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 – …

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 – …

Rejoice, Highly Favored One Set before you the blessed Mary, whose surpassing purity made her meet to be the mother of the Lord. When the angel Gabriel came down to her, in the form of a man, and said: "Rejoice, highly favored one; the Lord is with you," (Luke 1:28) she was terror-stricken and unable to reply, for she had never been saluted by a man before. But, on learning who he was, she spoke, – …

"And the people that were there saw that there was none other boat there save the one into which the disciples had entered, and that Jesus went not into the boat, but His disciples." [v.22] And why is John so exact? Why didn’t he say that the multitudes having passed over on the next day departed? He desires to teach us that Jesus allowed the multitudes to suspect what had happened–if not openly, then in – …

The Confession of St. Thomas the Apostle And now let us see whether the confession of Thomas the Apostle, when he cried, "My Lord and My God," corresponds with this assertion of the Evangelist. We see that he speaks of Him, Whom he confesses to be God, as My God. Now Thomas was undoubtedly familiar with those words of the Lord, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is One." How then could the faith – …

He indeed did not baptize, but they who carried the news, desiring to excite their hearers to envy, so reported. “Wherefore then ‘departed’ He?” Not from fear, but to take away their malice, and to soften their envy. He was indeed able to restrain them when they came against Him, but this He would not do continually, that the Dispensation of the Flesh might not be disbelieved. For had He often been seized and escaped, – …

Note: Many of the following sayings and quotations deal with forgiveness of others and reconciliation with them. This is because Lent is a sacrifice offered to our Lord, and since He ordered us before offering a sacrifice to: "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Mt 5:24) This is also why the Church chose the reading of Mt – …

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” What is this? He must be exalted, but I must be humbled. How is Jesus to increase? How is God to increase? The perfect does not increase. God neither increases nor decreases. For if He increases, He is not perfect; if He decreases, he is not God. And how can Jesus increase, being God? If to man’s estate, since He deigned to be man and was a child; – …

The Second Sunday of the Great and Holy Fast: On the Mountain of Temptation (Matins: Luke 4:1-13) And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God'” (Luke 4:3-4). On the First Temptation Then the devil draws near to tempt Him; expecting that the feeling – …

Does God Listen to Sinners? The Lord Jesus…opened the eyes of a man who was born blind. Brethren, if we consider our hereditary punishment, the whole world is blind. And therefore came Christ the Enlightener, because the devil had been the Blinder. He made all men to be born blind, who seduced the first man. Let them run to the Enlightener, let them run, believe, receive the clay made of the spittle. The Word is – …

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 – …

Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” After he had cast down their spirit, mark how again he refreshes it, saying, “as ministers of Christ.” Do not then, letting go the Master, receive a name from the servants and ministers. “Stewards;” he says, indicating that we ought not to give these things unto all, but unto whom it is due, and to whom it is – …