Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture - The Pentateuch (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture 

The Pentateuch 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sunday, July 13, 2025)

The first five books of the Old Testament and the Holy Scriptures in general are called the "Pentateuch" and are understood as the "Pentateuch Bible" since the 2nd century AD by the Greeks and Christians.

In the Hebrew period these books are called the "Law of Moses" or the "Book of the Law of Moses", because they were given by God to Moses, so that with this law he could guide His people. Christ Himself considered the author to be Moses, which is why in a conversation He had with the Jews of His time He said: “If you believe Moses, believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46).

These five books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Homilies on the Weekly Festal Cycle - The Eighth Day (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Weekly Festal Cycle

The Eighth Day

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou    

In the previous sermons of the Sundays of July and August, the weekly festal cycle was analyzed, that is, the meaning of the days of each week were analyzed and we saw what we celebrate every day of the week, consistently, apart from the feasts of Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Saints. Thus, it was emphasized many times that the week consists of seven days, the first day for us Christians is Sunday, "the first of the Sabbaths" and the last day is the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.

However, in the texts of Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, Sunday is characterized as the first day, "the first of the Sabbaths", but also as the eighth day, because it is the first day of the week and because it is the day after the Sabbath - the seventh day. Thus, it is characterized as first and eighth.

Homilies on the Commonwealth of the Church - The Neokoros (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 The Commonwealth of the Church

The Neokoros

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In the service staff of the Church, which is included among the lower clergy, there is also the Neokoros [known in English as the Sexton], who is responsible for the order in the Sacred Temples and their cleanliness. The Neokoros is also called a Lamplighter, because he lights the lamps, or Assemblyman, because in the past he called the Christians to the services, or Bell Ringer, because he rang the bells, or Ecclesiarch, because he took care of the good functioning of the Sacred Temples.

The word "neokoros" means the servant and guardian of the Temple. The word neos in the Attic dialect means "temple", and the verb koreo means "to clean," "to sweep," so a neokoros is the one who takes care of and cleans the Sacred Temple.