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Why did Jesus say on the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”? W hen Jesus uttered these words, whilst hanging on the Cross, he was quoting the first line of Psalm 22. This Psalm is a remarkable prophecy of Christ’s saving passion, describing His pain and His utter kenosis (κένωσις, self-emptying) in a vivid prophetic description: For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for [...]

St Paisios the Great: Commemorated June 19 St Paisios was born in 320 AD in the village of Shansa, Egypt. Younger to six other brothers, he was weak and frail. One night his mother saw an angel in a vision asking her to give God one of her children and pointed at Paisios. When the mother tried to offer one of her stronger children, the angel insisted that Paisios was the chosen one. At the age of twenty, Paisios went to the wilderness of Scetes and became a monk by the hand of St Pambo. When St Pambo died, an [...]

The Resolution of Conflict Human civilisation has a history of several thousand years, and has contributed enormously to the wellbeing and happiness of man. However, conflict of some form or another has never been absent from the scene of history, either in a large scale, such as a war, or conflict among individuals, small or large groups of people, concerning moral, political or philosophical views current at the time. However, the 21st Century appears to stand out in history, because of its many, and widely varied reasons for conflict among groups of people, and which appear to have affected nearly [...]

The Ark of Salvation “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’” Mat 8:24-25. To be saved from the storms and tribulations of our life here on earth, we must place ourselves on the boat with Christ. This boat is the Orthodox Christian Church. For Orthodox Christians the Church is a life-saving boat. The Nave (from the Greek word ναῦς meaning ‘ship’) is the central part of the Church building [...]

Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania by Bev Cooke. Published by Conciliar Press (2008). Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania is not only an account of the life of an Orthodox Romanian Princess and her intense spiritual struggles, but a thorough history book. The book documents her life from her birth as Princess Ileana, to her death as Mother Alexandra, and at every moment she continuously practiced her Orthodox Faith and expressed her love for God. The book begins with a recount of the Princess’ highly anticipated birth, vividly highlighting the overwhelming love and respect she received from her country, [...]