"The Grace of God" by Saint Athanasius And that young man who went into a far country, and there wasted his substance, living in dissipation, if he receive a desire for this divine feast, and, coming to himself, shall say, ‘How many hired servants of my father have bread to spare, while I perish here with hunger!’ and shall next arise and come to his father, and confess to him, saying, ‘I have sinned against – …

Since, again, some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond ‎the pre-arranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant of the ‎methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption, they thus ‎entertain heretical opinions. For the heretics, despising the handiwork of God, ‎and not admitting the salvation of their flesh, while they also treat the promise ‎of God contemptuously, and pass beyond God altogether in the sentiments they ‎form, affirm – …

THE DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT St. Peter said that to lie to the Holy Spirit means to lie to God (Acts 5:4), and since He is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord, so He is God (Job 33:4, 2 Cor. 3:3; Isa. 61:1). This Comforter, the Holy Spirit descended and came upon the Apostles in the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). He is the One, God promised to send in – …

The Light of this World Again My Jesus, and again a mystery; not deceitful nor disorderly, nor belonging to Greek error or drunkenness (for so I call their solemnities, and so I think will every man of sound sense); but a mystery lofty and divine, and allied to the Glory above. For the Holy Day of the Lights, to which we have come, and which we are celebrating today, has for its origin the Baptism – …

1. The Ascension gives the spirit of hope. Who would have thought during the sufferings of the Cross, and what humiliations and scorn that were there, that He will end in that glory in the Resurrection and the Ascension and the sitting at the right hand of the Father?! Does not this give us the fullness of hope whenever we are surrounded by tribulations? Let us remember that after the sorrows of the Golgotha, there – …

THE OFFICE OF DEACONESS Oftentimes in our Church girls wonder why they can not be ordained as deaconesses. It is hard to argue against their ability to learn and chant the hymnology of the Church (al-han) as well as the boys. In order to answer this question, as Orthodox Christians, we have to clarify the service (ministry) of the ordained deacon (male diaconate), as well as discuss the service (ministry) of the deaconess (female diaconate) – …

Actually friendship is a vital part of young people’s lives today. They cannot do without their friends. They would feel so threatened if they lost their friends. It is a natural part of growing up. Everyone needs Friends; even adults cannot do without certain friends. So, it is a human need. Rarely do we find someone who does not have a couple of friends, especially in the teenage years. I am worried however, that perhaps – …

Drug addiction is considered to be one of the most serious issues which society faces in the modern age, for addiction is the destruction of man and the loss of the most valuable thing that society possesses, namely, youth. It is an expression of the frustration and the pain from which the community suffers. Addiction and crime are two sides of the same coin, and they are a threat to humanity at large. Addiction is – …

A paper presented in the name of His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy at the Orientale Lumen conference in Melbourne, Australia, July 9th – 12th 2000. The Coptic Orthodox Church participated in the theological dialogue with the Assyrian Church of the East decided by the Fourth general assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in Cyprus 1986. The long process of this dialogue continued until the Sixth (6th) General Assembly of the Council in November 1994, – …

What is Intercession?‎ The formal definition of intercession is a “supplication to God in behalf of another ‎person. Christ intercedes before God the Fr. on behalf of the repentant sinner, and ‎God’s people intercede for one another.”‎ We ask the intercessions of Saint Mary, the Angels, and Archangels. We ask the ‎disciples, apostles, martyrs, fathers, and saints to pray on our behalf.‎ Not only do we intercede to the saints are in heaven, but also – …

YOU ARE GOD’S BEAUTIFUL WORLD! From time to time a person feels that his life is empty and meaningless, similar to the rugged land “without form,” void of splendor and beauty, a useless life, surrounded by “darkness” (Gen. 1:2). Or like a debased life which deserves to fall under God’s wrath, such as in the time of the flood, from which no one was saved, except Noah and his family in the ark, and when – …

The inward state of Christ’s disciples, when before His passion He talked with them as with children of great things, but in such a ‎way as befitted the great things to be spoken to children, because, having not yet received the Holy Spirit, as they did after His ‎resurrection, either by His own breathing upon them, or by descent from above, they had a mental capacity for the human rather than ‎the divine,—is everywhere declared – …