PATRISTIC TEXTS, WORKS & TEACHINGS

*1. A certain demoniac once went to Sketis. He was not cured, however, even though he spent a long time there, since the Fathers declined, out of extreme humility, to heal him. But one of the Elders, taking pity on him, made the sign of the Cross over the demoniac and at once the man was healed. When the demon …

CATECHESIS 68 That we must be renewed for what is ahead through endurance of the trials that fall upon us, both visible and invisible. [On the 5th Sunday.] Brethren and fathers, because winter has passed and spring has arrived, we see creation flourishing again; the plants are flowering, the earth is growing green, the birds are singing and everything else …

By Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos This Saturday (Saturday of the fifth week of the Great Lent) we chant the Akathist Hymn during Matins. In our days however this does not happen except in the holy monasteries, since in the parishes it is chanted the evening before, on Friday during the Small Compline. The Akathist Hymn is a “Kontakion”. In olden times …

INTRODUCTORY NOTE The place of these two catechesis in the numbering suggests that they may have been given during the 4th week of Lent. CATECHESIS 66 That this Pascha is a type of the future and eternal Pascha; and about endurance and courage. Brethren and fathers, Lent is already galloping past and the soul rejoices at the imminence of Pascha, because …

INTRODUCTION Catechesis 60 contains a number of interesting details. Who, for example, if the ‘holy father and teacher’ referred to in the opening sentence? If the Short Catecheses were given during St Theodore’s exile to the Propontis in 820, it cannot be St Platon, who had died in 812. The most likely person is St Nikephoros, the Patriarch. The latter, …

By Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Mark 34-37. And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever desireth to follow after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever desireth to save his life, …

On guarding the soul from destructive passions. Brethren and fathers, now that we have fasted for the first week we appear to each other somewhat different to what we were, leaner and paler. But even if our outward nature is wasting away, as the Apostle says, the inner is being renewed day by day. For what it is to see …

On fasting and dispassion; spoken at the beginning of the fast. Brethren and fathers, the season of Lent, when compared to the whole year, may be likened to a storm-free harbour, in which all who are sailing together enjoy a spiritual calm. For the present season is one of salvation not for monks and nuns only, but also for lay …

– Elder, Abba Isaac writes, “No kind of repentance that takes place after the removal of our free will will be a well-spring of joy, nor will it be reckoned for the reward of those who possess it.” How can anyone repent without exercising his own free will? – One may be forced to repent, having fallen in the eyes …

This article “On Repentance” is from the well known Treasury of Orthodoxy (chapter 18) of Bishop Theophilos of Campania (1749-1795). By Bishop Theophilos of Campania *1. Repentance wipes out post-baptismal sins Spiritual Master: O my child, we were reborn with  holy baptism, we were armed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit through Chrismation and the divine grace of the …