The Appearance of Saint Iakovos Tsalikis in a Photograph 11 Months After His Death

By Dr. Stylianos Papadopoulos

This photograph which is being published for the first time in the pages of this edition [Μακαριστός Ιάκωβος Τσαλίκης, 5th edition, published in 2000] was taken in the cell of the late Elder Iakovos eleven months after his death.

The Cypriot Hierodeacon who took it wasn't able to visit the late Elder while he was alive, so he wanted to take a picture of his cell.

And - O the miracle! - when the film was developed, everyone was amazed to see the form of the late Elder.

The letter of the journalist-writer, Mr. M.G. Michaels, who informed us of this miracle, is published below:

When Papa-Fotis the Fool for Christ Visited a Brothel in His Vestments

By Fr. Athanasios Giousmas

Once, it was late at night, and we [Papa-Fotis] visited one of the houses in our town where he sometimes found accommodation.

Before he went to sleep, he told the man of the house:

"Tomorrow at sunrise, you and me have got work to do."

Abortion as a Form of Genocide

By Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of Vatopaidi Monastery

We live at a time when people are becoming increasingly vindictive. Their morals are deteriorating and their minds are darkened. The absurdity that people are experiencing today is obvious and undeniable. We’re living in a time prophesied by Anthony the Great, when people who are mad appear to be rational and those who are rational are deemed mad. It may be claimed that in older times, too, there was rampant sinfulness, but we ought to note that there was never this offensive legitimization and widespread social acceptance of sin. In our time, abortions, adultery and homosexuality have all been made legal, though this would have been inconceivable until the middle of the 20th century. It’s a cause of astonishment, if nothing else, that today sin is projected not simply as legitimate, but as an ideal way of life.

Did Gregory the Theologian Refer to the Writings of Dionysius the Areopagite?

In his Oration on the Theophany of Christ, Gregory the Theologian writes in section 6:

"But when I say God, I mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... This then is the Holy of Holies, which is hidden even from the Seraphim, and is glorified with the thrice-repeated Holy, meeting in one ascription of the title Lord and God, as one of our predecessors has most beautifully and loftily pointed out."

The question is: Who is the "predecessor" Gregory is referring to? Some believe Gregory is referring to Athanasius the Great, while others believe he is referring to Dionysius the Areopagite.

Treatise on the Art of Letter Writing (St. Gregory the Theologian)

Letter 51 of St. Gregory the Theologian is addressed to Nicobulus the Younger, his great-nephew. Gregory considered Nicobulus "the most important of the relatives I care about." He had studied under Gregory in Cappadocia and then hoped to study overseas, desiring "excellence in speaking" through "the fiery force of rhetoric" as his greatest ambition, to make a name for himself "both in assemblies and in court." His model in this of course was his great-uncle himself. In this letter, Nicobulus the Younger, having requested of his great-uncle a treatise on letter writing, Gregory responds with a short letter about the art of writing a letter.