Let God arise and His enemies be scattered - Psalm 67 (68) This Psalm as a whole is a foretelling of the Resurrection, and no verse conveys this more than the first verse: “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him”. This verse is recited before the chanting of “Christ is Risen” at the midnight Easter service, highlighting how this verse is to be seen within the Orthodox tradition. It is, however, worthwhile to examine this Psalm’s context in order to better understand both it and the Resurrection. The first use [...]

Glory Hymn of Matins of Holy Tuesday Ἰδού σοι τὸ τάλαντον ὁ Δεσπότης ἐμπιστεύει ψυχή μου· φόβῳ δέξαι τὸ χάρισμα, δάνεισαι τῷ δεδωκότι, διάδος πτωχοῖς, καὶ κτῆσαι φίλον τὸν Κύριον· ἵνα στῇς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐν δόξῃ, καὶ ἀκούσῃς μακαρίας φωνῆς· Εἴσελθε, δοῦλε, εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ Κυρίου σου. Αὐτῆς ἀξίωσόν με, Σωτήρ, τὸν πλανηθέντα, διὰ τὸ μέγα σου ἔλεος. Behold, my soul, how the Master has entrusted the talent to you. With fear accept the gift of God. Borrow it from the One who gave it; distribute to the poor, and earn the Lord’s friendship; so that [...]

Ascetics in the World - Volume 1 English Translation by Fr. Nicholas Palis Published by Saint Nicodemos Publications Asceticism involves self-denial. It means to struggle against physical and spiritual temptations in order to grow closer to God. We often think of the ascetics as hermits and as monastics, living alone in deserts and caves and as people who achieved sainthood because of their great struggles. However, Ascetics in the World shows us the lives of mothers and fathers, priests and workers who lived in the world, yet were able to grow so close to God through their daily sacrifices that [...]

The Samaritan Woman (John 20:1-10) On the fifth Sunday of Pascha, the Church commemorates the Samaritan Woman. In the dismissal hymn we chant “give drink to my thirsty soul”, which is drawn from the Samaritan Woman’s words to the Lord, “give me this water, that I may not thirst.” (John 4:15) This hymn refers to Christ as the “fountain of life”, being as He revealed Himself: “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” [...]

In Memoriam: Archbishop Stylianos On March 25, on the day of the Annunciation, our Father and Primate His Eminence Stylianos, Archbishop of Australia, slept in the Lord. We will not enumerate here on the many and wonderful achievements of his pastoral work in the Antipodes. This is a work for others more competent and capable than us. Nor will we deal with his rich writing and his especially unique poetic work. That is also for the relevant experts. However, in this column of our magazine, “Lychnos”, we have a “sacred debt” to record responsibly the honest and always willing support [...]