In the ninth century the use of unleavened bread had become obligatory in the West, while the Orthodox continued the exclusive offering of leavened bread. The issue became divisive when the provinces of Byzantine Italy which were under the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople were forcibly incorporated into the Church of Rome following their […]
Orthodox Christian Stewardship
June 5, 2017 By
by John G. Panagiotou If you want to know the spiritual state and strength of a church, just look at its stewardship report. What do Jesus, the Bible, and the Church Fathers say about Tithing and Giving to God? “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”1 These words of Jesus have resonated […]
The Great Preacher
June 3, 2017 By
By Fr. Ephraim Once an older priest went up to a remote village in order to comfort and support the weary. The village was perched on a cliff, a living painting, and there was a small church in the middle next to the fairytale-like stone houses. Behind the sanctuary of the church was the cemetery […]
Why the Repetitions of “Lord Have Mercy”?
May 31, 2017 By
by Sr. Vassa “Lord, have mercy!” (Frequent refrain in Byzantine Liturgy) Isn’t it somewhat morbid, how often we repeat, in our church-services, “Lord, have mercy” (Kyrie eleison)? It is, if we misunderstand the word “mercy” (eleos), limiting it to what it means in today’s English, a “withholding of punishment.” But the term means much more […]
Growing Your Parish: It’s Possible!
May 30, 2017 By
By Reader John (Jason Terpack), M.Div. While driving home from work today an overwhelming thought struck me towrite on the topic of “Growing Your Parish” and to contact Fr. John Peck for collaboration on such a project. The thought stayed with me and I mentioned it to my wife as we visited on our back […]
How Pastoral Care Stunts The Growth Of Most Churches
May 16, 2017 By
It’s time we put some more practical articles up for parish priests, so we have a new category: Growing Your Parish. We’ll be offering more articles, and seeking more (!), of a useful nature to Orthodox parish clergy on removing growth barriers to making small missions and parishes larger, and sustaining growth past certain barriers. […]
When Abba Pachomios Received the Gift of Tongues
May 15, 2017 By
Yes, the Orthodox Church believes in the gift of tongues. Read about it. By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis (Rule of Pachomios, Ch. 15) And it came to pass that, when the blessed Pachomios was visiting the brethren in their cells, and was correcting the thoughts of each of them, he was obliged to visit a […]
Did St. Mark of Ephesus Consider the Latins to be a Church?
May 13, 2017 By
by Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) The following is an excerpt from the Metroplitan’s very important “Intervention and Text to the Meeting of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece (November, 2016),” which can be found here in Greek and here in English. Unfortunately, during the “Council of Crete” some supported the idea that St. Mark of […]
