Who for us and for our salvation... Who for us and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human. The third Article of our Creed initiates us into a succinct outline of the historic events which mark the life of Christ - the Incarnate Son and Word of God. He is the protagonist in the Divine Economy i.e., the working of our salvation, for “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In our Orthodox tradition, Christology and anthropology (especially the Creation of Man) go [...]

Why did Judas betray Christ? The key passage relating to this question is John 12:1-8. Jesus was at Bethany a few days before His passion, at the house of Lazarus whom He had resurrected, together with his sisters Martha and Mary. Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a very expensive fragrant oil. Judas Iscariot said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” The Gospel writer commented, “this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used [...]

Heroes of 1821 The 25th of March 1821 marks the beginning of the Greek revolution and 22 March 1829 the day of the creation of the modern Greek state. Presented below are some of the key heroes of that revolt. Their common characteristics were that the Divine flame lit their souls, and that their fierce patriotism was inspirational to all. A number of these heroes became members of the “Filiki Etairia” (Society of Friends), which was a major world-wide underground Greek revolutionary movement that was led by by Alexander Ypsilantis at the time of the revolution. Gregory V of Constantinople [...]

Western Mentality and Eastern Morality: Part II Around the time of Charlemagne, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800AD, Western Europe was in a state of confusion and feudalism. Western Europe was going through the Middle Ages (also known as the Medieval period). During this period, war was the usual state among the countries of Europe, and this prevented any significant social, spiritual, scientific, or educational progress. As a result, the people remained largely illiterate and leading a mostly agrarian life. The Middle Ages are generally accepted to have lasted from the 5th to the 14th Century, and were [...]

Our Anchor of Hope Today creation all is exultant and rejoices, for Christ has arisen, and Hades was despoiled … For You really and truly pledged that You will be with us unto the end of the age, O Christ. And we the faithful, clinging to Your promise, our anchor of hope, rejoice. Easter Sunday Matins   The significant historical events in the history of humanity that remain unsurpassed by other events are that God made humanity in His image and likeness, that humanity fell through disobedience to God, that God became human in the Person of Jesus Christ “for [...]