My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name
those whom You have given Me, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE
as We are one.” (John 17:11).

Our Most Merciful Lord, God and Savior, that the Father Himself protect His Disciples now that He is no longer with them on earth. But what kind of protection does the Father give? He bestows UNITY, “that they may be one.” “If they PRESERVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND DO NOT SEPARATE INTO FACTIONS, THEY WILL BE INVINCIBLE.” Saint Theophylact says, “Of course, Christ does not mean that they should become literally one person. He means that they should imitate the Father and the Son by acquiring UNANIMITY OF THOUGHT AND WILL AMONG THEMSELVES.”

The Orthodox Church possesses that ‘unanimity and will,’ for she (Church) has and will continue to “preserve love for one another.” Sadly, this is not the case or the reality of the heterodox, resulting in a great number of “factions” or thousands of denominations. Instead of unanimity, there is only fragmentation and divisions among them. There is no solidarity or unity of thought and will among them, but only a cacophony of diverse beliefs, and countless false interpretations of the Holy Scripture, religious anarchy, heresy, confusion, and distortion of the Gospel, etc.

The authentic Church of Christ is ONE. She is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the Orthodox Church. We must continue to be obedient to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we imitate the unity of God the Holy Trinity, “that they may be one as We are one.” Our Heavenly Father will always continue to protect His true disciples. “While I was with you, you were protected and guarded by the power of the Father’s name. Now you must believe that He will continue to guard you, for it is His nature to do so.” The Triune God always acts as one in everything. There is absolutely no separation between the Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Indeed there is “Oneness of Essence, there is fullness of Divinity, and equality of honor.”

The Orthodox Christian believers who receive the Divine Eucharist, the True Body and the True Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, are united with Him, are united with one another, and are given eternal life. The Holy Eucharist is the greatest Christian Mystery (Sacrament). Jesus says, “… He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood DWELLETH IN ME, AND I IN HIM” (John 6:53-56). It is the unity with the Lord that brings to the believer remission of sins and life eternal (Matthew 26:26-28). The Orthodox Christian understands the importance of receiving Holy Communion frequently, for he/she believes that this is the only way to maintain the necessary unity and communion with our Savior God.

For me, there can be no life without the Holy Eucharist. Holy Communion for the practicing Orthodox Christian is everything. It is the very breath of life. Without it, life as we know it has no meaning or purpose. Only when the believer is not able to receive the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Christ do they understand how necessary it is for His very existence. There are some Orthodox Christian witnesses and survivors who were imprisoned in Siberia under the communist Soviet Union who reveal how they, even under horrific conditions, were able to secretly, and only with few things, conduct the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion at the risk of torture and death.

Concerning the performance of the Mysterion (Sacrament) of the Holy Eucharist in the early Apostolic Church, we read in the Acts of the Apostles (2:42, 46; 20:6-7), and in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 10 and 11, the holy Apostle Paul writes: ” The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? For we, being many ARE ONE BREAD, and ONE BODY FOR WE ARE ALL PARTAKERS OF THE ONE BREAD” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

Having it made perfectly clear for all Orthodox Christians, Saint Paul points out that the Holy Eucharist is not simply a symbol as the heterodox believe. In the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, at the moment when the priest is INVOKING THE Holy Spirit upon the offered Gifts, blesses with the prayer to God the Father: “MAKE THIS BREAD THE PRECIOUS BODY OF THY CHRIST; AND THAT WHICH IS THIS CUP, THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY CHRIST; CHANGING THEM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.” THE BREAD AND WINE ACTUALLY ARE CHANGED INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD BY THE COMING DOWN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. After this moment, although our eyes see bread and wine on the Holy Table, IN THEIR VERY ESSENCE, INVISIBLY FOR SENSUAL EYES, THIS IS THE TRUE BODY AND TRUE BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS, ONLY UNDER THE “FORMS” of bread and wine.

This great miracle takes place every time there is a Divine Liturgy. Should we not acknowledge it and praise God for giving us this Eucharist for the remission of our sins and eternal life? Everyone present at the Divine Liturgy is an eyewitness to this extraordinary miracle. How then are any of those present not inspired and edified? How can one leave the presence of God and His Holy Gifts empty handed? How can an Orthodox Christian believer see the Divine Liturgy as “boring” or “too long” or another “empty” ancient “ritual”? I have seen personally, over many years as a parish priest, that there are some who place a greater importance on the coffee and social gathering following the Divine Liturgy than what took place moments ago in the church. How can this be?

Speaking to retired brother priests years ago, they said to me that one of their most difficult experiences was not having a church and being able to conduct the Divine Liturgy as they did for all of their lives. The Orthodox priest is not, as someone told me once, that of ‘a spiritual guide’, ‘a driver’, ‘a conductor’, in Greek ‘οδηγός’, or a kind of a director. The actual truth, is that the Orthodox priest is a “λειτουργός,” one who performs the Divine Liturgy, “the celebrant.” The priest’s life is to serve the faithful by offering them the Bloodless Sacrifice, the Precious Body and Precious Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All Orthodox Christians present in church during these sacred moments are glorifying God, crying out to Him: “We hymn Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks to Thee, O Lord…”

“Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of that cup.” ( 1 Corinthians 11:28)

____________

“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in our Transfigured Savior, Lord,and God Jesus Christ.

A GREATER INSIGHT ON THE TRANSFIGURATION
OF OUR SAVIOR, LOR, AND GOD JESUS CHRIST

The word ‘TRANSFIGURATION’ means change of form. In other words, at a certain moment, Christ revealed what He had been concealing, He MANIFESTED THE GLORY OF THE DIVINITY WITH WHICH His HUMAN NATURE WAS UNITED FROM THE MOMENT OF HIS CONCEPTION IN THE WOMB OF THE THEOTOKOS. Through His great love for mankind, Christ concealed what He ALWAYS HAD, in order that His Disciples should not “be burned” by reason of their unfitness, because they had not yet been prepared…

“… Saint John Chrysostom says that Christ did not show His whole Divinity, but A SMALL ENERGY OF IT. And He did this, on the one hand, TO GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THE DIVINE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM IS LIKE, and on the other hand, OUT OF LOVE FOR MANKIND, LEST THEY EVEN LOSE THEIR LIFE ON SEEING THE FULL GLORY OF THE GODHEAD. Therefore the mystery of the Transfiguration is both A REVELATION (THEOPHANY) and an EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE AND HIS PHILANTHROPY…

“… Christ’s Transfiguration TOOK PLACE DURING THE DAY. The Disciples saw two suns, SANDORY and NOETIC. In of the troparia (hymns) Saint John of Damascus writes: “The visible sun was eclipsed by the rays of Thy Divinity when it saw Thee transfigured on Mount Tabor, O my Jesus.”

Saint Isaac the Syrian says that the Disciples on Tabor saw two suns “one in the sky as usual and one contrary to the usual.” Saint Gregory Palamas says that the sensible sun is seen by all who dwell on the earth, apart, of course, from anyone who is blind, while the intelligible sun of righteousness is seen by those WHO ARE WORTHY AND PREPARED… Therefore the intelligible and UNCREATED LIGHT is seen by all in whom God grants this experience, since God reveals Himself to those He wishes, and this revelation IS ACCORDING TO THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GRANTED IT…

“… The word for DIVINIITY ‘THEOTETA’ has many meanings and point to different theological truths… The word can be also derived from the word ‘TO SEE’. indicating that God SEES AND KNOWS ALL THINGS EVEN BEFORE THEIR BIRTH. It also indicates God’s FORESIGHT OR PROVIDENCE, being connected with seeing in the sense of of EVERSEEING. In addition it relates to deifying (theosis). All these etymological meanings point to the many energies of God. His PROVIDENCE, BRIGHTNESS and DEIFYING ENERGY, as well as to the impossibilit of participating in God’s essence or nature…

“… The Church and the Divine Eucharist can be called the Kingdom of God, IF THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT ATTAIN THE VISION OF THE UNCREATED GLORY OF GOD, WHICH IS THE REAL KINGDOM. If we speak of the Church and the Kingdom of God and do not link them with seeing God, the vision of the uncreated lights, we are making a theological error. Moreover, the Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Church manifest the Kingdom of God and guide man to it, precisely because they are very closely connected with the glorifying illuminating and deifying energy of God.

It is a teaching of the holy Fathers that Christ on Mt.Tabor showed men THE ARCHETYPAL BEAUTY OF THEIR IMAGE. Christ IS THE MODEL OF CREATION OF MAN, BECAUSE MAN WAS FORMED IN THE IMAGE OF THE LOGOS/WORD. By this we see the glory of the image and what a great honor it is that we are in the image of God. Our image is not low, but high, because the Glorified Christ IS THE PROTOTYPE OF OUR CREATION, but also BECAUSE HE IS OUR ARTIFICER AND CREATOR…

“… In the book of Exodus it says that God led the people of Israel on their journey from the land of Egypt to the promised land, lighting the night with the fire and covering them in the daytime with the cloud, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire” (Exodus13:21).

On Mt. Tabor as well we have both light and cloud. Christ is a Light, for His face shone like the sun, and the presence of the All-Holy Spirit is a cloud. No one should understand by this truth that the work of the Son is different from the work of the Holy Spirit, that the economy of the Son is independent of the economy of the Holy Spirit. It is well known that the creation and re-creation of man and the world is a common energy of the Trinitarian God. (Source: The Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos)

_________________

“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in the Transfigured Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON AUGUST 6th
OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES
THE METAMORPHOSIS (TRANSFIGURATION) OF OUR LORD, AND GOD,
AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Feast. Grave Tone

THOU wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God, showing
to Thy Disciples Thy glory as each one could endure. Shine forth Thou
on us, who are sinners all, Thy Light Ever-unending, through the
prayers of the Theotokos. Light-bestower, glory to Thee.

Kontakion Hymn. Grave Tone

ON the mount Thou wast transfigured, and Thy disciples, as much
as they could bear, beheld Thy glory, O Christ our God; that when
they should see Thee crucified, they would know Thy Passion to be
willing, and would preach to the world that Thou, in truth, art the
Effulgence of the Father.

Our Lord had spoken to His disciples many times, not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory which is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "THERE BE SOME STANDING HERE WHICH SHALL NOT TASTE OF DEATH, TILL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM" (Matthew 16:28). He took His three foremost disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was TRANSFIGURED before them. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of Light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, MOSES, AND ELIAS, who spoke with the Lord concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both THE LIVING and THE DEAD, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died centuries before, and Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while he was alive. After a little while, a radiant cloud overshadowed them, and out of the cloud they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan River at the Baptism of Christ, TESTIFYING TO THE DIVINITY OF JESUS and saying, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL-PLEASED, HEAR YE HIM" (Matthew 17:5).

Such are the marvels truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of saying: Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun" (Matthew 13:43). It is because of this that the Kontakion hymn of the Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of The Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to Tradition, the Lord’s Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion. This is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14th).

"By His Transfiguration, Christ showed not only THE DEIFICATION (THEOSIS) OF HUMAN NATURE, BUT ALSO THE GLORY OF THOSE WHO WILL BE UNITED WITH HIM. Therefore, the even of the Transfiguration is a central point OF THE SOTERIOLOGICAL (SALVIFIC) TEACHING OF THE CHURCH, SINCE IT SHOWS WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MAN’S EXISTENCE."

According to Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, in order for anyone to attain the experience of the glory of his theosis (deification), he must go through PURIFICATION OF HIS HEART. This is why Christ illumines man in accordance WITH THE PURITY OF THE HEART. Saint Gregory the Theologian says characteristically: "Therefore one must first be purified oneself, and then associate oneself with the pure."

The Holy Fathers of the Church, speaking of the Transfiguration of Christ and the partaking of the divine glory, SPEAK OF THE PERSONAL ASCENT ON THE MOUNT OF THE VISION OF GOD. It is the constant cry of the Church: "Make Thine everlasting Light shine forth also upon us sinners." In a related prayer in the first hour, we feel the need to ask Christ: "O Christ, the True Light, which illumines and sanctifieth every man who cometh into the world! Let the Light of Thy countenance be shown upon us, that in it we may behold the Light ineffable." Continual ascent and development, not from the ape to man, but FROM MAN TO GOD.

Saint Maximos the Confessor teaches that Christ is not shown to all the same way. To the beginners, he is shown in the form of a servant, while to those who are ASCENDING THE MOUNTAIN OF THE VISION OF GOD, He is shown "IN THE FORM OF GOD". (Source: The Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos).

_______________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

The First Enemies of the Veneration of
the Mother of God.

By Saint John Maximovitch

THE MORE the faith of Christ spread and the Name of the Savior of the world was glorified on earth, and together with Him also She Who was vouchsafed to be the Mother of the God-Man, –the more did the hatred of the enemies of Christ increase towards Her. Mary was the Mother of Jesus. She manifested a hitherto unheard-of example of purity and righteousness, and furthermore, now departed from this life. She was a mighty support for Christians, even though invisible to bodily eyes. Therefore all who hated Jesus Christ and did not believe in Him, who did not understand His Teachings, or to be more precise, did not wish to understand as the Church understood, who wished TO REPLACE THE PREACHING OF CHRIST WITH THEIR OWN HUMAN REASONING–ALL OF THESE TRANSFERRED THEIR HATRED FOR CHRIST, FOR THE GOSPEL AND THE CHURCH, TO THE Most Pure Virgin Mary. They wished to belittle the Mother, so as thereby to destroy faith also in Her Son, to create a false picture of Her among men in order to have the opportunity to rebuild the whole Christian teaching on a different foundation. In the womb of Mary, God and man WERE UNITED. She was the One Who served as it were as the Ladder for the Son of God, Who DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN. To strike a blow at Her VENERATION MEANS TO STRIKE CHRISTIANITY at the root, to destroy it in its very foundation.

And the very beginning of Her heavenly glory was marked on earth by an outburst of malice and hatred toward Her BY UNBELIEVERS. When, after Her holy repose (dormition), the Holy Apostles were carrying her body for burial in Gethsemane to the place chosen by her; Saint John the Theologian went ahead carrying THE BRANCH FROM PARADISE WHICH THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL HAD BROUGHT TO THE Holy Virgin THREE DAYS BEFORE THIS WHEN HE CAME FROM HEAVEN TO ANNOUNCE TO HER APPROACHING DEPARTURE TO THE HEAVENLY MANSIONS.

"When Israel went out of Egypt, and the house of Jacob from among a barbarous people," chanted Saint Peter from Psalm 113; "ALLELUIA," sand the whole assembly of the Apostles together with their disciples, as for example Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, who likewise had been miraculously transported at that time to Jerusalem. And while this holy hymn was being sung, which was called by the Jews the "GREAT ALLELUIA," THAT IS, THE GREAT "PRAISE YE THE LORD," one Jewish priest, Athonius, leaped up to the bier and wished to overturn it and throw to the ground the body of the Mother of God.

The brazenness of Anthonius has immediately punished: the Archangel Michael with an invisible sword cut off his hand, which remained hanging on the bier. The thunderstruck Anthonius, experiencing a tormenting pain, in awareness of his sin, turned in prayer to Jesus Who he had hated up to then and he was immediately healed. He did not delay in accepting Christianity and confessing it before his former co-religionists, for which he received from them a martyr’s death. Thus, the attempt to offend the honor of the Mother of God served for Her GREATER GLORIFICATION.

The enemies of Christ resolved not to manifest their lack of veneration for the body of the Most-Pure One further at that time by crude violence, but their malice did not cease. Seeing that Christianity was spreading everywhere, they began to spread various vile slanders about Christians. They did not spare the name of the Mother of Christ either, and they invented the story that Jesus of Nazareth had come from a base and immoral environment, and that His Mother had associated with a certain Roman soldier.

But here the lie was too evident for this fiction to attract serious attention. The whole family of Joseph the Betrothed and Mary Herself were known well by the inhabitants of Nazareth and the surrounding countryside in their time. "Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His Mother called Mary, and His brethren: James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? (Matthew 13:54-55; Mark 6:3; Lune 4:22.) So said His fellow countrymen in Nazareth when Christ revealed before them in the synagogue His other-worldly wisdom. In small towns the family matters of everyone are well known; very strict watch was kept them over the purity of married life.

Would people really have behaved with respect towards Jesus, called Him to preach in the synagogue, if He had been born of illegitimate cohabitation? To Mary the Law of Moses would have been applied, which commanded that such persons be stoned to death; and the Pharisees would have taken the opportunity many times to reproach Christ for the conduct of His Mother. But just the contrary was the case. Mary enjoyed great respect; at Cana, She was an honored guest at the wedding, and even when Her Son was condemned, no one allowed himself to ridicule or censure His Mother…

"… The Jewish slanderers strove to prove that at least that Mary was not a virgin when She gave birth to Christ. They even said that the prophecies concerning the birth-giving of the Messiah by a virgin had never existed and that therefore it was entirely in vain that Christians thought to exalt Jesus by the fact that a prophecy was supposedly being fulfilled in Him.

Jewish translators were found (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) who made new translations of the Old Testament into Greek and in these translated the well-known prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) thus: "Behold, a young woman will conceive." They asserted that the Hebrew word Aalma signified "young woman" and not "virgin," has stood in the sacred translation of the Seventy Translators (Septuagint), where this passage had been TRANSLATED "BEHOLD, A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE."

By this translation, they wished to prove that Christians, on the basis of an incorrect translation of the word Aalma, thought to ascribe to Mary something impossible–a birth-giving without a man, while in actuality the birth of Christ was not in the least different from other human births…

"… The seedless birth of Chrit can and could be denied ONLY by those who deny the Gospel, whereas the Church of Christ from of old confesses Christ "INCARNATE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ANDTHE VIRGIN MARY." But the birth of God from the Ever-Virgin was a stumbling block FOR THOSE WHO WISHED TO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS BUT DID NOT WISH TO HUMBLE THEMSELVES IN MIND AND BE ZEALOUS FOR PURITY OF LIFE. The pure life of Mary was a reproach for those who were impure also in their thoughts. (Source: The Orthodox Veneration of MARY the Birthgiver of God)

__________________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Thngs!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"The Lady and Mistress of the world"

O Virgin, Mother of God, Your dignity we glorify Your help we constantly implore,
Your miraculous icons. O Mother of all graces we venerate. Since you are the
hope of the world. In our needs do not despise our supplications, but deliver us
from misfortunes.

In the first centuries of the Church of Christ, the Truth of God the Logos/Word becoming man and His birth of the Virgin Mary was the catholic (universal) faith. Therefore, the Apostolic Holy Fathers expressed themselves thus: "Our God Jesus Christ was in the womb of Mary"; "God took flesh of the Virgin Mary" (Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, Saint Irenaeus). The Holy Fathers of the Church of the fourth century, Sts. Athanasius, Ephraim the Syrian, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory of Nyssa, called the Most Holy Virgin the Theotokos.

In the Fifth Century, because of the heresy of Nestorius, the Church triumphantly confessed the Most Holy Virgin to be the Mother of God at the Third Ecumenical Synod, accepting and confirming the following words of Saint Cyril of Alexandria: "If anyone will not confess that Immanuel IS VERY GOD, AND THAT THEREFORE THE HOLY VIRGIN IS THEOTOKOS INASMUCH AS IN THE FLESH SHE BORE THE LOGOS/WORD OF GOD MADE FLESH: LET HIM BE ANATHEMA."

Saint Justin Martyr wrote: "[Christ] has become man by the Virgin, in order that by the same way in which the disobedience caused by the serpent took its beginning, by way should it also take its destruction. For Eve, being a virgin and incorrupt, conceived the word spoken of the serpent, and brought forth disobedience and death. But Mary the virgin receiving faith and grace when the Angel Gabriel brought her the Good News […] answered: "Be it unto me according to Thy word."

Saint Gregory Palamas said, "It was through the Theotokos that the Lord came to us." Also, St. Gregory wrote: "The Holy Theotokos alone in her body glorified by God, now enjoys the celestial realm together with her Son. For earth and grave and death did not hold forever her life-originating and God receiving body – the dwelling more favored than heaven… how can we not proclaim her pre-eminence to regard all creatures."

Proklos stated: "For if the mother had not remained a virgin, He Who was born would have been a mere man and the birth would not have been miraculous. If she had not remained a virgin after birth, how would have been God and how would this have been an ineffable mystery? He was born ineffably, entering harmlessly through closed doors […].

"Oh womb, in which the testament of our deliverence was composed,
Oh womb, in which the weapon against the Devil was fashioned,
Oh earth, in which the husbandman sprouted an ear of corn without seed,
Oh bemple, in which God became priest […]. -Proklos (an early prayer of praise)

"For behold all generations will call be blessed" (Luke 1:18)

For two thousand years, the Orthodox Church has preserved the devotion to the Ever-Virgin Mary as the prototype of all Christians–the Model of what we are to become in Christ. The Most Holy Mother of God was pure and unconditionally obedient to the Almighty God. The Holy Tradition of the Church teaches that she remained a virgin ALL HER LIFE. The Ever-Virgin’s spiritual purity, her wholehearted devotion to God, is to be emulated by all Christians.

The All-Holy Mother of God is also our Model par excellence in that she was THE FIRST PERSON TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST. As the Theotokos bore her Son Jesus Christ in her sacred womb physically, all Orthodox Christians now have the blessing and honor of bearing God WITHIN THEM SPIRITUALLY. By God’s grace and mercy we are purified and empowered to become like Him.

The honor we give to the Ever-Virgin Mary also signifies our beliefs of who Jesus Christ is. From ancient times the Orthodox Church has called her the Mother of God (Gk. THETOKOS), a title which implies that her Son IS TRULY FULLY MAN AND FULLY GOD. As His Mother, Panagia was THE SOURCE OF JESUS’ HUMAN NATURE; YET THE One she bore in her womb WAS ALSO THE ETERNAL GOD.

It is therefore proper and especially correct because of her role in God’s plan of salvation,, Orthodox Christians appropriately honor her AS THE FIRST AMONG THE SAINTS. The holy Archangel Gabriel initiated this honor in his address to her "Rejoice, HIGHLY FAVORED ONE, THE LORD IS WITH YOU, BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN!" (Luke 1:28). This salutation clearly indicates that God Himself HAD CHOSEN TO HONOR MARY. Her favored status was confirmed when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was then six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Saint Elizabeth greeted Mary with these words: "BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB! But why is this granted me, THAT THE MOTHER OF MY LORD SHOULD COME TO ME?" (Luke 1:42-43). And Mary herself, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, PREDICTED THE HONOR THAT WOULD BE PAID TO HER THROUGHOUT HISTORY: "FOR BEHOLD, HENCEFORTH ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSED" (Luke 1:48).

In obedience to God’s clear intention, therefore, our Holy Orthodox Church HONORS the Ever-Virgin Mary IN HYMNS, ICONS AND SPECIAL FEAST DAYS SUCH AS HER DORMITION (KOIMISIS). We entreat and supplicate her as the human being who was most intimate with our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, TO INTERCEDE WITH HER SON AND GOD ON OUR BEHALF. We ask her, AS THE FIRST BELIEVER and the Mother of the Church, FOR GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION. We, Orthodox Christians, VENERATED HER–but WE DO NOT WORSHIP HER; FOR WORSHIP BELONGS TO GOD ALONE.

In Orthros (Matins), Esperinos (Vespers), and all divine services of the hours of prayer, we chant the following hymn, which expresses the Ever-Virgin Mary’s unique place in God’s creation.

It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos, Ever-Blessed and Most Pure,
and the Mother of our God. More Honorable than the Cherubim, and more
glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, without defilement you gave
birth TO GOD the Logos/Word: True Theotokos, we magnify you.

_____________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

O VIRGIN PURE
[A poem written by Saint Nektarios of Aigina]

O Virgin pure, immaculate,
O Lady Theotokos.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O fleece bedewed with every grace.
O Virgin Queen and Mother
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
More radiant than the rays of the sun,
and higher than the heavens.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O joy of virgin choruses, superior to the
Angels.
O rejoice, O Bride unwedded!
O brighter than the firmament and purer
than the sun’s light.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
More holy than the multitude of all the
heavenly armies.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!

O Ever-Virgin of all the world, the
Lady.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Bride All-Pure immaculate, O Lady
Panagia.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Mary Bride and Queen of all, the cause
of our rejoicing.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Noble Maiden, Gracious Queen,
Supreme Holy Mother.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
More Honorable than the Cherubim,
beyond compare more glorious
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
Then the unbodied Seraphim,
transcending the Angelic Thrones.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!

Rejoice, the song of Cherubim rejoice,
the hymn of Angels
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
Rejoice the ode of Seraphim, the joy of
the Archangels.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
Rejoice, O peace and happiness and
cause of our rejoicing.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Sacred Chamber of the Logos/Word, the flower
of corruption.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
Rejoice O Sacred Tree of life and Fount of
immortality.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!

I supplicate you, Lady now, I fervently
attend to you.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Queen of all, I earnestly implore and
seek your favor.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O Gracious Maiden, spotless one, O Lady
Panagia.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
I call upon you ardently, O Holy Hallowed
Temple.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
O help me and deliver me protect me from
the enemy,
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!
And make me an inheritor of the blessed life
eternal.
O rejoice, Bride unwedded!

____________

AKATHISTOS TO THE MOTHER OF GOD

Joy to Thee, Mother of the Lamb and the Shepherd.
Joy to Thee, Herder of spiritual sheep.
Joy to Thee, Avenger on invisible enemies.
Joy to Thee, Opener of the gates of Paradise.
Joy to Thee, heaven rejoices with the earth.
Joy to Thee, earth dances with Heaven.
Joy to Thee, Resounding Tongue of the Apostles.
Joy to Thee, uncounquerable Courage of the victorious.
Joy to Thee, Mighty Bulwork of Faith.
Joy to Thee, glorious Monument of Grace.
Joy to Thee, Through Thee Hades was stripped.
Joy to Thee, through Thee we received the garb of glory.
Joy to Thee, virgin Bride.
Joy to Thee, Initiate of inscrutable counsels.
Joy to Thee, Warrant of them who crave rest.
Joy to Thee, Prelude of the Wonder of Christ.
Joy to Thee, Perfection of His Teachings.
Joy to Thee, Heavenly Ladder, upon Whom God descended.
Joy to Thee, Bridge that leads from earth up to Heaven.
Joy to Thee, Glory oft-declared by the Angels.
Joy to Thee, sore Wound of all devils.
Joy to Thee, Who inexpressibly hast receive the Light.
Joy to Thee, Who hast taught no one the way of it.
Joy to Thee, overflowing the knowlede of the wise.
Joy to Thee, illuminating the senses of the faithful.
Joy to Thee, virgin Bride.
(Orthros, Saturday Akathistos)

______________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS SUPPLICATE THE THEOTOKOS AND
EVER-VIRGIN MARY TO SAVE US FROM THE PANDEMIC AND
OF ALL DANGER

As Orthodox Christians, we instinctively supplicate the Mother of God to come to our aid and save us not only from the current pandemic but all danger and especially from all evil. Christians turn to our Almighty God for everything and believe that He because of His unconditional love for mankind will hear our cries and prayers of faith and bestow upon us all His protection and healing.

On August 1st every year we commemorate the Procession of the Precious and Life-giving Cross. Because of the many diseases that occur in the month of August, the tradition prevailed of old in Constantinople to carry the Precious Wood of the Cross in procession throughout the city for its SANCTIFICATION AND ITS DELIVERANCE FROM ILLNESS. It was brought forth from the imperial treasury on the last day of July and placed upon the Holy Table of the Great Church of Agia Sophia (Holy Wisdom); and from the August 1st until the Holy Dormition of the Theotokos, it was carried in procession throughout the city and was set forth FOR VENERATION BEFORE THE PEOPLE.

How blessed are we Orthodox Christians to have the Most Holy Mother of God to intercede and to save us from sin and death. How appropriate and timely is this holy season of the Dekapentavgousto (15 days of August) during which we conduct daily divine services and with faith to supplicate the Mother of God to protect us, our loved ones, relatives, friends, and all of humanity from illness of body and soul. We turn to her who is our greatest Advocate and who sheds tears of love and seeks the blessings for all of her Son and God.

Looking at the Paraklesis divine service we come to understand better our special relationship with the Theotokos as our Heavenly Holy Mother.

Hymns from the Paraklesis dedicated to the Theotokos:

To the Theotokos, let us run now most fervently,
As sinners and lowly ones,
Let us fall down in repentance,
Crying from the depths of our soul:
Lady, come and help us,
Have compassion upon us;
Hasten now for we are lost
In the host of our errors;
Do not turn your servants away,
FOR YOU ALONE ARE A HOPE TO US.

+

O Theotokos, we shall never be silent.
Of your mighty acts, all we the unworthy;
Had you not stood to intercede for us
Who would have delivered us,
From the numerous perils?
Who would have preserved us all
Until now with our freedom?
O Lady, we shall not depart from you;
FOR YOU ALWAYS SAVE YOUR SERVANTS
FROM ALL TRIBULATION.

+

To God and the Savior you’ve given birth;
I ask you, O Virgin,
From THE DANGERS DELIVER ME;
FOR NOW, I RUN TO YOU FOR REFUGE,
With both my soul and reasoning.

+

With most serious ailments,
And with the passions so dark,
I AM BEING TESTED, O Virgin
Come and bring help to me;
For I have known of you,
That you are without fail
The ENDLESS TREASURE OF CURES,
Only All-blameless One.

+

DELIVER US,
ALL OF YOUR SERVANTS, FROM DANGER, O Theotokos;
After God, WE ALL FLEE TO YOU,
FOR SHELTER AND COVERING
AS AN UNSHAKABLE WALL AND OUR PROTECTION.

+

A fervent prayer, and wall most unshakable
A merciful spring
And SHELTER OF ALL MANKIND;
Fervently, we cry to you
Theotokos, our Lady,
Come to us
And from all dangers now deliver us
THE ONLY PROTECTION WHO SPEEDS TO US.

+

A PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS UNSHAKABLE,
Intercessor to our Most Holy Maker, unwavering
Please reject not
The PRAYERFUL CRIES OF THOSE WHO ARE IN SIN.
Instead, come to us, for you are good;
Your loving help bring to us,
WHO ARE CRYING IN FAITH TO YOU:
HASTEN TO INTERCEDE
AND SPEED NOW TO SUPPLICATE,
AS THE PROTECTION FOR ALL TIME,
THEOTOKOS, FOR THOSE WHO HONOR YOU.

+

No one is turned away from you,
Ashamed and empty, WHO FLEE UNTO YOU,
O Pure Virgin Theotokos;
But ONE ASKS FOR THE FAVOR,
AND THE GIFT IS RECEIVED FROM YOU
TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR OWN REQUEST.

+

Put me not INTO THE HANDS
OF ANY HUMAN PROTECTION,
O Our Lady, Most Holy,
But do now receive the prayers of our supplication;
Sorrow has taken me,
And I am unable
To withstand and bear the demon’s darts;
Shelter I do not have,
Nor a place to go, worthless that I am;
Lady OF HUMANITY,
THE SHELTER OF THE FAITHFUL AND THEIR HOPE,
DO NOT REJECT MY PRAYERS TO YOU,
DO THE THINGS THAT PROFIT ME.

+

ALL THOSE
DO YOU SHELTER, O Good One,
Those who IN THEIR FAITH FLEE UNTO YOU,
With your strong hand, your protect;
We who sin have no one else,
Who intercedes for us
BEFORE GOD, PRAYING ENDLESSLY,
IN ILLS AND ALL DANGERS,
FOR US WHO ARE LAIDEN WITH
OUR MANY SINS AND MISTAKES;
Mother of our God in the Highest
THEREFORE, WE FALL DOWN TO YOU, HUMBLY;
FROM ALL THE MISFORTUNES, KEEP YOUR SERVANTS SAFE.

+

LADY, DO YOU RECEIVE,
From your servants, their many prayers;
AND DELIVER ALL OF US,
FROM ALL SADNESS AND NECESSITY.

+

ALL OF MY HOPE
IS PLACED BEFORE YOU, Most Holy One,
Mother of our God,
GUARD ME WITH CARE UNDER YOUR SHELTER.

As all of you can see we rely upon the intercessions of the Theotokos for our Savior to save us from sin, illness, and death. The divine services of our Holy Orthodox Church are not an ancient ritual that has no meaning or purpose. One either believes or does not it is as simple as that. Science CANNOT REPLACE OUR CREATOR AND GOD.

The current pandemic is not the first pandemic or the last. As long as humanity rejects God and wishes to follow its own course and destiny the suffering will continue. Our Creator is the answer to all of our needs, challenges, and problems. We are truly just creatures who cannot exist without Him. Man must divorce himself from pride and arrogance and with humility and reverence accept God’s will. What greater proof of His unconditional love than His Son’s Sacrifice on the Cross to save us?

When hopefully all of you attend the divine service of the Paraklesis to the Theotokos be ready to shed tears of repentance and with faith ask for Her blessings and intercessions to save us from ourselves and the Evil One.

_______________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sinere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"THE GARDEN OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD"

The Holy Mountain is known to the Orthodox Christian World as "the Garden of the Most Holy Mother of God" who is "THE JOY OF ALL", "THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS", "FERVENT INTERCESSOR AND UNASSAILABLE WALL, FOUNT OF MERCY AND REFUGE FOR THE WORLD".

There is a close relationship and link between the Holy Mountain and the Mother of God. I shall set out briefly some points that demonstrate this close association.

Her Living Presence

The Mother of God rules over the Holy Mountain, which is OUT OF BOUNDS TO WOMEN, as A LIVING PRESENCE. Perhaps women should not complain about being unable to visit the Holy Mountain, because there, the Mother of God, WHO IS THE TRUE MODEL FOR EVERY WOMAN, EVERY HUMAN BEING, IS TRULY HONORED. Nowhere else on earth is so much honor given TO A DEIFIED WOMAN, or so much incense offered up in love and affection to her, as on the Holy Mountain. Indeed, as the Most Holy Virgin loves in return all who love her, there is nowhere else where we encounter her own love and tenderness so abundantly poured out as on the Holy Mountain. The love of the Athonite Fathers for the Most Holy Mother of God witness to the overcoming of the divisions between male and female…

"… The love of the monks of the Holy Mountain for the Holy Most Holy Virgin reveals the relationship that will exist between human beings in the age to come when their bodies will become spiritual and they will live like the Angels. It is an eschatological experience and expectation. Because of this devout women often say, "It is a good thing that the Holy Mountain is out of bounds to us, as it is the only place where a woman is revered as a person, as the image and likeness of God, in the person of the Mother of God."

All over the Holy Mountain, the Most Holy Mother of God makes HER PRESENCE FELT. We feel her gentle caress, her love, and tenderness, her fragrance, and her motherly love. The Fathers of the Holy Mountain, who keep constant vigil as the sentinels of her Garden, are especially aware of this.

The 1985 calendar of the Monastery of Xeropotamou shows many holy icons of the Most Holy Mother of God, with the elaborate titles ascribed to her, each one relating to a particular miraculous intervention. In the Monastery of the Great Lavra are the holy icons called "Koukouzelissa" (named after a chanter) and " The Stewardess". In the Monastery of Vatopedi: "The Foundress" or "The Sacristan", "The Consolation", "She Who was Wounded", "The Oil-Giver", "The Victim of the Shot". In the Monastery of Iviron: "She Who guards the Gate". In the Monastery of Chilandari: "Withe Three Hands", "The Milk-Giver". In the Monastery of Dionysiou: "The Holy Virgin of the Angelic Salutations" or "The Myrrh-Giver". In the Monastery of Koutloumousiou: "The Awe-Inspiring Protection". In the Monastery of Pantokrator: "The Eldress". In the Monastery of Zographou: "The One Foretold" or "Of the Akathist", "She Who Listens". In the Monastery of Docheiariou: "She Who is Swift to Hear". In the Monastery of Philotheou: "The Sweet Kissing". In the Monastery of Saint Paul: "The Myrrh-Giver". In the Monastery of Xenophontos: "She Who Shows the Way". In the Monastery of Kostamonitou: "She Who Stands Surety". the

The Mother of God’s Promise

The love of the holy Fathers is not of human and psychological origin but is a revelation of the Mother of God herself, especially those who would dwell there and call upon the grace of Her Son. The promise was given to Saint Peter the Athonite, the first inhabitant of the Holy Mountain, as recorded by Saint Gregory Palamas. The fact that this revelation of the Most Holy Virgin was given to a holy man and preserved by a holy Father of the Church, Saint Gregory Palamas, is a sign of the reliability of the revelation.

The Most Holy Mother of God said to Saint Peter the Athonite:

"There is a mountain in Europe, very beautiful and very large, facing south and extending far out in the sea. This place I HAVE CHOSEN OUT OF THE WHOLE EARanTH AND DECIDED TO GIVE IT TO THE MONKS AS A SUITABLE PLACE TO DWELL. SO I HAVE DEDICATED IT TO MYSELF AS A PERSONAL HABITATION, AND FROM NOW IT WILL BE CALLED HOLY. I will champion throughout their lives those who take up the struggle there against the common enemy (Satan) of men, and I shall always be their invincible ally, a guide as to what they should do, an interpreter of what they should not do, protectress, physician, provider of all the nourishment and medical treatment you wish, as much as it is necessary to sustain and benefit the body and to awaken and empower the soul and not let it fall away from the good. Moreover, I will urge my Son and God to give perfect forgiveness of their sins to all those who end their lives well here."

When we study the lives and teachings of the Athonite Fathers, and when we meet contemporary monks from the Holy Mountain, we hear many accounts of appearances of the Mother of God and of her protection…

"… The Mother of God lived the mystery of SELF-EMPTYING IN HER LIFE, BY REMAINING IN HESYCHIA AND PRAYER in the Holy of Holies but also throughout her later life, which was connected with the incarnation of the Logos/Word of God. She lived the mystery in her humility at the conception of Christ and her silence at His birth, through taking up her own cross during the whole of Christ’s life, culminating on Golgotha, but also through Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension and the coming of the Parakletos. She stayed at the center of the Church in utter silence. Her self-emptying and deification (theosis) accorded to her with the self-emptying of the Son and Logos/Word of God, which is why she proved to be "THE BOUNDRY BETWEEN CREATED AND UNCREATED NATURE", according to Saint Gregory Palamas. (Source: Orthodox Monasticism as the Way of Life of Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos)

_______________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"

– Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George

My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE HOLY DORMITION FAST, AUGUST 1st – 15th
A TIME OF PRAYER, WORSHIP, REPENTANCE,
RECONCILIATION AND RENEWAL.

[Abstain from meat and dairy products, fish,