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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 [...]

Elder Haralambos of Dionysiou   The Athonite Elder Haralambos Dionysiatis was another of that luminous generation of eminent elders hailing from the southern region of the Athonite peninsula, the caves of Little Saint Anna. Elder Haralambos was born in Russia in 1910 to pious Greeks who had emigrated from Pontos. He was popular in the world, capable and sociable, with a bright future available to him. However the call to the angelic habit consumed him in a way no calling of a life in the world could. Even prior to the day of his renunciation, Haralambos lived in the world [...]