Great Thursday: The Importance of the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist

Archimandrite Kyrillos Kostopoulos, 
Preacher of the Sacred Metropolis of Patras

On Great Thursday, we do not simply commemorate, but we experience — through the Divine Liturgy — the handing down of the Holy and Dread Mysteries by our Lord Jesus Christ to His Disciples, and through them, successively, to the entire Church. Those, however, who have separated themselves from the ONE Church, the Orthodox Church, by distorting the eternal truth and passing over into heresy, have lost the Apostolic succession and at the same time have been cut off from the Mystery of Mysteries, the Divine Eucharist.

As the God-man Lord was dining with His Disciples, He took bread and, after blessing it, said: “Take, eat; this is My body.” Likewise, He took the cup and said: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood” (Matt. 26:26–28). With these same words, from then until now and until the end of the ages, our Holy Church is nourished through the Divine Eucharist. And through this divine food, every Orthodox Christian is united with the God-man Lord and, therefore, with all the other members of His Church.

Holy Wednesday: The Offering of the Nous and the Heart to God

Archimandrite Kyrillos Kostopoulos, 
Preacher of the Sacred Metropolis of Patras

On Holy and Great Tuesday, a great multitude of people hastens to the churches in order to hear, with deep emotion, the hymn of the hymnographer Kassiani, which refers to the sinful woman of the Gospel and her profound repentance. Yet only a few from this crowd truly enter into the depth of the event, deciding to imitate the change of life and the love that the sinful woman showed toward the God-man Lord.

This sinful woman realized her sinfulness and the mire of immorality into which she had fallen, and, recognizing that the One before her was the Redeemer and Savior of souls and bodies, she decided to approach Him. She gave up her possessions and bought the most precious myrrh of that time in order to anoint His feet, thus showing her faith and love for Him.

Coming to our own time and to the personal life of each of us, let us ask ourselves: what do we offer to God as a sign of love for Him and of sincere repentance for our disobedience to His will? Do we offer Him, instead of myrrh, what is most precious to us? And the most precious thing a person possesses is his heart, that is, his inner world and his nous.

The Experiential Study of Holy Scripture

By Archimandrite Kyrillos Kostopoulos

Study is an important element in man’s journey in search of truth.

To this end, from the earliest Christian times, believers were called to study the Law of God, the Old Testament. The Prophet David exclaimed: “How I love your law, O Lord! It is my study all day long” (Ps. 118:97).

Then the New Testament was added, in which the now revealed Truth is found, without the types and patterns of the Old Testament, insofar as our Lord Himself revealed about Himself that “I am the truth” (John 14:6).

Study is the voice of God to man, just as prayer is the voice of man to God. Saint Chrysostom tells us: “But the reading of the Scriptures is the speech of God” (PG 50, 90). He who loves the study of Holy Scripture, according to Clement of Alexandria, becomes a “theodidact” (cf. Stromata, Book 1, 20, 98, etc.).

The Ontological Meaning of the Resurrection of Christ

By Archimandrite Kyrillos Kostopoulos,
Preacher of the Sacred Metropolis of Patras

It is historically confirmed that the Resurrection of the God-man Lord occurred during the spring season. This is not a random event and without a deeper semiotic meaning. Summer is the season that has good weather from all sides. In autumn, everything begins to decline and nature is heading towards a necrosis. In winter, everything hibernates. Spring, however, is the season in which the previously dead come back to life. Everything rejoices, everything blooms, everything is fragrant. For this reason, the God-man Lord chose this season to defeat death, opening the gates of eternal life.

With the Resurrection of Christ, the gates of Hades are opened and the first man and all “who received Him [the Risen Lord], to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The hearts and minds of all the spiritual children of our Holy Church are also opened and filled with the joy and love of the Resurrection, expressing it to God our Creator and to our neighbor. In this way, the eyes are also opened, so that man may see the uncreated Light of the Resurrection, which will illuminate his innermost “being,” the one covered by the darkness of passions and sins.