Tag Archives: Eastern Orthodox Church

FOREWORD FROM MODE OF LIFE Quite some time ago, at Mode of Life weblog we received a particular request made by one of our readers, who wanted some information or articles on St Spyridon the wonder-working Bishop and Confessor of Tremithoundas. We regret we were not able to respond to the request sooner, and given that we are inundated with …

By ST. NEKTARIOS OF PENTAPOLIS Translated from the Greek original by Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas PhD, DD, DTh Introduction CHAPTER I Concerning the Sacred Catechism 1. What is a Catechism; and what is a Sacred Catechism? A Catechism is teaching about divine things. Sacred Catechism is the teaching of the Church of Christ, through which those Christians who have been already catechized and …

Author: Philip Jenkins ABC Religion and Ethics 21 Aug 2012 (Source: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/08/21/3572305.htm) It sounds like a scriptwriter’s dream. Here we have Russia, a vastly powerful country with a floundering democracy, facing the imminent threat of tyranny. That danger is personified by Vladimir Putin, a former KGB man who looks like, well, a former KGB man, as imagined by John Le …

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-urZ8ICy8Mk] Prologue Throughout Christian history, many places have arisen to spiritual prominence due to either their legacy of martyrdom or monasticism. Naturally within peaceful times where there were few people being martyred for the Faith, monasticism assumed a greater role within Christian witness, and within the era of the undivided Christian ecumene, numerous monastic centres became centres of prayer, …

Introduction The role played by the discipline of fasting  has figured prominently within the spiritual life of Christianity, and has remained integral to the Orthodox Church. Its purpose and meaning is multifaceted, to which entire treatises have been written on the subject. For this reason, we will not labour the point by providing an exhaustive exposition on the subject, since …

Prologue The following work is a summary of a recent parish fellowship discussion. The theme as the title suggests was a discussion that explored some of the key themes of the work and life of St Gregory Palamas. This is not an exhaustive study but an outline of what was examined, and a basic appraisal for Orthodox Christian spiritual practice. …

When I was considering becoming Orthodox, a friend and fellow historian of African-American religion asked me if I understood how much Orthodoxy fit the aspects of African-American religion that had most personally interested me over the years. Several months earlier, an Orthodox monk had remarked to me how attuned he thought Orthodoxy was to the traditional spirituality of black people. …

Dear friends, I stand before you all, deeply honoured and thankful for the kind invitation extended by the Dean of the Sydney College of Divinity, Professor Diane Speed, to offer the Occasional Address at this year’s Graduation Ceremony of the S.C.D. I remember fondly, my own graduation some 15 years ago, in May 1996 from St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological …

SAINT  KOSMAS AITOLOS Seventeen centuries after St. Paul journeyed across Greece, a solitary man of God travelled the same country from border to border, sea to sea, and island to island in a magnificent religious spirit, which strengthened the fires of Christianity and the flickering hopes of a nation, that was straining under the yoke of Turkish occupation after nearly …

(Commemorated on 3rd May and the 24th December) Saint Ahmed (or Ahmet) Kalphas came from a Muslim family in Constantinople, and was raised as a devout Muslim. He worked as a secretary (deftedar) in the office of the Chief Secretary of the Ottoman Empire, that is in Ottoman terms, within the Sultan’s Chancellery as Scribe of the Second Rank. Thus …