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Part 6: Visit to the Church of St John the Baptist, Ramunia In November 2012, with the blessings of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos and His Eminence Metropolitan Konstantinos of Singapore, eight men from the Greek Orthodox Christian Society travelled to Medan, Indonesia, at the request of Fr Chrysostomos Manalu, an Orthodox priest of Indonesian background. This is the sixth in a series of articles outlining aspects of this missionary visit. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19). It was [...]

Godparents – Why are they necessary? In most countries of the world, to immigrate to another country and become a permanent resident, you will require a sponsor. A sponsor has to be someone who is already a citizen or a permanent resident in that country to which you wish to emigrate and who is willing to vouch for you, look after you, help you get ‘on your feet’, find a job, find a place to live, learn the rule of the country and adopt the local way of life. Can you imagine if the new migrant did not have a [...]

Saintly Married Women In recent times, there was a monk who asked his Spiritual Elder (or Geronda) to reveal to him two examples of living Saints. He directed him to a poor house were two women sat. One was kneading bread and the other was knitting. ‘Is there anyone else living here?’ the monk asked, hoping to see someone more remarkable and saintly. They told him that their husbands were away, one in the fields, and the other at sea. Then, the monk asked them what good they had done in their lives. They told him that they had married [...]

St John of Novgorod Commemorated on September 7th St John was born in Novgorod, Russia in the 12th century to pious parents. When his parents died, John and his brother Gabriel used their inheritance to establish a monastery dedicated to Panagia, who miraculously provided for them when their funds ran out during construction. This began a life-long closeness to the Theotokos, who granted many miracles to St John and the people of Novgorod. In 1165, John was elevated to Archbishop of the city. He showed a keen awareness for the concerns of his flock and wrote letters to other bishops [...]

Gospel Reading Matthew 17: 14-23 (10th Sunday of Matthew) In this passage, the Evangelist Matthew narrates the healing of the young epileptic. It is important to understand the context in which this healing took place. Christ had taken the three leading disciples – Peter, James and John – to Mount Tabor so that they could witness His Transfiguration. While Christ was away, the father of the young epileptic approached the remaining nine disciples to see if they could cure his son. They could not. This was despite the fact that all of the disciples had been given power by Christ [...]