50 Professional Photos of the Chapel of Saint Theodora in Vasta of Arcadia

In 2014, Christos Kintis posted 50 professional photos of the Chapel of Saint Theodora in Vasta of Arcadia, with the phenomenon of the 17 trees on its roof that has stood intact for centuries. See the photos

 

HERE

 

 

Homily for the Sunday Before the Elevation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross (Theophanes Kerameus)

 By Theophanes Kerameus (+ 1152)

Come today, O God-loving assembly, let us celebrate the forefeast of the elevation of the life-giving Cross. The divinely-sweet voice of the Gospel echoes in my hearing, which addresses the mystery of the crucifixion, setting as an example the bronze serpent that the Israelites had hung on the wooden staff. And for me the readings become precursors and foretellings of the veneration of the Cross. So let us carefully turn our gaze to the all-illumined words of the Gospel using them as a projection of the royal scepter.

The Lord said: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." It is good that He said that. Indeed, this Gospel passage, looking to the purpose of the day, suppressed what had preceded it. So when that disciple of the night came to the Lord - you surely understand that I mean the Pharisee Nikodemos - and the Savior taught him about the "born from above", he, because his mind was still possessed by Jewish thickness, automatically came to thoughts of the womb imagining carnal birth. So when the Lord saw him not following Him at the height of this doctrine, He said to him: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven;" as if to say: You, Nikodemos, are not amenable to heavenly mystagogy and are trying to find some human explanation; but "no one has ascended to heaven" to introduce these things there, or "came down from heaven", except He who came down from heaven and teaches these things there, "the Son of Man who is in heaven".

Encomium on the Nativity of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos (St. Nicholas Cabasilas) - 4 of 5

 ...continued from part three.    

9. Thus the All-Immaculate with her rightful gifts and their utilization herself wove for herself this crown. For, while the help she received from God was the same as that received by all, she so far exceeded the others by what she added of herself, that she not only conquered wherever they were conquered, but also conquered so brilliantly, so that her victory may be sufficient for her own glory as well as for other people and be like a victory achieved by all. For she did not prove the human race worse by surpassing it as an adversary, but embellished it. Nor did she make it ashamed as if defeated, but showed it more brilliantly. Not even by becoming extremely beautiful herself did she reveal the ugliness of her race, but she gave them more beauty. Nor again, by successfully defending human nature in herself, did she thereby clearly transfer the cause of sin to each man separately, making the responsibilities heavier for men. On the contrary, having herself prospered in an unprecedented way, she dishonored and defeated sin, in order to free from all evil the oppressed and vanquished. And thus the beauty which was given to human nature, she preserved not only in herself, but, as far as possible, in all other men, unadulterated by every foreign element.

Homily Four on the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (St. Justin Popovich)

By St. Justin Popovich

The Lord who dwells in heaven, wanting to appear on earth and live among people, first established on it the abode of His glory, His Most Pure Mother. For it is the custom of emperors to prepare a palace for themselves in the city to which they intend to go. And just as the palaces of earthly kings are built by the most experienced craftsmen from precious materials in the most beautiful places, more beautiful and spacious than other human abodes, so the palace of glory of the Heavenly King was to be built. In the Old Testament, when God wanted to live in Jerusalem, Solomon built a temple for Him through the most experienced builder Huram, who was very skilled, wise and full of knowledge (3 Kings 7:13-40; 2 Chronicles 2:13-14.; 4:11-16). Solomon built the temple from the most expensive materials, from excellent stones, from fragrant trees: cedar and cypress from Lebanon, and from pure gold, on the highest place, on Mount Moriah. The fact that cherubs, various trees and flowers are sculpted on its walls contributes a lot to the beauty of the temple. The temple was huge in terms of space, so that many Israelites could comfortably fit in it, and the glory of the Lord descended upon it in fire and cloud. However, that temple was not enough to accommodate the uncontainable God. Solomon built a temple for Him, but the Most High does not live in temples made with hands. "Where is the home you would build me?" says the Lord. "And where is the place for my rest" (Is. 66:1; Acts 7:48).

The Cave of the Archangel Michael of Panormitis in Rhodes (History and Miraculous Testimonies)

By Lazos Mantikos,
Journalist for the Greek TV station Antenna

Surely everyone will have something to say about the Archangel Michael of Panormitis. The name has an ancient origin. Based on etymology, there are two versions: Because it is on a bay (ormos) or it is related to the deserted location of Apomero (ermo) located southwest of the beautiful island of Symi. It is one of the largest pilgrimage sites of the Dodecanese and has a pan-Hellenic pan-Orthodox reputation.

My Testimony
 

I will begin with my own story... When I brought my newborn daughter to Rhodes, my sister brought as a gift prayer ropes that had been blessed from the Sacred Monastery of the Commander Michael in Panormitis of Symi. One of them was to be put on her little leg. I didn't want the newborn baby to have anything on her. I said it in general, to make her feel comfortable. But I did not imagine that in my sleep I would see the Archangel Michael of Panormitis looking at me fiercely with his long gray hair and dressed in his silver armor. Terrified I woke up not knowing who it was, then I saw the icon they had left on my daughter's bed. He was exactly as I saw him in my dream.

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

 The Commonwealth of the Church

The Chanter

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Usually people characterize the Bishop as High Clergy and the Presbyters and Deacons as Lower Clergy. However, this is not correct from the Church's point of view. Because in the texts of the Church, the High Clergy are the Bishop, the Presbyter and the Deacon, who belong to the three degrees of the Priesthood, and to the lower degree belong the Subdeacons, the Chanters, the Readers, because they help the Clerics in their liturgical ministry.

The Lower Clergy also includes chanters, or as they are usually called, sacred chanters. This is the chanter who is on the right side of the Temple, at the right analogion and is called the right chanter, and there is also the chanter who is on the left side of the Temple, at the left analogion and is called the left chanter. In the Patriarchal Church the right chanter is called Protopsaltis and the left chanter is called Lampadarios.

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece Warns of New Activity of the Church of Scientology

The Drug-Free World chapter of Athens is supported by the Church of Scientology of Greece.

Regarding New Activity of Scientology in Greece

September 4, 2023

 

The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece with a sense of responsibility informs Christians everywhere that the "Church of Scientology" which operated in Greece in the form of an association under the name "Greek Center of Applied Philosophy" (Κέντρο Εφαρμοσμένης Φιλοσοφίας Ελλάδος - K.E.F.E.) with two decisions of the Greek Judiciary (7380/1996 of the Athens Court of First Instance and 10.493/1997 of the Athens Court of Appeal) was found to be "an organization with medically, socially and morally dangerous and harmful practices."

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

The Commonwealth of the Church

The Monk

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Monastics are a special order developed over time. There have always been the anchorites, as we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews of the Apostle Paul, who lived in the mountains, the caves and the holes of the earth (see Heb. 11). After the period of persecution, there was a tendency among Christians to leave the cities and live in the mountains, and so these became the monks who lived in Sketes and Monasteries.

As we see in the ancient Church, between the Clergy and the laity an order was formed which is known as the monastic order. Saint Dionysios the Areopagite calls them "therapeutes", because they pray to God, and they are the first order in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy among the laity. In other words, the Church Hierarchy includes the Bishops, the Presbyters, the Deacons and immediately after is the order of the laity, of which the monks are the first.

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday of Matthew (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday of Matthew

"He will destroy those wicked men." (Matt. 21:41)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

An estate owner planted a vineyard, arranged it properly, did everything necessary for it, left it to the vinedressers, and he himself went to another country.

When the time came to gather the fruits, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to gather their fruits. But the vinedressers beat all the servants, and killed others. The owner sent others, more than before, but the vinedressers did the same with those. Finally, he sent his son - they will pity, be afraid, be ashamed, he thought, to kill his son. But they also killed his son - so that after him, as they said, they would take possession of the inheritance, the estate.