St Nicodemus – on Frequent Communion   St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain was born in 1749 on the island of Naxos. He was baptised Nicolas and received his early education from the local priest. He entered Dionysiou Monastery on Mt Athos in 1775, and soon after was clothed with the Monastic Habit and given the name Nicodemus. As a monk, he revised and annotated many patristic manuscripts, including the well-known “Concerning Frequent Communion of the Immaculate Mysteries of Christ”. This book had as its purpose to defend the tradition of frequent Communion in the divine Mysteries at a time [...]

Hymn of Lauds, Sunday Matins Κύριε, ὅπλον κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου, τὸν Σταυρόν σου ἡμῖν δέδωκας∙ φρίττει γὰρ καὶ τρέμει, μὴ φέρων καθορᾷν αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν∙ ὅτι νεκροὺς ἀνιστᾷ καὶ θάνατον κατήργησε∙ διὰ τοῦτο προ-σκυνοῦμεν, τὴν Ταφήν σου καὶ τὴν Ἔγερσιν. Lord, you have given us your Cross as a weapon against the devil; for he quails and trembles, una-ble to contemplate your power; for you raise the dead and made death of no effect: therefore we worship your Burial and your Rising.   The Cross is the trophy of the Orthodox Church, intimately linked with the life of Our Saviour [...]

Gerontissa Macrina (1921-1994)   The life of Gerontissa Macrina is one marked by the vibrant experience of God’s grace which permeated through daily encounters with her fellow person. Born in 1921 in Asia Minor, Macrina came to Greece with her parents in the 1922 Exchange of Population, growing up in the city of Volos. At age nine Macrina was an orphan left to fend for herself and her four-year old brother. During the war she endured particular hardship, almost starving to death several times and becoming ill with pleurisy from which she was miraculously cured by the Mother of God. [...]

Prophet Elijah on Mt Horeb (1 Kings 19:1-16)   One story of the Prophet Elijah particularly stands out from his life. Elijah was on the run – almost the whole of Israel had embraced paganism and no one who held to the true faith was safe. The Prophets were particularly a target. Elijah must have truly thought he was the only faithful servant of God left, and so he fled into the desert and was immediately overcome by profound despair. Our Lord then took compassion upon him and sent an angel to encourage him. Strengthened spiritually and physically, Elijah walked [...]

A migrant woman reminiscing on her past   There are no names in this story, because, even though this is a specific case, it is also a shared history of many nameless migrant women who put up with very difficult circumstances in their married lives… She spoke simply about her adult life and there was no sense of regret, nor was there any anger in her tone. Now she is a widow and has three caring children and their spouses, as well as seven grandchildren who love her dearly. She recounts her tale to me: ‘All I wanted prior to [...]