Eldress Philothei Agiometeriotissa (+ December 9, 2020)

 

 

By Archimandrite Demetrios Kavvadias

 

On Saturday, January 16, 2021, a Holy Hierarchical Forty-Day Memorial Service was held at the Holy Monastery of Rousanou at Meteora for the repose of the servant of God Philothei the Nun, Abbess of this Holy Monastery.

In the world she was known as Sophia, one of the seven children of Priest Michael and Presvytera Andromache Kosvyras, who saw the light of day on March 31, 1949 in the town of Kalambaka. Her family was originally from Agnantia, Trikala, but they went to Kalambaka for more security because at that time the wider region as well as all of Greece was groaning from the sufferings of the civil war which came to complete the evil brought to our homeland by World War II. The priests and their families were also targeted and so Father Michael lived with his family in Kalambaka.

The Veneration of Saint Anastasios the Persian in Zakynthos

By Dionysis Flemotomos

In Zakynthos, the name Anastasios celebrates on January 22, the day of the commemoration of Saint Anastasios the Persian, and not at Easter, as usually happens in the rest of Greece. This is also one of our many peculiarities, for which, as we have written other times, a special, local holiday calendar needs to be published, so that foreigners can wish us without mistakes and the necessary corrections from us, the "Many Years".

The church of this not so well-known Martyr and Saint existed in the center of the city and at the beginning of the street which led to the old hospital. It was built at the end of the 17th century by the Cretan refugee and Archpriest Stephanos Paladas, who, along with many other compatriots, found refuge on our island, after the fall of Candia. Later this temple, according to information of our various historians, came under the ownership of John Katramis, Martinegou, A. Modinou and P. Tzanne and, unfortunately, was burned down by the earthquake catastrophe of August 1953. Today, there is a street with the name of the Saint of the church, to commemorate its existence, since the older residents post-earthquake also called the area "Agios Anastasis", but today no one remembers it.

Introductory Homily on First Timothy (St. John Chrysostom)

 

Introductory Homily on First Timothy

By St. John Chrysostom

1. Timothy too was one of the disciples of the Apostle Paul. To the extraordinary qualities of this youth testimony is borne by Luke, who informs us, that he was "well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium" (Acts 16:2). He became at once a disciple and a teacher, and gave this singular instance of his prudence, that hearing Paul preach without insisting upon circumcision, and understanding that he had formerly withstood Peter upon that point, he chose not only not to preach against it, but to submit to that rite. For Paul, it is said, "took and circumcised him" (Acts 16:3), though he was of adult age, and so trusted him with his whole economy.

The Timeliness of Saint Maximus the Confessor

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sermon Delivered in the Metropolitan Church of Ioannina 

on 21 January 2020)

First of all, I would like to warmly thank His Eminence the Metropolitan of Ioannina and beloved brother in Christ, Maximos, for the ministry of the word that he has entrusted to me, and especially today, when the great teacher of our Church celebrates, Saint Maximus the Confessor, whose name the Metropolitan and my beloved brother in Christ bears.

Your Eminence Metropolitan of Ioannina and beloved brother Maximos, revered chorus of Hierarchs, Priests of God the Most High, ministry of Christ, most honorable leaders and chosen Christians:

It is known to all of you that from the time your Metropolitan, who bears the name of Saint Maximus, came here to Ioannina, various speeches have been made about this great teacher of the Church. Saint Maximus lived in the seventh century, in a very difficult century in many ways, and he became a foremost teacher of our Church and a great theologian, a soaring eagle of theology.

Life, Writings and Theology of Saint Maximus the Confessor (Fr. George Florovsky)

 

By Fr. George Florovsky

 

 The Life of St. Maximus

We know little about St. Maximus’ worldly life. He came from an old, distinguished family and was, it seems, favored by Emperor Heraclius — possibly even related to him. He was born about 580 in Constantinople. He received an excellent education. His biographer writes that St. Maximus received the εγκύκλιος παίδευσις: Sherwood is correct in writing that "this would mean that his training lasted from about his sixth or seventh year till his twenty-first, and contained grammar, classical literature, rhetoric and philosophy (including arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy, logic, ethics, dogmatics and metaphysics), and also that it must have included his first contact with Aristotle and the Neo-Platonists (through the commentaries of Proclus and lamblichus)." St. Maximus studied philosophy with a special love. Later on, St. Maximus’ great gift for dialectic and logic, and his formal culture with its great erudition, left their mark on his disputes with the Monothelites. His erudition was not merely restricted to ecclesiastical topics but included a wide range of secular knowl edge.