This is one of my favorite hymns in the Orthodox (Byzantine) tradition. The first is sung in the original Greek, the second is the English translation. The hymn was authored by St. Nectarios of Aegina early in the last century. Also, the term Theotokos means “bearer of God” or “the One who bore God” in Greek. It is the name of the Virgin Mary and functions as a Christological statement, that is, it affirms the child born of Mary is God. This was decided at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
An Orthodox priest places the horrors and evil of Abortion in their proper perspective.
OrthodoxNet.com | Fr. Jason Kappanadze | Aug. 13, 2008
There is evil, injustice, pain, suffering and unfairness everywhere, and our Christian hearts must be wounded by all of it. But would you consider the argument that the worst of these is abortion?
Imagine if a terrible disease began to spread through the country, resulting in 50,000,000 suffering deaths — the equivalent of 1,851 OCAs. Imagine that the disease was able to mutate, avoiding every attempt to eradicate it, and able to appear in different forms at will so as to infect as many victims as possible. What if there was no end in sight for this death machine? Would the headlines or office talk be about health insurance, or global warming, or distribution of wealth? I think not! [Read more…]
OrthodoxNet.com | Jun. 9, 2008
Not all participants of the inter-Christian dialogue are ready to pursue partnership and solidarity, Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, said.
“The divergence is so deep, that it can be compared to bottomless abysses,” Hilarion said in his interview to the Soyuznoye Veche, the newspaper of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, commenting his dialogue with a Lutheran bishop. [Read more…]
OrthodoxEurope.org | Bishop Hilarion | May. 5, 2008
Europe is witnessing a significant re-shaping of its religious map. In some countries, where not long ago an atheist ideology was officially imposed on the entire population, and where churches were heavily persecuted, we are now witnessing an unprecedented religious revival. In other countries, however, we see a clear decline in religious practice. Secularism is gaining momentum in nations which not long ago identified themselves as Christian, while the growth of Islam is also quite noticeable. [Read more…]
Interfax | Bishop Hilarion | Mar. 28, 2008
Q: What do you mean by the hell on Earth?
A: When a man using his power over others makes Earth hell for them. Didn’t Hitler turn Earth to hell for millions of people tried and tortured in concentration camps, perished in gas cameras and battlefields? Didn’t Lenin and Stalin make hell for thousands and millions of people who died in camps or were shot on false denunciations or sentenced by Stalin’s “troika”? Don’t today’s terrorists, who kill peaceful citizens, take them hostage and cut off their heads, turn Earth to hell? [Read more…]
OrthodoxyToday.org | Fr. George Morelli | Apr. 1, 2008
The ethos of Lent for the committed Orthodox Christian is told to us by St. Dorotheus of Gaza. He likened it to a wake up call, ‘a coming to one’s self’ (like the Prodigal Son) to find meaning for the entire year. The “great and saving forty days” are to wake us up to all times and seasons of all year. [Read more…]
OrthodoxyToday.org | Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis | Mar. 14, 2008
One of the statements in the Synodikon proclaims: “This is the faith of the Apostles. This is the faith of the Fathers. This is the Faith of the Orthodox. This is the faith that sustains the universe.” What does this statement mean? [Read more…]
Serfes.org | Lia Eliades | March 2008
At the Ascension of Jesus, the angels were head saying: “Why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Jesus will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” What do the Church Fathers teach us about the “Second Coming?” [Read more…]
St. Stephen the Great Charitable Trust is Rescuing Britain’s Christian Heritage.
Learn more about Saint Stephen the Great Charitable Trust
OrthodoxyToday.org | Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev | Mar. 14, 2008
The recent debate on euthanasia is impossible to examine apart from the main problems in the dialogue between the religious world-view and Western secular humanism over the values which should lie at the foundation of the ‘new world order.’ In our opinion, these arguments demonstrate the anti-human essence of atheistic humanism, which lays claims to being a universal ideology and openly opposes itself to the traditional notions of life and death. [Read more…]