A New Year, Has it a New Meaning for You?   Time is passing us by imperceptibly. The years follow one another and we would not know what year it is, were it not for the information abounding around us about its pending arrival. The New Year 2017 is already here and we all hope it will be better than the one before it. All of us were born at a particular moment in time, and entered the present world, inside which we will grow, develop qualities, knowledge, and abilities. Eventually, we will run the period of our stay here, [...]

Hear Me: a Prayerbook for Orthodox Teens Compiled by Annalisa Boyd, published by Conciliar Press, 2007 “Do not forsake prayer, for just as the body becomes weak when it is deprived of food, so also the soul when it is deprived of prayer draws nigh to weakness and noetic death” (St Gennadius of Constantinople).   “Hear Me” is a prayer book compiled by Annalisa Boyd to help one express their yearning to their creator. This book strives to cover all the prayer needs for an Orthodox teenager. It offers a daily prayer rule achievable by all, with a section compiled [...]

The Blessing of Our Homes at Theophany   On the 6th January every year we celebrate the Baptism of Christ in the river Jordan by St John the Baptist. This is known as the Feast of Theophany (Θεοφάνεια) meaning "God revealed" or Epiphany. The Troparion we joyously chant on this day proclaims: "When Thou wast baptised in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest Trinity was made manifest Trinity was made manifest, for the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee, calling Thee His beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a [...]

St Athanasius - On the Incarnation   We may have heard the phrase ‘God became man so that man could become God’, and wondered how such an event could be possible? For how could God, in his omnipotence and perfection, become human like us? And more so, how could we humans, fallen and prone to sin, ever contemplate becoming like God? St Athanasius, a fourth century bishop of Alexandria, penned his treatise ‘On the Incarnation’ to consider this very paradox. According to Athanasius, our fall from paradise left God with a ‘Divine Dilemma’. We were created in the image and [...]

Dismissal Hymn of the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord – January 1st   «Μορφὴν ἀναλλοιώτως ἀνθρωπίνην προσέλαβες, Θεὸς ὢν κατ᾽ οὐσίαν πολυεύσπλαγχνε Κύριε· καὶ Νόμον ἐκπληρῶν περιτομήν, θελήσει καταδέχει σαρκικήν, ὅπως παύσῃς τὰ σκιώδη, καὶ περιέλῃς τὸ κάλυμμα τῶν παθῶν ἡμῶν. ∆όξα τῇ ἀγαθότητι τῇ σῇ· δόξα τῇ εὐσπλαγχνίᾳ σου· δόξα τῇ ἀνεκφρράστῳ Λόγε συγκαταβάσει σου.»   "Without change you took a human form, by nature being God, O most compassionate Lord; and fulfilling the Law, you willingly accepted circumcision in the flesh, that you might banish shadows, and strip away the covering of our passions. Glory to [...]