Father Hadji-George the Athonite (1809-1866)   Cappadocia was the birthplace of many of our Faith's holy mothers and fathers. Even up to the twentieth century Cappadocia continued to bestow the blessings of saintly offspring on the Orthodox world. One such blessing came in the nineteenth century in the form of the child Gabriel. From his youth, this blessed child would seek out the monastic life in the local caves, seeking counsel from the local ascetics, to spending hours (and days) in fasting and prayer. Miracles filled his early years. The Theotokos appeared to him in church one day and, taking [...]

Psalm 50   Psalm 50 (English Bibles, 51) is the only Psalm prescribed to be recited in its entirety during every celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Whether in the Liturgy of St Basil or St John Chrysostom, it is the prayer of a murderer and adulterer that the Priest must pray when the congregation commences chanting the Cherubic Hymn in preparation for the Great Entrance of the Holy Gifts. It is a Psalm in which, using the words of that great sinner David, one prays for God’s Holy Spirit, mercy and forgiveness. It is this strong sense of the presence [...]

A Cretan Freedom Fighter’s Son Remembers   In 1975, the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Metropolitan Stylianos Charkianakis to become the new primate of the Orthodox Church in Australia. He was then Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Thessalonica, as well as exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate over northern Greece mediating on behalf of the monastic community of Mt Athos with the local Greek governing bodies. This new calling to such a faraway place seemed to him totally out of his expertise. He did not even know where Australia was on the map! Now after four decades, our Archbishop [...]

Giver of Life: the Holy Spirit in Orthodox Tradition, by Fr John W. Oliver. Published by Paraclete Press, 2011.   In Giver of Life: the Holy Spirit in Orthodox Tradition, Father John Oliver provides an excellent study of the daily-recited prayer ‘O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth…’. He draws from Biblical and Liturgical tradition, theology, and the writings of the Church Fathers, who personally experienced and wrote in the revelation of the Spirit, to delve into the deeper meanings of this profound prayer to the Holy Spirit. Each line of the prayer is examined in detail over [...]

Gospel Reading July 2nd (Matthew 8:5-13) Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant   In this Gospel reading, a centurion pleads with Jesus in the town of Capernaum: “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented” (v. 6). Jesus responds, “I will come and heal him”, but the centurion answers: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed!” (v. 8). The centurion teaches us many lessons about the humility required in cultivating our personal relationship with Christ. We know that he was an important man [...]