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The Church Mysteries   The Church exists to lead the faithful to the Love, the Light, and the Life in Christ through His sacred Mysteries that are offered in the sacramental life of the church. The sacraments in the Orthodox Church are called the ‘Holy Mysteries’. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Ordination and Holy Unction. However, the Mysteries of the Church are not limited to these but rather encompass all things of a mystical nature in the Church. These can include, and are not limited to, the service for the burial of the dead, monastic [...]

St John of Damascus - A Brilliant Star   The chief hymnographer of our Church is how he is described in his Apolytikion. Yet, St John of Damascus was much more: a theologian, philosopher, poet and musician. These talents are interwoven throughout his substantial works. He wrote and composed music for hymns in each of the eight modes of the Octoechos comprising a large section of the Sunday Orthros and Saturday Vespers services (including the eight resurrectional apolytikia and associated theotokia and the canons). Added to this are the idiomela hymns used in the funeral service, and many other hymns [...]

Matins Hymn of Theophany (6th January)   Ἐξαποστειλάριον τῆς Ἐορτῆς (Ἦχος γ') Ἐπεφάνη ὁ Σωτήρ, ἡ χάρις ἡ ἀλήθεια, ἐν ῥείθροις τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, καὶ τοὺς ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ, καθεύδοντας ἐφώτισε• καὶ γὰρ ἦλθεν ἐφάνη, τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀπρόσιτον. The Saviour who is grace and truth, appeared in the streams of the Jordan, and illumined those sleeping in darkness and shadow, and came now and shone, the unapproachable light.   It is not by chance that this Feast-day of Our Lord, the Feast of Theophany, is called the Festival of Lights. St John the Evangelist in his first Epistle is [...]

Elder Aimilianos   Elder Aimilianos was born in Athens in 1934 to refugees from Asia Minor. As a young man, he was active in the church both as a youth leader and in catechism duties. Leaving high school, he entered theological college graduating in 1959. Considering ordination as a priest prior to pursuing the role of a foreign missionary, he was directed to Bishop Dionysios of Trikala, who was reviving monastic life in Meteora. Becoming his spiritual child, elder Aimilianos was tonsured a monk and enrolled in the monastery of St Bessarion. There, he was granted a profound mystical experience [...]

The Psalms   The book of Psalms (Psalter) in the Old Testament consists of 150 psalms. It contains divinely-inspired hymns and poems traditionally ascribed to the Holy Prophet and King David, although many were authored by others such as Moses and temple musicians. The Psalms are the prayer-book of the Church and are used in services more than any other book of Holy Scripture. They form the core of each of the services of the Daily Cycle and the Divine Liturgy. So prevalent are they in Orthodox worship that St John Chrysostom observed that wherever one looks in the Church, [...]