A Woman Wrapped in the Sun: 2026 Pastoral Encyclical for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

A Woman Wrapped in the Sun
 
Pastoral Encyclical for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (2026)

Today we celebrate the great feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, and we celebrate it with great splendor. Contributing to this is also the season of summer and the holidays, which provide an opportunity for physical rest and relaxation from the many activities of the winter. Thus, the feast of the Most Holy Theotokos, our Panagia, as we customarily call her, urges us to contemplate even more, as much as we are able with our limited capacities, the glory that surrounds her, the honor she possesses in our Church, but also the glory she possesses in the heavens.

Much has been written about the Most Holy Theotokos by the Fathers of the Church, who theologize about her, while the sacred hymnographers have also composed many hymns that we chant in honor of her glorious person, both concerning the work she accomplished through the birth of Christ and concerning her present state in the heavens, in the glory that Christ has bestowed upon her, as well as her intercessions on behalf of us all. Today I will interpret a vision that the Evangelist John saw and recorded in the sacred book of Revelation, which reveals her honor and her glory.

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture: The Apocalypse of John (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture 

The Apocalypse of John

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sunday, August 31, 2025)

So far, in the sermons for the months of July and August, a brief presentation has been made of the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are called the Holy Scriptures or the Bible, and now reference will be made to the last book of the Holy Scriptures, which is called the Apocalypse of John (or the Book of Revelation), with which the entire Holy Scripture ends. The first book of the Holy Bible, as we have seen, is the book called Genesis, in which the revelation of God to the Prophet Moses is recorded, and He revealed to him how the world and man were created, and how man sinned and left Paradise, and his life was difficult. The last book of the Holy Bible, titled the Apocalypse of John, records the journey of the Church towards the Kingdom of God, towards the end of the world and the beginning of new life, the Heavenly Kingdom. Therefore, we have the beginning and the end of the world, but also the beginning and endless life in the Kingdom of God.

Saint Prochoros the Deacon

Written information about Saint Prochoros is scarce. The only mention of his name is in the Acts of the Apostles (6:5), as one of the seven first Deacons ordained by the Apostles. A tradition states that he was the nephew of the Protomartyr Stephen. Apart from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, there is no other mention of his name in an official ecclesiastical document. 

He is traditionally numbered among the Seventy Apostles, and it is believed he first accompanied the Apostle Peter before joining the Apostle John in his missionary travels.

More information is found in the Apocryphal work "Acts, namely the Travels of Saint John the Evangelist, written by his disciple Prochoros." According to the said book, manuscripts of which date back to the 6th century and are preserved in the Monastery of Saint John in Patmos, Prochoros is presented as a disciple and follower of the Apostle John in Asia Minor, in Ephesus and in Patmos. While on the island of Patmos it is believed that the Apostle John dictated to Prochoros his Gospel.

April: Day 11: Holy Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum

April: Day 11:
Holy Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum
 
(Without Labors and Exploits One Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In the Apocalypse of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian it is said that the Lord in a revelation to Saint John commanded him to write to seven angels, i.e. to the bishops of the seven Churches of Asia Minor. At the same time, mention is made of Saint Antipas, who was Bishop of the Church in Pergamum, whose memory is celebrated today:

“And to the Angel of the Church in Pergamum write... I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” (Revelation 2:13).

Homily on the Gospel Reading for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

 

 By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on July 30, 1950)

In today's reading, you have heard the extremely important words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which I need to explain so that you understand them properly and imprint them in your hearts.

The Lord Jesus Christ, before His terrible sufferings, prayed to His Father like this: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:1-3).

What is eternal life? This is the same as the Kingdom of Heaven.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2011 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The First and Second Resurrection

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Resurrection of Christ, which we solemnly celebrate, after many days of fasting, repentance and prayer, is the central mystery of our faith and life in Christ. Without the Resurrection of Christ we would be under the rule of death, sin and the devil and there would be no gateway for life. That is why the Apostle Paul proclaims: "If Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain and you are in your sins" (1 Cor. 10:17). Christ with His Resurrection gave us the grace to be resurrected spiritually from this life, but also physically at the Second Coming of Christ, as we confess in the Creed: "I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come."

Usually, when we examine the subject of the Resurrection from the point of view of the liturgical typikon, we speak of a first Resurrection, which is the Matins and the Divine Liturgy that takes place on Pascha night, and a second Resurrection, which is the Vespers of Love, which takes place on the day of Pascha, that is, in the afternoon of Pascha Sunday. However, in Holy Scripture the expression first and second resurrection is associated with faithful Christians and refers to the spiritual life. Characteristic is the passage of John the Evangelist written in the Apocalypse: "Blessed is he who has part in the first resurrection" (Rev. 20:5). This means that there is a first resurrection, in which the saints participate, and a second resurrection.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 1998 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

To
the Sacred Clergy and the pious people
of our Sacred Metropolis

My beloved brethren,

After His Resurrection, Christ appeared to His Disciples and showed them the wounds formed on His body by the spear and the nails of the Cross. This was His mark of recognition.

There is a beautiful image in the Book of the Apocalypse of John which graphically presents the sacrificial work of Christ, that He was crucified on the Cross and then resurrected, thus offering His love to the human race. This is the image of the "slain" Lamb. The Evangelist John says: "And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth" (Rev. 5:6).