Emperor Nicephorus (Botaniates) of Constantinople reigned from 1078 until 1081. He had decided to build a cathedral that would be almost as grand as St. Sophia. When it was ready, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Alexandria as well as the patriarch of Constantinople were all invited to consecrate the beautiful new church built by the emperor. Announcements had been made about the consecration for several months in advance so that everyone would have time to travel to the great city of Constantinople; remember that during that time there were no cars, planes or trains. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2018
Elder Cleopa
~ Words of the Church Fathers ~
“Do not do anything without signing yourself with the sign of the Cross! When you depart on a journey, when you begin your work, when you go to study, when you are alone, and when you are with other people, seal yourself with the Holy Cross on your forehead, your body, your chest, your heart, your lips, your eyes, your ears. All of you should be sealed with the sign of Christ’s victory over hell. Then you will no longer be afraid of charms, evil spirits, or sorcery, because these are dissolved by the power of the Cross like wax before fire and like dust before the wind.”
+ Elder Cleopa
Comments Off on Elder Cleopa
Filed under Readings, Wisdom of the Church Fathers
Just Reach Out in Humble Faith
7th Sunday of Luke, Luke 8: 41 – 56
Even in a small parish like ours, it is not hard to see that people are different from one another in many ways. We have different interests, personal backgrounds, and opinions on all kinds of things. We do not all look or dress alike. But what we have in common as Orthodox Christians is far more profound than any of that. Our salvation is not in any conventional human characteristic or endeavor, but in the healing mercy of Jesus Christ. Continue reading
Comments Off on Just Reach Out in Humble Faith
Filed under Readings, Sunday Homilies
St Vasilios High Tea Fundraiser
Comments Off on St Vasilios High Tea Fundraiser
October 21, 2018 · 12:38 pmThe Good Witness of Becoming our True Selves
6th Sunday of Luke, Luke 8:26-39
If you are like me, you often do not recognize yourself in your own words, thoughts, and deeds. Sometimes we see how we fall short in an instant, while other times it becomes clear to us in retrospect, perhaps even years later. Regardless, it is so easy for us all to be so consumed by anger, pride, lust, envy, and other disordered desires that we lose control of ourselves and act more like a bundle of inflamed passions than like a person created in God’s image and likeness. And then when we calm down and come to our senses, we are understandably ashamed and embarrassed. It is a great blow to our egos to recognize how easily our sense of self disintegrates before the passions that so often run wild within us. Continue reading
Comments Off on The Good Witness of Becoming our True Selves
Filed under Readings, Sunday Homilies
We all receive God’s blessings equally
~ Words of the Church Fathers ~
Saint Peter the Damascene writes: “We all receive God’s blessings equally. But some of us, receiving God’s fire, that is, His word, become soft like beeswax, while the others like clay become hard as stone. And if we do not want Him, He does not force any of us, but like the sun He sends His rays and illuminates the whole world, and he who wants to see Him, sees Him, whereas the one who does not want to see Him, is not forced by Him. And no one is responsible for this privation of light except the one who does not want to have it. God created the sun and the eye. Man is free to receive the sun’s light or not. The same is true here. God sends the light of knowledge like rays to all, but He also gave us faith like an eye. The one who wants to receive knowledge through faith, keeps it by his works, and so God gives him more willingness, knowledge, and power.”
~~~~~
“Be ever more obedient to God and He will save you.”
St. Pachomius
Comments Off on We all receive God’s blessings equally
Filed under Readings, Wisdom of the Church Fathers
St Gerasimos of Cephalonia
Saint Gerasimos was from the Peloponnesus, the son of Demetrius and Kale, of the family of Notaras. He was reared in piety by them and studied the Sacred writings. He left his country and went throughout various lands, and finally came to Cephalonia, where he restored a certain old church and built a convent around it, where it stands to this day at the place called Omala. He finished the course of his life there in asceticism in the year 1570. His sacred relics, which remain incorrupt, are kept there for the sanctification of the faithful.
Growing Spiritually: An Orthodox Christian Perspective
The question of “spiritual growth” is a serious one; we speak about it all the time, but we do not all have the same understanding of what that really means. Continue reading
Comments Off on Growing Spiritually: An Orthodox Christian Perspective
Filed under Readings, Sunday Homilies
St Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church 