Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus Recounts an Life Changing Incident With Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva

On Monday, October 19, 2026, His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus celebrated the Blessing of the Waters for the opening of the Chapel of Saint Porphyrios at the “Saint Porphyrios” Meeting Hall–Youth Center of the Metropolitan Sacred Church of Saints Constantine and Helen of Piraeus. The center is located in the heart of Piraeus, at the intersection of Tsamadou and Zosimadon Streets, at No. 52 (6th floor), and houses numerous activities.

In the brief greeting he addressed to those present, His Eminence spoke, among other things, from his personal experiences about the person of Venerable Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, as well as the significance of the Church’s spiritual offering in the modern age.

“We came into the world in order to acquire this ethos and become partakers of the divine nature, and, through the gifts of being created ‘in the image,’ to attain ‘the likeness’ by freely cooperating with God,” His Eminence emphasized at the outset, underscoring that the purpose of the Christian life is for the human being, as a created being, to acquire the ethos of God.

Homily Two on the Day of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily Two on the Day of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" 

On the Heavenly Help of the Mother of God

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

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

Dear brothers and sisters, today the Church commemorates the icon of the Mother of God called “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” Orthodox Russian people have a firm and deep faith in the heavenly intercession of the Mother of God, and they often turn to Her in their needs, sorrows, and afflictions with warm and fervent prayer. And the Mother of God does not leave this faith unrewarded, but grants speedy help to everyone who asks according to the fervor of his prayer. Therefore, our people love to call the Mother of God by special names: She Who Is Quick to Hear, Searcher for the Lost, Consolation in Sorrows and Afflictions, Deliverance from Misfortunes for Those Who Suffer, Joy of All Who Sorrow…

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 24

The Month of October

Day 24

55. How We Should Conduct Ourselves When We Suddenly Lose Our Possessions

(From the Life of Venerable Arethas of the Kiev Caves)

It happens, brethren, that some of us, by God’s permission, are deprived, sometimes suddenly, of all our possessions. Some, for example, are robbed by thieves; others lose everything in a fire; others frequently suffer unforeseen losses in trade; for others, the sea swallows up their possessions; etc. Indeed, one could never enumerate all those who, because of one misfortune or another, lose everything and go from being rich to being poor. What, then, remains for such people to do, brethren? How can they console themselves? How can they take courage? What should they say? How can they strengthen themselves in patience? To whom should they turn for help? Since the solution to these questions will not be without benefit for the people mentioned above, who have suddenly become impoverished, and perhaps equally for all of us, since we too are not protected from misfortune, we therefore present the following example for everyone’s consideration as a solution to these questions.

Saint James the Brother of God in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church (2 of 2)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint James, the Brother of God, became the first bishop of Jerusalem. He was also the first to write the Divine Liturgy, as he had learned it from the Lord Himself. Saint Basil the Great subsequently shortened this liturgy, and after him the divine Chrysostom did likewise, because of human weakness. Since James shepherded the Church of Jerusalem and, through his teaching, brought many of the Jews and Gentiles to believe in the Lord, he provoked the anger of the Jews. They therefore seized him and threw him from the pinnacle of the Temple, thereby killing him. 

The following account comes from Tradition concerning why he is called the Brother of God. When Joseph, who was betrothed to the Virgin, was distributing among the children of his first wife the land he possessed, he wished to give a portion also to the Son and God born of the Holy Virgin. The others who were regarded as His brothers refused to accept Him, but James took Him as a co-heir to his own portion. For this reason, he was called not only the Brother of God, but also the Just.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 23

The Month of October

Day 23

54. We Must Pray for Our Enemies, Too

(From the Life of the Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord according to the Flesh)

What duties do we have toward our enemies? First, we must love them, as the Lord said: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Second, we must do good to them, as the Apostle says: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink” (Romans 12:20). Third, we must not take revenge on our enemies, as the word of God teaches: “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God” (Romans 12:19). And fourth and finally, we must pray for our enemies. But how do we know that this last duty is required of us? How is it revealed that we must pray even for our enemies?

Holy Equal the the Apostles and Wonderworker Abercius in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Abercius became bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia during the reign of Marcus Antoninus, and he performed many miracles and healings. For example, when wine, oil, and yet another substance were placed together in a vessel, through his prayer he caused this mixture to remain unmixed, that is, each substance to remain what it was. On another occasion, he commanded a demon to transport an enormous stone from Rome to Phrygia. He placed this stone as a pillar over his tomb. Again, he prayed, and hot waters emerged from the depths of the earth. Having lived the remainder of his life in holiness and righteousness, he departed to the Lord.

Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Resource Page

The original Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1579), photographed in the late nineteenth century; shown beneath its jeweled covering. It was stolen in 1904, and remains missing to this day.

Synaxis of the Kaplunovka Icon of the 

Kazan Mother of God

 

Commemorated on September 11

Synaxis of the Kaplunovka Icon of the Kazan Mother of God

 

 

Commemoration of the Miraculous Deliverance 
of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612

and the Celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God 

Commemorated on October 22

 

Commemoration of the Miraculous Deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612

 

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: October 22 

 

October: Day 22: Teaching 1: Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God 

 

October: Day 22: Teaching 2: Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God 

 

October: Day 22: Teaching 3: Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God 

 

Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (St. Innocent of Kherson) 

 

Homily One on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. John of Kronstadt) 

 

Homily Two on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. John of Kronstadt) 

 

Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov) 

 

 

The Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God 

in the City of Kazan

 

Commemorated on July 8 

 

The Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God in the City of Kazan (1579)

 

Homily One on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily Two on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Homily Three on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

Miraculous Kazan Icon Taken by Nazi to Germany in World War 2 is Returned to Russia 

 

 

Synaxis of the Kazan-Yaroslavl Icon 

of the Mother of God

 

Commemorated on July 8  

Synaxis of the Kazan-Yaroslavl Icon of the Mother of God 

 

 

Homily Two on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (St. John of Kronstadt)

 

Homily Two on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God 

By St. John of Kronstadt

"O fervent Protectress, Mother of the Lord Most High! You pray to Your Son, Christ our God, for all, and You bring salvation to all who flee to Your mighty protection." (Troparion of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God)

Hear, brothers and sisters, what the Holy Church sings concerning our Most Holy Lady, the Queen and Mother of God. She sings: “O fervent Protectress, You pray to Your Son, Christ our God, for all, and You bring salvation to all who flee to Your mighty protection.” These words of the Holy Church concerning the Most Holy Mother of God are the purest truth. They describe what continually takes place, for the Most Holy Theotokos, in Her maternal love for us, intercedes for us before the throne of God day and night. “Day and night You pray for us,” the Holy Church says to Her in the midnight service, and “the scepters of kingdoms are established through Your prayers.”

Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily One for the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov 

 

(Delivered on October 22, 1960)

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

Beloved brothers and sisters, today we solemnly commemorate in prayer and glorify the manifestation of the Mother of God's mercy toward Orthodox Russia, which was expressed in the miraculous deliverance of our beloved fatherland from the invasion of foreign forces in 1612.

Our ancestors, the Russian people, loved the Mother of God and possessed a special, profound faith in Her heavenly intercession for the Christian race. In their sorrows and calamities, they always turned to Her with fervent prayer. Although entire countries regarded the Most Holy Virgin as their Protectress and venerated Her, in our fatherland the name of the Mother of God was surrounded by a special veneration—immeasurably greater than anywhere else. The Mother of God poured forth Her grace and mercy upon no other land as abundantly as She did upon the Russian land. In practically every Russian city there is a source of the Mother of God's grace: Her wonderworking icons, through which She has willed to give people a heavenly pledge of Her love and to serve as a Consolation to suffering humanity. Our people loved to call the Mother of God by special names befitting Her heavenly protection and mercy, and the Mother of God did not allow their faith to be in vain, but granted swift help to everyone who asked, as well as to our fatherland as a whole.