Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Globalization and the universality of salvation in Christ

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou)

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England, in an interview with Pemptousia.com, speaks on Globalization and the universality of salvation offered by Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Contemporary Testimonies of the Vision of God on the Holy Mountain

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos 
of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The title of this chapter indicates that it will be concerned with the vision of the uncreated Light in the human nature of the Word, whom the Disciples saw on Mt. Tabor, but it suggests that there will be special reference to the vision of God which is attained by the Hagiorite fathers who live the ascetic life on the Holy Mountain. The event of the Transfiguration did not happen just once in history. Of course this particular event took place once, because Christ wanted to prepare His Disciples to face the Passion and His Cross with faith, but it is repeated and experienced by the deified in all ages. The holy hymnographer prays to God: "Make Thy eternal light shine also for us sinners".

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Orthodox Monasticism

A new Book by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

Available from St John's Bookstore

Orthodox Monasticism is the latest translation of the work by
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos. In Part 3 of the book, the 
section on "The Mystery of the Cross in the Monastic Life" 
p.368 to 369, Metropolitan Hierotheos writes a moving tribute
to Elder Sophrony of Essex and his disciple, Archimandrite
Zacharias Zacharou,

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

“Remember thy First Love”

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) 

Book Review Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, Publisher: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist 2010 - ISBN: 1874679738.

Saturday, 21 September 2013

Elder Sophrony: Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany

We Orthodox live Christ within the Divine Liturgy, or rather Christ lives within us during the Divine Liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy is a work of God. We say: “Time is a creation of the Lord”. Among other things it means now is the time for God to act.

Christ liturgizes, we live with Christ. The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us.

Christ celebrated the Divine Liturgy once and this passed into eternity.

His divinized human nature came to the Divine Liturgy. We know Christ specifically in the Divine Liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy we celebrate is the same Divine Liturgy which was done by Christ on Great Thursday in the Mystical Supper. The 14th through the 16th chapters of the Gospel according to John is one Divine Liturgy.

Klaus Kenneth talks about Elder Sophrony Klaus Kenneth, author and musician, in his interview in Pemptousia talks about his acquaintance with the Elder Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993)


Klaus Kenneth talks about Elder Sophrony
Klaus Kenneth, author and musician, in his interview in Pemptousia talks about his acquaintance with the Elder Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993)

Sunday, 8 September 2013

The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation

by Dr Christopher Veniamin

Dr Christopher Veniamin just published his essay on the
Orthodox understanding of salvation in the teaching of
St Silouan the Athonite and Elder Sophrony of Essex.
It is available in digital form in Kindle format.

This is a very important subject and Dr Veniamin manages 
to explain theological concepts with ease. He writes,

"There are, described in this passage, four stages of love, the
fourth and highest of which is that which is attested to by the
penetration of Divine Grace into the body, into the very marrow
of a person's being. And this is identified by Saint Silouan as the 
highest state of holiness. 'He who feels grace in both soul and
body is a perfect man, and if he preserves this grace, his body
is sanctified and his bones will make holy relics.'

As with Christ's voluntary death, in which it was not possible for
the Body of the Logos of Life to see corruption, and which was 
thus raised together with His human soul on the third day, so too
will it be with the bodies of those saints which have known great
grace in this life, and who have been able to preserve it. They too,
even after death, are not separated from the grace and love of 
God, neither in soul nor in body, and hence their bodies are 
revealed as holy relics." Kindle location 226 of 341.