Living Next Door to a Saint How many of us can say with certainty that we live next door to a Saint? Elder Porphyrios of Kavsokalivia, who passed away in the Lord in 1991, was recently canonized a Saint of the Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on November 27th 2013. He was a truly great Saint of our times who lived amongst us! A man who lived for many years very near to the home of the Saint, and whose wife had become paralyzed, went to see him one day. When he entered the place in which [...]

Saint Polycarp Commemorated on February 23rd Born in Ephesus around 70 AD, St Polycarp was raised by a devout Christian noblewoman, Callista, who received Polycarp in her care when his parents were martyred.  Polycarp was, from a young age, generous in spirit and thirsty to serve those around him in Christ’s name. He became the disciple of St John the Theologian alongside Saints Bucolos and Ignatius. Together they preached the Word until Bucolos was appointed bishop of Smyrna, with Polycarp as his assistant and later, his successor. Polycarp performed many miracles during this time: a huge fire was extinguished and [...]

Of all the periods given to us by our Mother Church, this is the one that affords us the best opportunity for life changing ACTION. The Church takes lent so seriously that the Fathers have designated three Sundays of pre-preparation (the start of the Triodion) before the actual 40 days of Lent, to prepare us for the life-saving Passion of Our Lord and His glorious Resurrection. Why is this period life-changing for me? Because it is a refocusing of my life, a journey of discovery into my innermost being to discover who I am and the true life I was [...]

The origins of the Akathist Hymn There are many varied stories as to the origins of the Standing Praises to the Theotokos, or Akathist Hymn, but the sources seem to agree that it began in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, in 626 AD. The city of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire was unusually free of defence that year. The emperor had taken almost all the soldiers into the East where he was defending the empire from the unceasing attacks by Persian troops. This was a necessary strategic move, but it left Constantinople open to attack – [...]