If the kingdom of heaven is likened to a kingdom in this parable, then the King must be the Son of God, for He is the King of the heavens, the absolute Wisdom, the absolute Righteousness and absolute Truth. Thus, is He not so also absolute Kingdom? But it is not a kingdom of any of those below, nor of a part of those above, but of all the things above, which were called heavens. – …

Pangratios was born about 69 AD to a Christian family who received its Christian faith from the very Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Apostolic Ages, the young church survived and was strengthened by visits from the chosen Apostles and the Apostles disciples. With such a strong religious background, it is not difficult to understand how one could become such an ardent defender of the Orthodox Faith. History tells us that Pangratios became – …

As we stand at the door of the new millennium, adhering to the Scriptures, the Apostolic Tradition, the Church’s dogmas, and the patristic teachings, all may seem unreal and even “primitive” or archaic. The Orthodox Church has a reputation for incessantly clinging to Tradition, and that She has no message to bring to contemporary society. But as Orthodox Christians, how do we deal with such claims? How do we deal with a society, which can – …

Asceticism is to live with satisfaction on your minimal needs without experiencing delight and getting away from materialism,. St. Paul the Apostle reminded his disciple Timothy in his first epistle, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” ; “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” and “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction – …

Termination of pregnancy occurs for various reasons. When there are either maternal or fetal factors, which cause termination of pregnancy without human intervention, then it is referred to as “spontaneous abortion”. It can also result from trauma to the mother as a result of an accident, or due to other reasons. However, sometimes termination of pregnancy is due to human intervention because of the woman’s choice to abort by request or consent. We now pose – …

Issued by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church and His Holiness Karekin I, Catholicos of all Armenians Preface H.H. Catholicos Karakin I, the Catholicos of all Armenia, visited Egypt from January 14-18, 1998. On Wednesday, January 14, he visited H.H. Pope Shenoud who introduced him and invited him to address the thousands of people who usually attend H.H. Pope Shenouda’s weekly meeting. The Catholicos spoke about the importance of Church – …

In celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, we encounter many questions, like Why do we celebrate on the 7th of January instead of the 25th of December? What is the difference between the Wise Men (or Magi) and the shepherds? How do we explain the differences in teh geneologies and nativity accounts in the gospels according to St. Mark and St. Luke? Was St. Mary from the tribe of Judah or the – …

The lawyer–wishing, or even expecting to be able to entrap Christ, and get Him to say something against Moses, and affirm that His own doctrine, was far better than the commandment of which Moses was the minister–drew near tempting Him, and saying, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life? But anyone who thoroughly understands the mystery of the Incarnation may well say to him, If you are skillful in the law, and in the – …

He is called the Spirit, according to the Scripture just now read, “For to ‎one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom.” [1 Cor. 12:8] He is called the ‎Spirit of Truth, as the Savior says, “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come.” ‎‎[John 16:13] He is called also the Comforter, as He said, “For if I go not ‎away, the Comforter will not come unto you.” [John 16:7]‎ But that He – …

I. Let Us Celebrate Christmas. Christ is born, glorify Him! Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him! Christ on earth, be exalted! Sing to the Lord all the whole earth (Ps. 96:1,11), and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because – …

1. Our Behavior Inside and Outside of Church It is very noticeable that many people during Pascha Week are one thing inside church and completely different outside. In side church, black curtains, somber hymns, solemn readings, and concentrating on the suffering of Christ. Outside of church, we often laugh, joke around, socialize, think and talk about many worldly issues. We lose all the spiritual depth that we gained inside church. Let us concentrate our thoughts, – …

The death on the Cross, then, for us has proved seemly and fitting, and its cause has been shown to be reasonable in every respect; and it may justly be argued that in no other way than by the Cross was it right for the salvation of all to take place. For not even thus–not even on the Cross–did He leave Himself concealed; but far otherwise, while He made creation witness to the presence of – …