The procedure of the cutting is as follows: the man of the house makes the sign of the Cross three times over the Vasilopita with a knife and then starts cutting the pieces. The first is for Christ, the second for Saint Basil, the third for the house and then a piece for each member of the family, according to age. The last piece is for the poor. One could also add one for the animals and one for the occupation or business. If the coin is found in the portion of Christ or Saint Basil, the money is given to the Church. If it is in the portion of the poor, it is given to a beggar or charity.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
A Prayer for the Blessing of a Vasilopita (Composed by Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos)
The procedure of the cutting is as follows: the man of the house makes the sign of the Cross three times over the Vasilopita with a knife and then starts cutting the pieces. The first is for Christ, the second for Saint Basil, the third for the house and then a piece for each member of the family, according to age. The last piece is for the poor. One could also add one for the animals and one for the occupation or business. If the coin is found in the portion of Christ or Saint Basil, the money is given to the Church. If it is in the portion of the poor, it is given to a beggar or charity.
Was the Christmas Star Really an Angel?
(Four Dialogues, Dialogue 2.107, P.G. 38)
Answer: Because the Samaritans and the Sadducees did not accept the existence of angels, the divine evangelist [i.e. the apostle Matthew] apparently used the word "star" instead of the word "angel". After all, by referring to Christ and respecting the stars, that is, putting the star in the place of the angel, he not only removed people from the polytheist delusion, but also led them to worship [the divine infant]. Otherwise none of the magi would hasten to worship, but this was done based on the imagination of their own belief. But when [the magi] would have in mind the birth of the God-man, who established the stars and defined their order, the magic would fade. Thus, the wandering Chaldeans [i.e. the magi] for the sake of this fact understood their error and became evangelists and first preachers to the nations of the incarnation of the Word of God. They took up the prophecies of the exalted Isaiah, who cried out: "For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called the angel of great counsel, wonderful counsellor, mighty God, executor of authority, prince of peace, father of the age to come." Five hundred years from this divine prophecy, and having heard nothing of what they had received, the mindless Jews studied the law and the prophets, and their faith went on.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
The Discovery of the Relics of Saint Anysia of Thessaloniki in 1980
Saint Anysios, Bishop of Thessaloniki (+ 407)
"Like Elijah he [Ascholios] was carried up to heaven, not in a chariot of fire, nor by horses of fire, (unless haply it was but that we saw them not) nor in any whirlwind in the sky, but by the will and in the calm of our God, and with the jubilation of the holy Angels who rejoiced that such a man had come among them. Surely we cannot doubt this, when all other particulars agree so well. For at the very moment when he was being taken up, he let fall so to speak the vestment which he wore, and invested with it holy Anysios his disciple, and clothed him with the robes of his own priesthood. His merits and graces I do not now hear for the first time, nor have I first learnt them from your letters, but I recognized them in what you wrote. For as if foreknowing that he would be his successor, Acholios designated him as such by tokens, though in open speech he concealed it; saying that he had been aided by his care, labour, and ministry, thus seeming to declare him his coadjutor, one who would not come as a novice to the chief office of the priesthood, but as a tried performer of its duties. Well does that saying in the Gospel befit him, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.'"
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
The Late Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria, My Friend who was a Friend of the Saints
In one of my phone calls he told me that every day at the Hospital he did the sacred Services, Compline and the Supplicatory Canon to the Panagia. In fact, he confided in me that one day a nurse entered the ward, before he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, and asked if they had lit incense, because the ward was fragrant. Then he found out that a small box with some relics that he had under his pillow was emitting the fragrance. This shows his love for the sacred relics, that he took them with him to the Hospital. Now that I think about it, I understand that perhaps this fragrance was an indication that God wanted him in the heavenly Divine Liturgy, because he was pleased with his life.
St. Gregory of Nyssa on the Massacre of the Innocents
(Excerpt from his Homily on the Nativity of Christ)
The Magi were strangers to the promise of the Covenants and without a share in the blessing of the Fathers; yet they surpass the people of Israel in knowledge, for they recognized the heavenly luminary and were not ignorant of the King in the cave. The Magi bring Him gifts, but the Jews plot against Him. The former worship Him, but the latter persecute Him. The former rejoice at finding Him Whom they were seeking. The latter are perturbed at the birth of Him Who was announced. For, when the Magi “saw the star” over the place where the Child was,” “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” “When Herod...had heard” the report, “he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
Kollyva Art in Honor of the Holy Innocents
The Only Monastery in the Orthodox World Dedicated to the Holy Innocents
Homily on the Bronze Serpent and the Nativity of Christ (St. Luke of Simferopol)
By His order came a large number of poisonous snakes, which bit them so that thousands of people died. Let us remember this, too, how terrible and devastating it is for one to complain to God.
Monday, December 28, 2020
Saint Simon the Myrrhgusher and the Star of New Bethlehem
Saint Ignatius of Loma and Yaroslav (+ 1591)
The desire for an isolated hermitic life again compelled the Venerable Ignatius to leave the monastery he had founded. Having transferred the administration of his monastery to one of his disciples, the ascetic withdrew to the Vadozhsky volost, to the banks of the Darovitsa River, which flows into the Sarau River one mile from the place of the monk's settlement, and began to live there as a hermit. The place was silent, wooded, and the human settlements were five or six miles away. A barely noticeable path winding along the bank of the Darovitsa River was the only way to reach this place.
Three Rare Icons of the Virgin Mary as a Housewife and Mother
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Abishag the Shunamite as an Image of the Wisdom of King David in his Old Age
Excerpt from Letter LII: to Nepotian
The Chapel of Saint Stephen in Kos and the Healing of a Fourteen Year Old Boy
In Sydney, Australia lives the family of Anna Kourgiali, of the family Zamagia, who has two sons.
Saint Stephen Rescues a Fisherman from an Octopus and a Chapel is Built to Commemorate the Miracle
In order to be built, only two walls were needed, to the right and to the left, since the rock cave itself provides both the floor and the ceiling.
The Appearance of the Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen to a Hieromonk on Mount Athos
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The wonderworking icon of Saint Stephen, which is in the Chapel of Saint Stephen, in the konaki of the Monastery of Dionysiou at Karyes, on the Holy Mountain. |
On the previous Sunday, 14 July, the feast of our Holy Father Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite, the Monastery’s representative [at the Holy Community] invited the very devout Hieromonk Father Nikostratos to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at the konaki. He was also the representative of his own Monastery, the venerable Russian Monastery of Saint PanteleĂ¯mon.
Homily for the Sunday after Christmas (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)
Delivered on December 26, 2008
By Archimandrite George Kapsanis
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Pastoral Encyclical for Christmas 2020 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)
Today's feast is the feast of Christmas, a bright festival, from the point of view of the theology of our Church, as it is preserved in the homilies of the Holy Fathers and the hymns of the holy hymnographers. What of it if everything outside of it is woeful? We celebrate "the Theophany" and our recalling and return to God. If all of humanity is trembling before death due to the pandemic of the virus, we Orthodox Christians celebrate by looking towards the incarnation of the Son and Word of God and the consequences it has for mankind.
Encomium to the Most Holy Theotokos (for December 25th)
Today, the gate of the King of glory is opened,
which the Highest alone traveled through.
Today the Beginningless begins
and the Word is noted down.
Today heaven and earth have united,
speaking of Christ.
Today God on earth has arrived,
and man to heaven has been raised.
Today fire has been made visible,
the nature of which is invisible to man.
Today the Virgin brings forth the Fashioner of all things;
the earth offers a cave, and the heavens a star.
Friday, December 25, 2020
Discourse on the Birth of our Savior in the Flesh (St. Cyril of Alexandria)
(Sermon 2 on the Gospel of Luke)
By St. Cyril of Alexandria
Luke 2:8-18 -- And there were shepherds in that country, watching and keeping guard by night over their flock: and the angel of the Lord came unto them, and the glory of God shone upon them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for lo! I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which, shall be to all the people: that there is born unto you today, in the city of David a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord. And this is your sign; ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and among men good will." And it came to pass that when the angels had gone from them unto heaven, the shepherds said unto one another, "Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which hath come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe laid in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the word that was spoken unto them concerning the child. And all that heard wondered at what was told them by the shepherds.
Sermon on the Nativity of Christ (St. Cyril of Alexandria)
(Sermon 1: Luke 2:1-7)
By St. Cyril of Alexandria
Thursday, December 24, 2020
The Christmas Canon of Saint John of Damascus
First Canticle
Of old the Master that works wonders saved His people,
Making the watery wave of the sea into dry land;
And now of His own will has He been born from a Maiden,
And so He establishes a path for us whereby we may mount to heaven.
We glorify Him Who in essence is equal to the Father and to mortal men.
90-Year-Old Woman from Kalymnos Chants Christmas Hymns
Venerable Agapios the New (+ 1812)
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Encomium to the Holy Ten Martyrs of Crete (St. Andrew of Crete) - 1 of 3
(Commemorated on December 23rd)
By St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete
1. Did you, my friends and brethren and children, long for my return? I felt some pray to see me again in this kathedra and to be with you on this glorious day of the feast, that of the Martyrs and that of Christ, the great and unique and first leader of all, which predominates on this day of bright garments, while others asked to learn something and to basically say: "Where is our father? Where is our shepherd? Where is he who makes our feasts brighter and with his presence makes the memories of the Saints shine and who especially nourishes us with his words, expounding the Holy Scriptures, and where he basically cries out, 'My children, it is the final hour, and we must approach God with awareness, and even more so to come near Him, as we see the day approaching,' just as the divine trumpet, Paul the discourser of God, cries out. Where is he, therefore, who explains to us the divine and sacred writings, and intensifies the tone of our longing by his own example? Maybe, perhaps, having gone far from his homeland, he got lost? Maybe some desire reminded him of the tender love he has for his flock, and this desire conquered the difficulties of the road and reminded him to return? Or, finally, some divine power brought him back once again and even for the day of the Saints, whom he honors with much care and fervent desire? And behold, now with more zeal from that which his strength allows, he hastened to attend to this spiritual festival. And very reasonably, because he happens to have with him the sacred larnax of their revered relics, which he brings everywhere he goes, because it makes his paths very easy and having them as fellow-travelers he journeys with security." I think many contemplated these things, when I was absent, because this is how grateful children behave towards their loving father, and this is their desire, to see me with their very eyes that I am physically present, and to hear my voice teaching them. This, therefore, is what you now see happening. I myself, hence, am to be found among you with the living word, embracing this sacred gathering here, and as a gift for my absence I offer this discourse to you and to the Martyrs of Christ. Receive him as if he had not come from a long journey, and accept with meekness that which I will offer to please the Martyrs, that you may joyfully depart the feast, adorned with flowers and having reaped from here rich fruits.
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
An Icon of the Mother of God Surrounded by Righteous Foremothers of the Old Testament
The image of the Mother of God itself dates back to the 15th century, and it is quite standard. But its frame is unique, although it was created later, in the late 16th - early 17th centuries.
It is unique, firstly, in that it depicts women of the Old Testament, who were usually never depicted in icons. And also the fact that one of these women is possibly a hidden portrait of Princess Sophia.
Monday, December 21, 2020
The Penthekti Ecumenical Synod, Brumalia and the Origins of the Forty-Day Period of Preparation Before Christmas
Professor of Dogmatics at the
Because the question of this last celebration is relevant, since we have just gone through the period of the year during which its celebration took place in antiquity and the Middle Ages, I will deal with what follows with the clarification of the term "brumalia" and the accompanying calendar issues, saving the terms "kalends" and "bota" to deal with in the near future.
Catechesis on the Creedal Words "the Only-Begotten Son of God, Begotten of the Father Very God Before All Ages, by Whom All Things Were Made" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
Catechesis on the Creedal Words "Incarnate" and "Made Man" (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
Behold! A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel. (Is. 7:10-14)
1. Nurslings of purity and disciples of chastity, raise we our hymn to the Virgin-born God with lips full of purity. Deemed worthy to partake of the flesh of the Spiritual Lamb , let us take the head together with the feet , the Deity being understood as the head, and the Manhood taken as the feet. Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God John 1:1, went on to say, and the Word was made flesh. For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He also was made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen of humanity , and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes Romans 2:20 became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry.
Sunday, December 20, 2020
As We Approach the Nativity of Christ (St. John of Kronstadt)
By St. John of Kronstadt
In order that we celebrate this feast of God's limitless love and His extreme condescension, not in a worldly, but in a spiritual manner, let us briefly consider the following: Why did God become man while remaining God? And what does God's incarnation require of us?
Saturday, December 19, 2020
"A Woman Died and the Whole Place was Fragrant"
She died on the eve of the Dormition of the Panagia in 1998. The next day, August 15, the cheap coffin with her body, which was on the wagon of the small farm truck of the priest, was headed to the cemetery.
Elder Eumenios Saridakis: The Saint Who Had the Gift of Laughter
Father Eumenios also laughed during the services, while reading the Holy Gospel or while censing the Lady Theotokos during the "More Honorable".
Portrait of a Philanthropist
I was shocked. It had been fifteen days since I slept. To learn from this life that my mother is up there - I was sure, almost sure, about my mother. My mother was an ascetic in her life. Always smiling.
An African Neomartyr
In Uganda, Archimandrite Nikodemos Sarikas (1878-1941) preached for the first time (in 1933). Among those who heard him preaching was a young African boy.
That night, when the boy and his family sat to eat, he did his cross first.
Friday, December 18, 2020
Saint Eubiotos as a Model for our Lives
Synaxis of the Holy Family of Saint Gregory Palamas

In 2009, at the recommendation of the Metropolis of Berea, Naousa and Kampania, the Ecumenical Patriarchate established a feast day in honor of the family of St. Gregory Palamas. His father's name was Constantine, his mother Kalloni, his brothers were Makarios and Theodosios, and his sisters were Theodote and Epicharis. The day chosen for the feast is December 18th or the Sunday after November 14th.
St. Philotheos Kokkinos, a disciple of St. Gregory and his biographer, writes the following of his father:
"Gregory was the offspring of noble and pious parents. So virtuous was his father that the emperor Adronikos II Palaiologos, made him one of his counselors. And not only the earthly king, but also God the Heavenly King, honored and glorified him even while he was still alive with miracles. Foreknowing his death, Constantine – that was his name – took the Angelic Habit, that is, he became a monk, and was named Constantios."
Holy Spring of Saint Sebastian in Constantinople
During the centuries before the Fall of the Queen City in 1453, the memory of the Saint was honored with brilliance, where many people found a cure to their mental and physical ailments. Due to the destruction of the city, the holy water was seized and destroyed. But the Saint at the beginning of the nineteenth century appeared in a vision to a woman and indicated to her the place and existence of the holy spring.
Saint Sebastian and the 1576–78 Plague of Milan
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Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Stricken, Josse Lieferinxe, 1497–1499, The Walters Art Museum |
The Skull of Saint Sebastian in Bavaria
Thursday, December 17, 2020
A Summary of the Old Testament (St. Jerome)
Exodus, no doubt, is equally plain, containing as it does merely an account of the ten plagues, the decalogue, and sundry mysterious and divine precepts!
The Veneration of Saint Dionysios in Zakynthos
Veneration and Honor
Much could be said about his veneration and the honor bestowed on him by his fellow-natives, and endless disagreements were created, especially by the fanatical theologians, since the Saint often substitutes even God in the conscience of Zakynthians. Thus the expression "I do not believe in gods and religions, but I believe in the Saint" is an additional example of local uniqueness and shows the bond of all the inhabitants of the island with the "native" Saint, who lived on their soil and understands them like nobody else. In fact, he is completely theirs and that is why they supplicate him as: "Agios mou Kormaki" (my Holy Body) which is a beautiful expression emphasizing his physical presence among them, or the more humane: "Agios mou Sigouros" (my Saint Sigouros), invoking his surname.
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
An Interview with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Regarding Issues with the Pandemic
Question: Your Eminence, we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to the pandemic. There are believers who reverently follow the measures of the competent health authorities for their protection from covid-19. There are, however, believers who deny its existence and believe in conspiracy theories. What would you say to the deniers of the pandemic?
Thessaloniki Hosts the Largest Manger Scene in Europe for 2020
What makes the scene unique is that it does not only include the Holy Family, the Angels, the Three Magi, the animals and the shepherds, but also the palace of Herod and the scene where the Archangel Gabriel offers a lily to the Virgin Mary.
The Incorrupt Relics of the Holy Empress Theophano at the Phanar
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Saint Nektarios of Bitel (+ 1500)
Monday, December 14, 2020
A Prelude to Christmas
Tidy up the manger, to receive the Divine Infant.
Prepare the animals, to warm up the space.
Invite the shepherds, to be ready, so they may hear the angelic doxology.
Behold the star, coming from the east, leading with its light the three magi.
Heaven is getting ready!
Everything around is ready to welcome the King of Glory.
When everything is ready, what will people do?
"A Saint On Earth… Good Paradise, Father Gabriel"
Those who knew him speak of him as a "Saint on earth" and bid their farewell to him with the following words:
Two 16th Century Prayers to the Mother of God for Deliverance from Plague
Miracles of Saint Spyridon During the Greco-Italian War of 1940
"During the war of 1940 I was the captain on a warship and we were off the coast of Kerkyra. We had run out of ammunition, that is, we were defenseless. We were then attacked by two or three German Stukas [a warplane known for its dive-bombing precision], and having no other hope, we called upon God to help us.
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Homily on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (Archimandrite George Kapsanis)
Former Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos
(1988)
And for this they sang: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" (Psalm 117:26). They blessed the One who was to come in the name of the Lord. And all these people of the Old Testament, God's people, not only longed, but also prepared themselves for the coming of the Messiah. And preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah, they also hastened the time of the coming of the Messiah.
