The words of St. Paul to his disciple, Timothy, were very strange, when he told him, “ I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2Tim.1:5). Is faith inherited? The very genuine faith in the heart of Timothy, the son, was the very same faith as that living in the heart of his – …

It pleases me on this blessed day to congratulate all of you on the occasion of the Nativity of the Lord Christ. I felicitate my Muslim brothers on this occasion as I felicitate my Christian brothers because the Lord Christ is for everyone and everyone believe in His miraculous virginal birth. I would like to talk to you about a single characteristic of His many characteristics and it is His characteristic as a teacher. They – …

God Tires for Us In the Gospel lesson the holy evangelist has shown us most abundantly that our Lord Jesus Christ assumed the weakness of the human race…Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the field which holy Jacob had left to his son, Joseph. I do not think that this field was left to Joseph as much as to Christ, whom holy Joseph the patriarch prefigured, for truly the sun and moon adore Him, while – …

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Lk. 9:23) As we look at this biblical commandment said by our Lord Jesus Christ and mentioned in all the synoptic gospels (Matt. 16:24; Mk. 8:34; Lk. 9:23), we may find ourselves puzzled and at loss. As Orthodox Christians, we certainly want to follow our Lord Jesus Christ and fulfill His commandments in our lives, – …

“Here am I and the Children Whom the Lord has given me.” (Is. 8:18) Children are a gift from God, as it is written in the Psalms, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." (Ps. 127:3) Parents have a responsibility towards their children, as St. Paul wrote, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition – …

Many regard the period of the Fifty Holy Days to be a time to lax spiritually, especially that it comes after the asceticism of Great Lent, with its daily Divine Liturgies, and Holy Pascha Week, with its long prayers and comforting hymns. What further strengthens this belief in the mind of many is the fact that the Fifty Holy Days is a period that is unique for being devoid of any fasting days, something that – …

Offering praise is the work of angels who constantly love to be before the Throne of God. They praise Him zealously since all their pleasure, satisfaction, and comfort is in the praise of their Creator. Offering of praise is the most sublime type of prayer, for it is conversing with God. When we praise, we are likened with the heavenly hosts who praise God incessantly. As St. Gregory the Theologian says, “He who has granted – …

1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by ‘accidie’ – lethargy – , and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, ‘Lord, I want to be saved, but these thoughts will not leave me alone. What shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?’ A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his – …

An excerpt from Origen’s Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John, Book I, Ante-Nicene Fathers v. 10. Christ as the Resurrection. Now He is called the light of men and the true light and the light of the word, because He brightens and irradiates the higher parts of men, or, in a word, of all reasonable beings. And similarly it is from and because of the energy with which He causes the old deadness – …

How many times have you admitted that you love God but: · When you stand up for prayers, you do not feel His presence? · When you open the Bible to read, you feel it is puzzling? · When you enter the church, you feel no spiritual awe? · That you find no comfort in any kind of worship? · Neither do you find it easy to keep the commandments. What is the solution to – …

Coming to a neighboring city, after having made a discourse, he observed a young man in the company of a fair stature and pleasing aspect, and being much taken with him, he presented him to the bishop whom he had ordained for that see, saying, "In the presence of Christ, and before this congregation, I earnestly recommend this young man to your care." The bishop took the trust upon him and promised to discharge it – …

The saints and those who truly practice virtue, "put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire (which is idolatry)." [Col. 3:5]. As the result of this, they are pure and without spot, confiding in the promise of our Savior, who said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." [Matt. 5:8] Having died to the world and renounced the merchandise of the world, they gained an – …