Can everyone theologise?
As early as the Old Testament era, the Prophet Jeremiah had spoken prophetically of a new Covenant with mankind that the Lord was going to provide. It would differ greatly from the Old Covenant, because it was to have the very Son of the living God as its Guarantor (Hebr.7:22, 9:15-17), and it was to […]
Are We Living In The End Times?
By Monk Moses the Athonite In our difficult and turbulent times there is generally a small powerful group of people with certain metaphysical pursuits. Some find God as a necessity, as an armchair, and as a raft. Usually people find what they are looking for and what interests them. They do not want to get […]
The Three Hierarchs and Education
In the 11th century, at the time of Emperor Alexios Komninos, the common feast of the three great Fathers of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople and Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia was established to honour their supreme contribution to education, their unshakeable […]
Friendship in Late Antiquity: the Case of Gregory Nazianzen and Basil the Great
I.Introduction: Classical and Christian Friendship One thing we should expect to find unchanged when we look at the new world that emerges during the Christianization of the Greco-Roman Empire is the fact that people continue to form friendships and, as friendship often leads to, continue to consider and reflect on the nature of friendship as […]
Forgiving the Unrepentant, Again and Again
Forgiving, again, and again, and again. Forgive me if I carry on with this topic forgiveness, even if I get repetitive. When I was a kid (about 8), I scraped my knee pretty badly. I wasn’t in a context of close adult supervision, so the wound was never cleaned or bandaged. The scab was huge. […]
Saint Simon the Myrrh-Streamer, Founder of Simonopetra Monastery
“On December 28, shortly after the Feast of the Nativity, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Simon the Myrrh-gusher through whom the Lord wrought great wonders. A star, like that which led the Magi to Bethlehem, miraculously revealed to the saint the site upon which, by divine command, he was to found a monastery. […]
Why We Bless Homes With Holy Water?
Why do we bless houses (and almost anything else that we can sprinkle) with water? Many years ago, when I was yet a deacon, I was visiting with some non-Orthodox friends who were inquirers into Orthodoxy (they sadly, never followed through with their interest – or even their promise to become Orthodox) and we were […]
Sword and War Metaphors in the New Testament
The imagery of ‘sword’, ‘war’, or conquest in the New Testament has often been used by various groups towards diverse and often contradictory ends. Most recently the Pope’s statements concerning Islam have provoked a backlash from the Muslim world, including, from certain quarters, the counter-indictment of Christianity as a ‘violent religion’ based on select New […]
Blessed Symeon, the Simple Porter of Piraeus
In 1922 there came from Asia Minor with the refugees a Greek orphan named Symeon. He settled in Piraeus in a small shack and there grew up by himself. He had a carriage by which he did the work of a porter, carrying things to the port of Piraeus. He was illiterate and did not […]
The Story Behind “It’s A Wonderful Life”
It’s a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, that was heavily adapted from the short story “The Greatest Gift”, written by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1939, and privately published by the author in 1945. The film is considered one of the most loved films in […]