Ἄξιόν ἐστιν/Axion Estin     «Ἄξιόν ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς μακαρίζειν σε τὴν Θεοτόκον, τὴν ἀειμακάριστον καὶ παναμώμητον καὶ μητέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. Τὴν τιμιωτέραν τῶν Χερουβεὶμ καὶ ἐνδοξοτέραν ἀσυγκρίτως τῶν Σεραφείμ, τὴν ἀδιαφθόρως Θεὸν Λόγον τεκοῦσαν, τὴν ὄντως Θεοτόκον, σὲ μεγαλύνομεν.» “Truly it is right to call you blessed, Theotokos, ever blessed and all-pure and the Mother of our God. More honourable than the Cherubim, incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, who undefiled gave birth to God the Word, true Theotokos, we magnify you.”   This hymn is one of the most well-known chants in honour of the Theotokos. The [...]

St Kallinikos of Edessa   St Kallinikos of Edessa is a very recent Saint of our Church who was canonised on 23 June 2020. He was born in the village of Sitaralona, Agrinio in 1919 and was named Dimitrios Poulos. After graduating from high school, he entered the Theological School of the University of Athens where he excelled. In 1946, aged 27, he enlisted in the Special Forces of the Greek Army and served with distinction. Returning to the Holy Diocese of Aetolia, he again assumed the duties of Secretary and a layman preacher. He was tonsured as a monk [...]

Ezekiel’s Vision   The Prophet Ezekiel ministered to Israel in the 6th century BC. He was a contemporary of the prophets Daniel and Jeremiah. The Book of Ezekiel records several visions he saw from God. Visions are difficult to understand and interpret as they involve an attempt to describe – with human language – things that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard” (1 Corinthians 2:9). One such vision was Ezekiel’s vision of God and the four creatures in Chapter 1. Ezekiel describes seeing “four living creatures”, each with four faces and four wings (v 5 and 6). We later [...]

The Holy Icon of the Dormition   “From the moment Christ is born of a Mother who can be depicted, He naturally has an image which corresponds to that of His Mother. If He could not be represented by art, this would mean that He was not born of a Mother who can be depicted, but was born only of the Father and that He was not Incarnate. But this contradicts the whole divine economy of our salvation.”   These inspired words of St Theodore the Studite help us in two ways. Firstly, they emphasise the importance of the Theotokos [...]

St John of Damascus on the Dormition   This great Saint of our Church gave three homilies on the Dormition, which are believed to have been given at the all-night vigils held at the Church of the Theotokos’ tomb in Gethsemane. The first homily delves into the life of Panagia and her role in the Incarnation. After going through her connection to the Old Testament and her life, it ends on a description of her tomb as a place of life and healing. The second homily is the longest. It covers in greater detail the death, funeral and glorious assumption [...]