‘May we glorify Your mighty acts, your unspeakable plan of salvation for our sake’. (From the Matins Service of the Sixth Friday of Lent). Pascha is a time of joy and light, because when we celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection, we anticipate the immortality of our own soul and the resurrection of our own body. In the final week prior to Pascha, we are led step by step through the events that led to our Lord’s Crucifixion, and we are filled with so much awe at what our Saviour suffered for the sake of our salvation. During the services, we witness [...]

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mat. 28:19-20) With these words St Matthew closes his Gospel. He opened his Gospel with the genealogy of Christ, but curiously, this genealogy did not start with Adam. Rather, St Matthew starts his genealogy with Abraham. Why does he start with Abraham? We may find a clue in what God says to [...]

The Passover On Holy Tuesday morning, we hear in the reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew: ‘Now Jesus said to His disciples, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” (Mat 26:2). What is the significance of Christ suffering His Passion during the great Jewish festival of the Passover? St John Chrysostom explains how the remembrance of the Passover, and the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, is an ancient type which was fulfilled in the Crucifixion of Christ. Christ reminds His [...]

Psalm 112:2 (113:2) «Εἴη τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου εὐλογημένον ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος» “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore” Psalm 112 (113 in the Hebrew), as well as the next five Psalms, constitute what is called the Hallel, because each Psalm begins or ends with “Alleluia” (or “Hallelujah” in the Hebrew). They were specifically sung at the Passover as hymns of praise to the Lord for Israel’s deliverance from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Verse 2 is the final doxology of God’s all-holy Name in the Divine Liturgy, chanted three times before the [...]

St Athanasius on the Manner of Death of our Lord "On the Incarnation", St Athanasius' seminal work, explores Christ's humanity and considers many aspects of His mission on earth. Chapter 4 is titled "The Death of Christ", and seeks chiefly to answer questions about the manner of Christ's death and to affirm its theological significance. St Athanasius links Christ's death to the rest of His missionary work, claiming in truth that by His death, "no less than by His other acts, Christ is revealed as God and Son of God". All creation stood still, witnessed and reacted to Christ's death as [...]