.... A particularly popular Saint.... Of course, I am worried that the honor is more for the Phanouropita and less for our Saint.... This is evidenced by the care and concern given to the preparation of the relevant sweet....

What is the Phanouropita?

A "please" (for something we need) or a "thank you" (for what we received).... That's why we don't make a Phanouropita at a vigil, for example, instead of some other sweet....

You know what we forget? That all these responses of the love of our Saints to our requests (even for the most trivial ones) have ONLY ONE purpose, to help us cultivate our RELATIONSHIP with God.... We asked the Saint for something.... he came and helped us and out of gratitude we made the Phanouropita. And then what? Nothing.... We continued to live as before the difficulty arose, we continued to live "before Christ"....

Something Small for the Great Christos Yannaras

Christos Yannaras, a popular professor of philosophy, author and columnist, reposed at his country residence in Kythira on August 24, 2024, aged 89. He left behind a rich amount of written works, which besides philosophical topics also included topics related to Orthodox Christianity. His 1970 book The Freedom of Morality is considered to have defined the core of what was later called "Neo-Orthodoxy" and has been described as "the May of '68 in Orthodox theology and ethics."

Something Small for the Great Christos Yannaras

By Father Andreas Agathokleous

It was back when, in adolescence, that we entered Catechism School as a way of safety from sin and ... "sinful society" was lurking to devour us. All ideologies emphasize danger, so that you run to them and suffocate in their arms. And we, teenagers at the time, were grateful for the suffocation, the deprivation of our freedom, the use that was made of us with... good intentions.

Fortunately, however, we had foundations: from the mother who said in difficult times "God will provide" and lived it; from the understanding of the neighborhood about the extramarital relationship of the divorced woman with five children; from the tolerance of the alcoholic neighbor who did not leave her alone with his songs; from the experience of the community with its negatives and positives.

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew - The Prayer of Christ and His Walking on the Sea (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew

The Prayer of Christ and His Walking on the Sea

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Delivered on August 10, 2014)

After the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves, which we saw last Sunday, Christ compelled His Disciples, because they obviously did not want to be separated from Him, to get into the ship and cross over, while He went up the mountain to pray. The Evangelist Matthew writes: "And having dismissed the crowds, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray" and affirms that when evening fell, He was there alone (Matthew 8:23).

Of course, according to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, Christ was always united, as God, with His Father, since He was one with Him and the Holy Spirit, and He did not need isolation for prayer, as we do. With this act, however, He wanted to teach His Disciples that they should find an opportunity to be quiet and pray alone. The sacred Theophylact observes: "He does all things on our behalf, since He has no need to pray."

Homily One for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew
(9th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

What was the Gospel read today about? Did you listen to it with attention, did you understand it, did you keep it in your memory, did you put it on your heart, did you apply it to yourself? And all this should be done. What was the Gospel about? About the Savior's prayer in solitude; about His walking on the sea as on dry land; about the fear of His disciples at the sight of a man walking on water; how the Savior encouraged them; about Peter's request to come to Him on the water and about the permission of the Lord; about Peter's lack of faith and fright; about the drowning; about the salvation of the drowning man by the life-giving Right Hand; about the Lord's reproach to Peter for lack of faith; about the calming of the wind; about the confession by the disciples of Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Matt. 14:22-34). Here is the whole Gospel: and everything is clear and understandable!

Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

 

Be the Living Stones of the Building of Your Life

1 Corinthians 3:1-15

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on August 26, 1945)

 

“You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent!” (Isa. 62:6). This is how the holy prophet Isaiah called upon the prophets and priests of the Israelite people, so that they would not remain silent until the Lord glorifies Jerusalem.

We, who make mention of the Lord, must never remain silent until He restores all that was destroyed in our country and creates our country as Holy Russia. I will not be silent as long as I live.

The Holy Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthian Christians: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

Ninth Sunday of Matthew Resource Page

Ninth Sunday of Matthew

 

 (Matthew 14:22-34)

 

Ninth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

 

Gospel Commentary for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew (St. John Chrysostom)

Gospel Commentary for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophylact of Ochrid)

 

Reflection for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophan the Recluse)

 

Homily One for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew - Three Movements of God Towards Man (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew - Courage in the Midst of Difficulties (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew - The Internal Problem of Mankind (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew - The Prayer of Christ and His Walking on the Sea (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

Ninth Sunday After of Pentecost

 

(1 Corinthians 3:9-17)

 

Ninth Sunday After of Pentecost: Epistle Reading

 

Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily One for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos) 

Homily Two for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Controversy Over the 2024 Appearance of the Holy Cloud on Mount Tabor

A photo of the Holy Cloud over Nazareth at night from Mount Tabor

A Romanian Tourist Manager, Dumitru Georgeta, who often travels to the Holy Land has witnessed the miracle of the Holy Cloud enveloping Mount Tabor for the vigil of the feast of the Transfiguration on the night of August 18th into the 19th fifteen times, and this year pointed out the fact in a post on Facebook that the Holy Cloud did not appear over Mount Tabor this year while she was there for the feast.

A Romanian publication picked up on this and wrote a news report that the Holy Cloud failed to appear over Mount Tabor on the feast of the Transfiguration, which was then reported in Greek sources and possibly other languages.

However, Dumitru Georgeta, upset by this report, clarified that what was reported was not the whole story. On Facebook she had mentioned that the Israeli police would not let visitors go up Mount Tabor for this year's feast because the "organizer" of the event refused to pay the required money for a fire truck, ambulance and police to be present. However, a small group was allowed. She then says what she experienced:

Homily One on the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily One on the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1961)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters, today the entire Christian world festively and joyfully celebrates the day of the radiant repose of the Mother of God. Although it seems that the event being celebrated is sad, full of tears, because here we encounter death, nevertheless the Holy Church is now clothed in the garments of triumph, rejoices and is glad, and calls us to this. Why should we rejoice today, on the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God? Because the very word "dormition" shows that the death of the Mother of God was extraordinary. It was a dream that was soon followed by a joyful awakening.

A few days before the Dormition, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Most Holy Theotokos with the news of Her imminent departure from this life. Filled with deep faith in the life to come, the eternally blessed life, She accepts this news not with fear and sorrow, but with a feeling of the liveliest joy and the greatest gratitude to God. At the same time, the almighty power of God from all over the world gathers the Apostles to Jerusalem so that they would give honor to the Mother of God and bury Her. At the very hour of death, an extraordinary light illuminates the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, and in the open heaven those present behold the Lord of Glory Himself with the Angels and Saints, coming forth to meet His Mother. The Apostle Thomas, according to the special dispensation of God, appears after the burial of the Most-Pure One, wishes to venerate Her, the tomb is opened for his sake, but the body of the Mother of God is no longer found in it.

Homily on the Epistle of the Apostle Jude (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

On the Epistle of the Apostle Jude

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on March 9, 1948)

Today the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Jude was read. It is catholic and, therefore, addressed to all Christians. It was written because in ancient, apostolic times, various heretics had already appeared, and the Holy Apostle warns all believers against following heretics.

He begins his message like this: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 1:1-2). That is, "sanctified by God the Father" in Holy Baptism. How does the Lord Jesus Christ preserve us? Oh, in many, many ways. First of all, He preserves us with the great Mystery of Communion of His Body and Blood, in which we become partakers of His Divine nature, receive Him into ourselves, and live with Him. He also preserves with His Divine teaching, for it contains the whole truth, it shows the path to our salvation.

Homily Four on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

 

Homily on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on August 14/27, 1904)

"Rejoicing, I will hymn her dormition." 

(Irmos, Ode 1 of Matins on August 15th)

Brethren, what does it mean that the Church calls the death of the Mother of God not death, as we usually call the death of people, but dormition or, which is all the same, repose or peaceful sleep, and not only does not mourn, does not weep at Her grave, but, on the contrary, sings joyful, celebratory hymns at Her departure? The fact is that the most blessed Mother of the Lord did not really die, as people usually die, but seemed to fall asleep for a short time in a peaceful sleep after the heavy sorrows of life, and that Her tomb, which was for Her the door to the Heavenly Kingdom, conceals much joy for a Christian; from this tomb, as from the tomb of the risen Lord, heavenly incorruption blows on us, or better said, this tomb immutably promises us immortality in the soul and incorruptibility in the body, destroying the fear of death in us.

Fresco of the Virgin Mary Dating Before Iconoclasm Discovered in Naxos

A fresco of the Virgin Mary, dating from before Iconoclasm (726-842 AD) and which is considered rare, was recently discovered in a Byzantine church in Naxos.

The fresco was found behind layers of lime that covered it. The revelation was made by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, while in his Facebook post from August 15th 2024, the Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, Demetrios Athanasoulis, notes:

Homily One for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew
(8th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

"When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, 'This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.' But Jesus said to them, 'They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat'" (Matthew 14:15–16).

One day the Lord sailed on a ship alone to a deserted place to pray: the people, hearing about this, followed Him from the cities on foot. Coming out of the boat, Jesus saw a multitude of people and had compassion on them and healed their sick. When evening came, His disciples came to Him and said: "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." How? What are you saying, apostles of Christ? For the people to leave their Lord for the sake of food and drink and deprive themselves of His conversation, sweeter than honey? Wasn’t it He who said: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink... Is not life more than food... But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:25, 33). Oh, no, the people will not leave the Lord: what do they care about food and drink? Food and drink are always with them; but the Lord in the flesh is not always, but He Himself is food and drink for them; look how they greedily listen to His every word, how they gaze into His divine face: oh, this is true pleasure for them - to see and hear the Lord Himself - and they forgot about food and drink. Yes, He Himself will arrange a wonderful meal for them.

Homily Three on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos

By St. John of Kronstadt

(Delivered on August 15, 1900)

“The Queen stands at Your right hand” (Psalm 44:10).

Thus prophesied from the depths of past centuries the Prophet King David; he saw by the prophetic Spirit the greatest glorification from God of the wondrous Queen, chosen from all earthly generations as a Mother of the Son of God, Who was to be incarnated by the Holy Spirit without male seed, for the redemption and salvation of the human race from sin, the curse and death. He then saw as if the present event now being celebrated by the universal Church, i.e. the presence of the Mother of God at the right hand of God Her Son in heaven, the presence which She was awarded after Her honorable dormition, burial, resurrection on the third day, and ascension to heaven with Her most pure Body. “The Queen stands at Your right hand.”

Why did the heavenly Queen stand at the right hand of Her Son and God, the Creator of all creatures, the Savior of the world? In order to eternally intercede before Him for the Christian race, which constantly implores and blesses Her, and in order to receive righteous recompense from the life-giving Right Hand of Her Son, for her supernatural service to His incarnation and upbringing, for all the sorrows and tribulations that She endured during His sufferings and death on the Cross.

Saint Joseph the Hesychast as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Father George Papavarnavas

Saint Joseph the Hesychast was born in 1897 in Lefkes of Paros to pious parents, George and Maria. He was the third in order of the seven children of his parents, and was orphaned very early of his father while his mother took over the protection of the whole family. Until his teenage years he remained in the village, where he worked and financially helped his mother and his siblings. He attended school until the 2nd grade. After serving his term in the Navy, at the age of about 23 he went to Piraeus and Athens, where he worked as a peddler. He liked to read the lives of the Saints, with the result that he wanted to imitate them, so he kept vigils and prayed. In 1921, he went to Katounakia of the Holy Mountain, specifically to the Brotherhood of the Danielites, under the spiritual guidance of Saint Daniel of Katounakia, the founder of this synodia. Then, with the blessing of Saint Daniel, he withdrew, because he desired the hesychast life in the wilderness.

"Holy Virgin Theotokos": 2024 Pastoral Encyclical for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Encyclical for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos

August 15, 2024

Today is the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, beloved brethren, and we rejoice, because we celebrate the Mother of God, the "Holy Virgin Theotokos", as Saint Cyril of Alexandria, among other things, calls her. We honor her, because from her the Son and Word of God assumed human nature and from her He was born, as a man, to regenerate us spiritually.

Today everything is joyful and blessed, showered by the Grace of God and everything theologizes. Theology is not an intellectual knowledge, but the experience of the living God. And he who tastes the joy of God does not find rest in physical and worldly things, which come and go and cause sorrow.

In the written sermons given every Sunday during this period, we presented the weekly festal cycle, i.e. the festive theme of each day of the week. We know from our tradition that on Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, on Monday the Angels, on Tuesday the Honorable Forerunner, on Wednesday we remember the decision of the Jews to arrest Christ and the betrayal of Judas, on Thursday we celebrate the Holy Apostles together with Saint Nicholas, on Friday we remember the Passion, the Cross and the Death of Christ, on Saturday we celebrate all the Saints of the Church and remember our reposed brethren.

Homily Two on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily on the Glorious Dormition of the All-Holy Theotokos

By St. John of Kronstadt

"Let us praise the Virgin Mary.
The Gate of Heaven, the Glory of the World.
The Song of the Angels, the Beauty of the Faithful.
She was born of man, yet gave birth to God.
She was revealed as heaven, as the temple of the Godhead." (Dogmatikon, Tone 1)

Thus, the great church hymnographer, the gold-streaming Damascene,  glorifies the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, Whose all-honorable Dormition we now solemnly commemorate and glorify. Let us, as if he were saying it, glorify with joy and reverence this Virgin and Mother, Who came from the human race and gave birth to God incarnate: for She was revealed as heaven, as the temple of the Godhead.

The Snakes of the Panagia Have Made Their Appearance in Kefallonia (2024)

Just as every year, from the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ till the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, or from August 6th to the 15th, snakes appear in a wondrous manner in two villages of Kefallonia with chapels dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, in Markopoulo and Arginia, that appear to worship among the pilgrims who flock to these chapels, and venerate of their own accord the icon of the Panagia. Many noted miracles are associated with these snakes.

Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered in 1964)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Brothers and sisters beloved of God, today Christians throughout the world celebrate with great joy the most glorious Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christians rejoice and are glad in celebrating this feast, because the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord gives great consolation to the Christian heart. Our faith in Christ and our hope in Christ for eternal blessedness become firm and unshakable when we are transported in spirit to Tabor and become spectators of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

Homily on the Seventh Sunday of Matthew - On Pharisaism (Fr. George Metallinos)

 

By Protopresbyter Father George Metallinos

We have spoken before, my beloved Christians, about the arrogant and hypocritical attitude of the Pharisees, i.e. the religious establishment of the time of Christ, towards the God-man. We will return to their gloomy faces, because, in today's Gospel passage, they surpass all precedents of malice and slander against the Lord.

Christ met two blind men, who begged Him to heal them. He looked for traces of their faith in His power, and when He found it, He rewarded that faith and healed them. A little later they brought before Him a man who was deaf and dumb and demon-possessed, whom He also healed. The healing of physical illness, as a fruit of faith in the Divine power, reveals that the renewing and saving power and work of God concerns the whole of human existence, both body and soul. That is why the work of the Church, throughout time, develops in these two important parameters of human life: in the salvation of the soul, first of all, and in the ministry of human needs, afterwards.

Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew - On Faith (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew:

On Faith

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on August 12, 1945)

Before healing the two blind men who were praying to the Lord for healing, the Lord asked them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" They answered: “We believe.” And the Lord then said: “Let it be done according to your faith,” and healed them.

Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to heal someone, He asked if there was faith in them, and only those who believed, He healed.

It is said in the Gospel that when the Lord Jesus Christ came to Nazareth, He could not perform a single miracle there, because the inhabitants of this city, in which He grew up, where they knew Him from childhood, did not believe that He was really a Great Wonderworker. And the Lord was surprised at their unbelief.

Homily One for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew
(7th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

“Two blind men approached Him (Jesus Christ). And Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you'” (Matthew 9:28–29).

Such is the amazing power of faith in the Lord! By faith in His omnipotence, two blind men instantly receive sight. We read about this in the Gospel today (Matthew 9:27–31).

And so, I repeat: what a power of faith! What a precious treasure is sincere, firm, and undoubted faith in Christ, if through it one can receive all kinds of blessings from the ever-flowing Source of all blessings – the Lord God! In fact, who among us has not received from the Lord all kinds of spiritual and physical blessings, if only he approached Him with sincere faith and sincere repentance, and moreover, many times in one day? Christians, who always live according to faith and are accustomed to turn to the Lord in all their needs, loudly testify that according to their faith the Lord performs in them, in their inner world, and often outside of them, innumerable miracles of His goodness and power, that they destroy mountains by God's grace, not earthly mountains, although they also obey the believer, but mountains of sorrows and the burdens of the enemy that fall on the soul, that they heal their spiritual and bodily infirmities, conquer the passions, cleanse themselves of the filth of sins, receive moral strength that they did not have before, and do all righteousness.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew - On Persistent Prayer (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew

Matthew 9:1-8

(Delivered on July 31, 1949)

"Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, 'Man, your sins are forgiven you'” (Luke 5:18–19).

What an amazing event! What boldness! After all, when they dismantled the roof, clay and dust fell on the heads of everyone, including the Lord Jesus Christ. Any other person in His place, of course, would have been indignant, but the Lord did not utter a single word of reproach. Instead, He gave them the greatest blessing by healing the unfortunate man and forgiving his sins.

Holy New Martyr Nicholas of Kokova (+ 1822)

St. Nicholas of Kokova (Feast Day - August 9 & Thomas Sunday)

Born in the village of Polydendri in Imathia, then called Kokova, Nicholas was a disciple in spirit of the Holy Hieromartyr Kosmas the Aitolos, who had passed through and preached in his village. At a young age he went to Naousa to work as a tailor. There he found himself in great ruin in 1822.

The young Nicholas was in Naousa when it was captured by the Turks, who entered the city after the great disaster, and led them to Kioski before Ebu Lubut Pasha. One by one the people of Naousa passed in front of the Turkish Pasha who asked their name and what they believed. As soon as they said they were Christians and wanted to die Christians, the executioner's sword beheaded them.

Homily Three on the Transfiguration of the Lord (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Three on the Transfiguration of the Lord

By St. John of Kronstadt

"He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2).

 

Thus the Lord was transfigured according to His humanity, on Tabor. And by this we are given to know that He can miraculously transform and illuminate us, our nature, our soul and our body, darkened by sin and the passions of life, as He indeed transfigures, transforms, illuminates. You don't have to go far for examples. They happen every day to every praying and sincerely repentant Christian believer. I will ask each of you: tell me, what happens to you when you come burdened with some sin, even though you come to this church with sincere repentance and fervent prayer to God and His Most Pure Mother? Or when you are oppressed by some strong sorrow and anguish, and you pray to the Lord with tears that He would ease it, destroy it, drive it away? Did you not notice a great change in your soul soon after? You sincerely repented of your sin, condemned yourself, reproached yourself, looked soberly at your disapproving thoughts, feelings, actions, gave your word to change: your sin is forgiven, you have become calm; your soul is light, free, quiet and graceful. And if you grieved greatly and yearned for something, and expressed your sorrows and misfortunes before God or the Mother of God, the joy of all those who mourn, with obedience to the will of God, tell me, did you not soon feel a change in your soul? Peace and quiet tenderness settled in your soul with hope in the paternal providence of God, and you left after your prayer comforted and encouraged.

Commemorating the 40 Year Anniversary Since the Repose of Saint Kallinikos, Metropolitan of Edessa (1984-2024)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The two days of August 7-8 that we are passing through will mark forty years (1984-2024) since the final repose of a venerable Metropolitan, Saint Kallinikos the Metropolitan of Edessa, Pella and Almopia. He reposed late on the night of August 7th to August 8th and his canonization was done by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2020.

Before his canonization, he was revered as a saint by many people. In fact, three Metropolitans of the Church of Greece bear his name. They are the Metropolitans Kallinikos of Arta, Kallinikos of Paronaxia, Kallinikos of Kastoria, and many others who knew him called him a saint and witnessed his miracles.

Today and tomorrow they will celebrate his memory in many parts of Greece and outside it, because they have personal memories, in many temples there are frescoes and portable icons and they have portions of his sacred relics, and many tell of his miraculous interventions with the energy of God, because "God is wondrous in His saints."

Homily Two on the Transfiguration of the Lord (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily Two on the Transfiguration of the Lord

By St. John of Kronstadt

"He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2).

Today we remember and celebrate the glorious Transfiguration of the Most Pure Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. This transfiguration took place in the presence of three earthly witnesses – the Apostles Peter, James and John. Jesus Christ, according to custom, ascended the mountain to pray, as a man, to the Heavenly Father. While He was praying, His Divinity suddenly shone through His body: His face became as bright as the sun, and His garments, from the inner light of the Divinity and from the light of the body, became white as light – so white that no bleacher is able to make them so white. Moses and Elijah, the great prophets of old, appeared; they spoke to the Lord. What were they talking about?

Homily One on the Transfiguration of the Lord (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily One on the Transfiguration of the Lord

By St. John of Kronstadt

The Holy Church now celebrates – and we celebrate with Her – the radiant feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor and the glorification of our human nature in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will repeat in Russian the Gospel or the all-joyous Gospel of the Evangelist Matthew about the present day, which tells about the event of the Transfiguration.

"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, 'Arise, and do not be afraid.' When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead'” (Matthew 17:1-9).

Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord (St. John Maximovitch)

Homily on the Transfiguration of the Lord

By St. John Maximovitch

When He created the world, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). The image of God in man is manifested in his mental abilities, in his authority over nature, his power, and his ability to create. The likeness of God in him lies in his moral perfections, in his spiritual aspirations, in his ability to achieve holiness.

The image and likeness of God, in which our first parents were created, was fully reflected in them before the Fall. Sin violated both the former and the latter, although it did not completely deprive a person of them. The mind and everything else that was the image of God remained in man, but to develop them it is necessary to use great efforts, yet he achieves only a small measure of what the first parents completely received. There remains in man, to some extent, the desire to be in the likeness of God, although sometimes he falls beyond recognition.

Homily One for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew
(6th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

"Child, your sins are forgiven you" (Matthew 9:2).

Today the Gospel of Matthew was read about the healing by the Lord of a paralytic who was brought on a bed. It reads as follows: “At that time Jesus arrived at Capernaum. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Take courage, child, your sins are forgiven you.' And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, 'This Man blasphemes!' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins' — then He said to the paralytic, 'Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.” (Matthew 9:1–8). This is where the Gospel ends. And in the current reading of the Gospel it is told about the mercy of our common Savior towards an unfortunate man, and in the Gospel of last Sunday it also spoke about His mercy. Then they talked about the healing of the possessed, who suffered terribly from evil spirits, and now they talk about the healing of the paralytic. There, the cause of misery and misfortune was sins, as can be seen from the moral teaching of Jesus Christ to the sick man healed at the sheep gate pool: “Behold, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). And here the cause of the weakening of the bodily members and the soul itself was sins; for the Physician of souls and bodies says to the sick man: “Child, your sins are forgiven you."

Homily Two for the Epistle Reading on the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

On Spiritual Gifts

Romans 12:6-14

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on August 5, 1956)

It is important and necessary for everyone to understand what gift of grace they received from God, what form of life activity the Lord predestined them for. After all, how often, out of our own willfulness, do we strive for high and honorable positions, disdaining lower ones, though they be pleasing to God. For He destined us for such activities that are within our power and correspond to the conditions of our life, as the Apostle Paul wrote about in his Epistle: "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness" (Rom. 12:6–8).

Sixth Sunday of Matthew Resource Page

Sixth Sunday of Matthew

 

 (Matthew 9:1-8)

 

Sixth Sunday of Matthew: Gospel Reading

 

Gospel Commentary for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (St. John Chrysostom)

 

Gospel Commentary for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophylact of Ochrid)

 

Homily on the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

Reflection on the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophan the Recluse)

 

Homily One for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew - On Persistent Prayer (St. Luke of Simferopol) 

 

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew - Christ, the Stranger and the Familiar (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Sixth Sunday After of Pentecost

 

(Romans 12:6-14)

 

Sixth Sunday After of Pentecost: Epistle Reading

 

Homily One for the Epistle Reading on the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily Two for the Epistle Reading on the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

 

Homily Two on the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

 

On the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (2)  

 

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

 

(Delivered on August 1, 1963)

 

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Church glorifies the power of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, and at the same time remembers the sufferings of Christ, which He endured on the Cross. The reason for the establishment of this feast was an extraordinary event, miraculously revealed to the inhabitants of the capital of the Greek state from the Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.

A severe pestilence broke out in Constantinople, which claimed thousands of human lives every day. And so the residents of the city turned to God in prayer, adding to this a procession with the Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord through the streets of the Byzantine capital, sprinkling all the houses and buildings with holy water. And as at the end of the religious procession the pestilence immediately ceased, in memory of this wonderful event it was established annually on August 1 to celebrate the feast of the Cross of the Lord. In addition, this event was joined by others, in which the power of God also miraculously appeared: the victory of the Greek army over the Saracens, and the Russian army over the Volga Bulgarians, since these events also took place on August 1 by the power of the Life-Giving Cross and the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God. However, remembering these events and glorifying the power of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Church now also remembers the suffering of Christ.