On the Newly-Illumined and on the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ (St. Amphilochios of Iconium)

On the Newly-Illumined and on the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ 

By St. Amphilochios of Iconium

Whenever the gloomy aspect of winter is succeeded by the season of spring, various birds, flying through the air, by honey-voiced songs make known to men the sweetness of the season; then also the sweet-voiced swallows, cleaving the air with swift flight and darting past the heads of men, like a blossom cast their own cry into the ears of men. Then it is possible to see the air clear and calm, and the faces of men brightened, being transformed into an imitation of serenity; for indeed the sounds of birds delight the hearing, and the clear air brightens the eye, and the radiance of various flowers sweetens the sight, and the mingled breath of the plants refreshes the sense of smell.

And this delight the earthly and transient spring provides for men, beloved; but our divine and undefiled spring, Christ, having thickly adorned the meadow of the Church with spiritual violets and roses and lilies, brightens the sight by faith and fills the receptacle of our heart with the fragrance of divine things. For who among the faithful does not now rejoice? And who does not now exult, when he sees the newly-illumined, in the image of lilies, shining with the blossoms of their garments and having in the midst of their heart the golden-radiant faith?

January: Day 6: Teaching 3: The Baptism of the Lord

January: Day 6: Teaching 3:
The Baptism of the Lord
 
(Why Did the Holy Spirit Appear at the Baptism in the Form of a Dove?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Listening to the Evangelists' account of the baptism of Jesus Christ and the appearance of the entire Holy Trinity at the Jordan, one cannot help but notice the form in which the Holy Spirit appeared during the Lord's baptism. Why did the third Person of the Holy Trinity — the Holy Spirit — appear at the Jordan in the form of a dove, whereas during the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, He appeared in the form of tongues of fire?

Discourse on the Prefeast of Lights (St. Theodore the Studite)

On the Prefeast of Lights 

Oration 3 

 

By St. Theodore the Studite

Come, let us survey the forecourts of the Feast of Lights with luminous divine visions. Let us also enter the waters, so that we may become partakers of their abundant divine radiance. And having become luminous in form through the Holy Spirit, let us praise with wholehearted thanksgiving Jesus, the Cause of light, the Radiance of the Father’s glory.

Formerly the Israelites purified themselves before drawing near to the mountain blazing with fire, seeing it full of darkness and tempest; yet even then they did not ascend, because it was not safe, but remained below, terrified by the manifold threats of God. Moses himself removed his earthly sandals when he wished to approach the God-trodden ground, at the time when he was wondrously initiated into the lofty vision of the fire-bearing bush, which prefigured a greater mystery. Likewise Joshua the son of Nun received a command from the angel not to approach that ground at all while wearing sandals, out of reverence for the holy land. And what did the three youths do? Did they not expose themselves to the all-devouring fire with souls and bodies purified, when the burning force was transformed for them into refreshing coolness? With what a great miracle did God reward these saints: that at one and the same moment these two opposing energies should coexist around them! And Daniel, the “man greatly beloved in spirit” — had he not prepared himself by purifying fasting, and thus remained in the den with the lions, again receiving his body completely unharmed?

June: Day 6: Venerable Hilarion the New of Dalmatoi

June: Day 6:
Venerable Hilarion the New of Dalmatoi
 
(Do Our Lives Correspond to the Names We Bear?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Hilarion of Dalmatoi, whose memory is celebrated today, was born in 775 and is called "the New" in contrast to Hilarion the Great, who labored before him (in the 4th century). At the age of twenty, he left his parents' home and retired to the Dalmatoi Monastery, where he spent ten years as a novice, working in the monastery garden. Despite this occupation, he did not abandon his monastic labors; "often reading the life of Hilarion the Great, he tried to imitate this ascetic in fasting and prayer." The abbot of the monastery ordained Hilarion to the priesthood, although he, in his humility, did not desire this rank. 

Hilarion's monastic exploits attracted the attention of all the brethren, so that when the abbot died, they decided to choose Hilarion in his place. The monk initially refused and only at the exhortation of the Patriarch of Constantinople Nikephoros accepted the abbacy and governed the monastery for eight years. When the iconoclastic heresy arose, Venerable Hilarion became a zealous defender of Orthodoxy and the veneration of holy icons. For this he endured much torture and was sentenced to exile on one of the islands of the Sea of Marmara, where he lived throughout the entire time the heresy prevailed. Empress Theodora, having restored the veneration of icons, also returned Venerable Hilarion from exile. He returned to the Dalmatoi Monastery and died in 845, at the age of 70.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2025 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2025

 
Beloved children in the Lord,

The Resurrection of Christ that we celebrate these days is a great event in both history and the life of the Church. We celebrate the event of the Resurrection by holding lighted candles with which we illuminate the darkness of the environment and chant the triumphant hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life.”

However, the Resurrection of Christ is not disconnected from His Cross, since both, the Cross and the Resurrection, are interrelated in the life of Christ and in the life of Christians. We see this most clearly in the Mystery of Baptism, by which we become members of the Body of Christ.

Moreover, the day of Pascha has been associated since ancient times with the Baptism of the Catechumens. The Catechumens were prepared for about three years, with catechism and exorcisms, and these were done more intensively during Great Lent, and then group baptisms were held on Great Saturday. Thus, the new members of the Church entered the church with lighted candles and all the faithful joyfully chanted: “All who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ: Alleluia.” Baptism is a person’s participation in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ experientially and truly. It is not an external event, but rather a person’s participation in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. It was preceded during the period of Catechism by the crucifixion of the catechumens’ passions and followed by the life in Christ, and this along with Baptism are characterized as Pascha. This is analyzed more thoroughly and theologically by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, which is read as a reading during the Mystery of Baptism.

February: Day 2: Teaching 2: The Reception of the Lord

February: Day 2: Teaching 2:
The Reception of the Lord
 
(Explanation of the Rite of Churching an Infant)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. What has now happened to our Lord and Savior in the Temple in Jerusalem, something similar, my brethren, was once done to each of us. And we, like Him, were brought into the temple, placed before the Lord, churched, and dedicated to Him for eternal service. All this was done to us at such an age when we, like infants, had no idea of ourselves, and therefore we did not know what was happening to us. But the Holy Church could neither occupy itself, nor occupy us with idle rites; what was done to us had an important meaning. Together with our being brought to the temple and churched, we received many rights and promises; just as at the same time important and sacred duties were imposed on us.

January: Day 6: Teaching 2: The Feast of Theophany

January: Day 6: Teaching 2:
The Feast of Theophany
 
(Why Was the Lord Baptized and Why Are We Baptized?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the most holy God, Himself had no need of baptism, but was baptized for us sinners.

a) He was baptized, first of all, in order to show us an example of Holy Baptism, so that, as He Himself was baptized, so all of us, His followers, would be baptized. According to this example of Christ, we are all baptized, and without baptism it is impossible to be saved, as the Lord said in the Gospel: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

b) Secondly, Jesus Christ was baptized in order to sanctify the waters, to cleanse them from evil demons, and thus to prepare the waters for the saving font for our baptism, as the Holy Church says: “You sanctified the streams of Jordan and crushed the heads of the serpents nesting there” (The Rite of the Sanctification of the Waters of Theophany).

January: Day 6: Teaching 1: The Baptism of the Lord

January: Day 6: Teaching 1:
The Baptism of the Lord
 
(Edifying Lessons From the Event of the Baptism of the Lord:
a. One Should Not Be Ashamed of Labor and Obscurity;
b. The Necessity of Baptism)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Having come to earth for the salvation of the human race and for the proclamation of the truth to it, the Lord Jesus Christ did not begin His public preaching until He was thirty years old, because among the Jews at that time, no one could act as a public teacher and priest before this age. As a simple, ordinary man, He lived with His Mother in Nazareth, in the house of His supposed father Joseph the woodworker, sharing with him his labors. Christ, the Son of God, remained so long in obscurity by the order of Providence, so that the people, by hearing of His birth, would be better prepared to receive Him, and He Himself, Christ, would grow into the fullness of wisdom and grace. When He was thirty years old and the time of His divine appearance to people was approaching, the word of God came to John, the son of Zecheriah, in the desert (Luke 3:2), commanding him to go to the Jordan and baptize the people with water, and also showing him a sign by which he could recognize the Messiah/Christ. And so, the Forerunner goes out to the Jordan, preaches to everyone the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, says that the Kingdom of God is near, the time of the Messiah has come. Everyone rushed to the Jordan to confess their sins and received baptism from John. Among the people going to John to be baptized, Jesus Christ also comes. Although He, being sinless, had no need of such baptism, He goes with the others to John, demands baptism and accepts it in order to show people by His example the need for repentance and cleansing from sins, and at the same time, by the touch of His most pure body, to sanctify the watery nature and give it the gift and power as an external means and mysterious renewal of believers in the Mystery of Baptism, which the Lord established in His New Testament Church. At the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, a great, extraordinary phenomenon occurred: when He, having been baptized, came out of the water, the heavens opened and John saw the Spirit of God, Who descended like a dove upon Christ, and a voice was heard from heaven of God the Father: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

December: Day 31: Teaching 4: On the Eve of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord

 

December: Day 31: Teaching 4:
On the Eve of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord
 
(The Old Testament Circumcision Was Replaced in the New Testament by the Mystery of Baptism)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Circumcision was the most important mystery of the Old Testament Church. It was established from above, before all the mysteries. The circumcised entered into a covenant with God, became members of the Church and had the right to receive earthly and heavenly blessings. On the contrary, the uncircumcised were threatened with disaster and destruction. "The soul of the uncircumcised," said God, "shall be cut off from his people, for he has broken My covenant" (Gen. 17:14).

In establishing this great mystery, God confirmed that Abraham's children should be circumcised forever, as long as it pleased God. "And my covenant," said God, "shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant" (Gen. 7:13).

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

By St. John of Kronstadt

Today, the story from the Gospel of John was read about the healing by the word and command of Christ of a paralytic in Jerusalem, who was at the Sheep Gate pool.

There was "a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.' He answered them, 'He who made me well said to me, Take up your bed and walk.’ Then they asked him, 'Who is the Man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk?' But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, 'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.' The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well” (John 5:1–15).

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2024 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2024

 

To the Clergy, Monks and Laity
of our Sacred Metropolis

Beloved children in the Lord,

We once again celebrate the Resurrection of Christ as a historical event, which took place during the time when Pilate as a Roman governor was in charge of the administration of Palestine, but also as a spiritual and ecclesiastical event. All the historical events connected with the incarnation of the Son and Word of God, His Passion, His Cross, His Burial and His Resurrection are connected with the salvation of man. Thus we celebrate the event of the Resurrection of Christ, as seen in the Service of Matins and in the Divine Liturgy that follows.

Among the other things that we observe in the Resurrection Divine Liturgy is that we chant instead of the Trisagion Hymn ("Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us"), the "Those who have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia!" And we sing this not only at the Divine Liturgy on the evening of Christ's Resurrection, but throughout Renewal Week until the Saturday before Thomas Sunday.

Circumcision and Baptism in the Church Fathers

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Holy Fathers of the Church, interpreting the passages of Holy Scripture about the real and spiritual circumcision, which is Christian Baptism, present wonderful theological truths.

Saint Epiphanios teaches that the circumcision of the flesh prepared and served man until Baptism, which is the great circumcision, since by it we are freed from sins and sealed with the name of God. The sealing with the name of God is recognition that we belong to Christ.

Sacred Chrysostom says that, if circumcision of the flesh separated the Israelites from the Gentiles, much more this is done with Holy Baptism, since by it the believers are distinguished from the non-believers. We see here that those are called believers who were baptized and who rekindle the Grace of Baptism.

Archbishop Elpidophoros Not Welcome To Visit Mount Athos, By Unanimous Decision

By Theodoros Kalmoukos
January 3, 2024
The National Herald

With a catapult decision - it is without precedent - Mount Athos by unanimous decision of all the Monasteries, sent a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is their canonical Bishop, informing him in a respectful way that Archbishop Elpidophoros of America is not welcome to visit the Monastic State during the third ten days of January.

The Representatives and Superiors of the Sacred Monasteries explain the reasons, which go back to what was said during the baptism of the children of the same-sex couple from America, Evangelos Bousis and Peter Douda, on July 9, 2022, in the Sacred Church of Panagia Faneromeni in the Metropolis of Voula.

The Representatives of the Monasteries write that, "we regret to have found, through the published photographs of the Archbishop of America, after the end of the mystery, a wrong impression was created regarding the acceptance by the Church of the mystery of marriage by individuals of the same sex, a message contrary to the doctrines and teaching of the Orthodox Church."

An 18th Century Critique of an Athonite Practice of Re-Baptizing Converts

By Metropolitan Job of Pisidia

Narratives of pilgrims’ journeys have always been precious witnesses to our knowledge of the history of the development of worship... The Wanderings (Мандри) of Vasil Grigorovich Barsky, [which are] the notes of his long pilgrimage to the Christian West and East – the journey of almost his entire life – took place between 1723 and 1747, when he died, a month later having returned to Kiev. They introduce us, in particular, to the peculiarities of worship in the Greek-speaking world under the Ottoman empire, and describe in sufficient detail the Athonite liturgical practice still in use to this day.

Born in 1701 near Kiev, Vasil (Basil) Barsky was an exceptional pilgrim, quite different from the others. As a young twenty-year-old student of the Kiev Theological Academy, he left his homeland, interested in discovering foreign lands. He left with his knowledge of Latin and Slavic languages, which he acquired at the academy, and with theological and liturgical education, which gave him the opportunity, unlike many other pilgrims, to describe and evaluate in detail the divine services he attended in various places of the Christian world, both in the West (Pest, Vienna, Bari, Rome, Venice) and in the East (Corfu, Mount Athos, Palestine, Egypt, Cyprus, Patmos, Constantinople, Athens and Crete)....

Homilies on the Symbol of Faith (The Nicene Creed) - Holy Baptism (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

On the Symbol of Faith (The Nicene Creed)

 

Holy Baptism

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

In the tenth article of the Symbol of Faith, the confession about Baptism is given: "I confess one baptism for the remission of sins," that is, we confess that there is one Baptism, by which sins are forgiven.

First of all, it must be clarified what exactly sin is. The Apostle Paul writes: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), that is, the sin committed by the First-formed is a deprivation of the glory of God.

This means that before sin, Adam and Eve saw in Paradise the glory of God, the Light of God, that is, they had communion with God. After the sin, they lost the vision of the divine Light, that is, they ceased to have communion with God. And the descendants of Adam lived in this sin, they did not have communion with God, only the Righteous in the Old Testament and the Prophets saw the pre-incarnate Word. But even these, due to the entry of death into their existence, when their soul left the body, went to Hades, that is, to the state of death, from which Christ freed them with His descent into Hades. Therefore, the forgiveness of sins is considered as the return of man to communion with God, to the illumination of the nous and the vision of the glory of God.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2016 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 Spiritual Adoption

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

We passed Holy and Great Lent with fasting and prayer, asceticism and repentance and we reached the great day of Christ's Resurrection. On the night of the Resurrection, the hymn of victory against death, sin and the devil is chanted triumphantly, the well-known: "Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life."

In addition, the catechisms of the Catechumens who were preparing for Holy Baptism, which took place on Great Saturday, took place during this holy period in the olden times. Thus, from the night of the Resurrection, the Gospel of John the Evangelist was read in the sacred temples, since they were found worthy to become members of the Body of Christ, members of the Church. This Gospel is called a "spiritual" Gospel, i.e. theological, since it brings the mind of man to the height of Orthodox theology.