The Seventh Ecumenical Synod as a Landmark for the Unity of the Church

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Sunday of Orthodoxy celebrates the restoration of the sacred icons that took place in the year 843 AD, and in fact it is the implementation of the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod, which took place in the year 787 AD in Nicaea of Bithynia. An iconoclastic period preceded it, during which an intense debate about icons took place, people were divided into iconoclasts and iconophiles and many arguments were heard from each side.

The important thing about this case is that the politicians of that time were heavily involved in this debate. This was not unprecedented since, unfortunately, theology is always connected with politics, to be more precise I would say that politics used and still uses theology to implement its plans. This will also be made evident in today's speech.

On Inexperienced Teachers in the Church

 By Father George Schoinas

We live in the age when we all speak without submitting ourselves to personal experience, without submitting ourselves to the price for the words we say. We believe that we should and can do so.

We all become teachers without having entered into the process of becoming students. Whoever does not take responsibility, whoever does not learn, whoever does not search like a hound to sniff out the teachings of the Saints of the Church, it is best that they shut their mouths.

And I say this first for us clergy who act as teachers, but I say it for you too because right outside the door of the church is someone making themselves a teacher to the other - or even worse one is making themselves an elder to the other, they want to guide, tell others what to do and how to do it.

Empirical Theology in the Orthodox Monasteries of Mount Athos According to Saint Silouan the Athonite

 

 By Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov

In 1932 a Roman Catholic doctor of theology, Father Chr. B., came on a visit [to Mount Athos at the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon]. He and Father V. had many a discussion about life on the Holy Mountain, and one day he asked,

"What books do your monks read?"

"St. John Climacus, St. Abba Dorotheos, Theodore the Studite, St. John Cassian, Ephraim the Syrian, Barsanuphius and John, Makarios the Great, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, Nicetas Stethatos, Gregory of Sinai, Gregory Palamas, Maximus the Confessor, Hesychius, Diadochus, Nilus and other Fathers from the Philokalia," replied Father V.

The Theotokos as an Embodiment of "Living Dogma"

 

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

In the Theotokos there were united the divine and the human nature in the hypostasis of the Word, and her womb became the workshop of this union, that is why she is also the "living dogma". The glory she has is the glory of her Son and God; her boldness before God is a consequence of her synergy in the incarnation of Christ; her intercessions are due to her being the Mother of Christ; the term "Theotokos" constitutes the mystery of the divine economy. The Third Ecumenical Synod, which decided that she should be called Theotokos and not Christotokos, shows that the Panagia is indeed a "living dogma". All the heresies about Christ culminate in the Theotokos, and all the heresies about the Theotokos also refer to Christ. Her appearances to the deified saints in the Light, and the Grace that the saints receive from her show that the Orthodox dogmas are alive and not dead, they are theology and experience and not philosophical reflection.

Homily Two for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod - The Apostles and Fathers as Lights of the World (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod

The Apostles and Fathers as Lights of the World

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council are celebratied today, who established and confirmed the doctrine that the two natures of Christ, divine and human, which are united "unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisible, inseparably" in His existence, and this is of great importance for the Church and Christians.

Elder Ieronymos of Aegina on the Empirical Prerequisites of an Effective Preacher

 Then the Elder [Ieronymos] turned to his other visitor:

"How are you? How is the spiritual life going?"

"Thank God, Elder, I'm trying. I was recently assigned to preach and I do not know what to do. What do you advise me?"

"Let me tell you. If your life is such that it is in agreement with what you teach and you are an example, then take the assignment. The saints experienced what they wrote and taught. And those who write or speak for the Holy Fathers, must have a similar life. Preaching is good. The hare is not as afraid of the thunder of heaven as the devil is of the preaching of the apostles. However, you should only teach what you yourself do.

The Theological Concerns of Father Ephraim, Abbot of Vatopaidi Monastery

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, Archimandrite Fr. Ephraim, recently emerged from a major ordeal with the coronavirus, having escaped the jaws of death and is now in the process of recovery.

We glorify God for this development, because with prayer and medical science he will be kept alive to continue his work and his ministry in the Church.

We did not have a special communication with Fr. Ephraim of Vatopaidi from the beginning, but finally we met through Orthodox theology and specifically the theology of the Prophets, the Apostles and the Fathers.

This shows how there can be differences between mentalities, characters, events, yet communication and communion can exist through authentic Orthodox theology.

To the Unknown Orthodoxy (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sermon delivered on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, 25 February 2018, at the Metropolitan Church of Saint Demetrios in Nafpaktos)

Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy, my beloved brethren, and the Orthodox Church celebrates as Theology and as Church and as Life. It is therefore not only about the Orthodox faith, but about Orthodox life - it is ortho-doxy and ortho-life.

As is customary everywhere today, in all the Holy Temples where a Divine Liturgy takes place, sermons on the subject of Orthodoxy will be heard and many Bishops, Clergy and theologians will speak about Orthodoxy. All speakers - Orthodox, Neo-Orthodox, Post-Orthodox, Patristic, Neo-Patristic, Post-Patristic, Modern, Post-Modern - will refer to Orthodoxy and will try to present what they themselves think is the Orthodox Church, Orthodox Theology and Orthodox Tradition.

The question then is: What is Orthodoxy?

What Is Orthodoxy? (Protopresbyter George Metallinos)

By Protopresbyter George Metallinos,
Professor Emeritus, School of Theology, University of Athens

In speaking about Orthodoxy, we must not repeat the mistake of Pilate when he asked Christ, “What is truth?”1 The correct question is: “Who is Truth?” For the truth is not an idea, a theory, or a system, but a Person, the All-Holy Person of the Incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ. This is how we should ask about Orthodoxy, too, since it is identical with the Theanthropic Person of God the Word. He, as God-Man is Orthodoxy; He is the All-Truth.

1. If we wanted to define Christianity, qua Orthodoxy, in conventional terms, we would say that it is the experience of the presence of the Uncreated (God)2 in history and the potential for the created (man) to become God “by Grace.” Given the continuous presence of God in Christ in historical reality, Christianity offers man the possibility of deification (θέωσις = theosis), just as medical science provides him with the possibility of maintaining or restoring his health, though in both cases through a definite therapeutic process and a specific way of life.

 

We Ought to Shout Every Moment of our Lives: "We Have Found the Messiah!" However...

 

 

We ought to shout every moment of our lives: "We have found the Messiah!" (Jn. 1:41).

However, there must exist beforehand: "Come and see!" (Jn. 1:39).

We must have a living experience of the Faith.

The Basis of Theology According to St. Dionysius the Areopagite

 

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

 

In the teaching of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite we observe six basic points.

The first is the Thearchy, which is the beginning of theosis. 

 

The second point is that from the participation in the powers of God we have the Theonyms, and the most basic Theonyms are that God is Good and Beautiful. Good means progress, light that comes to us, and Beautiful means that it ignites the desire for Him.

The third point is the participation in the Theonyms, that is, the Hierarchy, which means the beginning of holiness. Participation in the Theonyms, is the sharing of the theonyms and this is the sacred order, the sacred science, the sacred energy. Thus we have the heavenly hierarchy, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the hierarchy in the mind of man.

Homily Three for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod - Empirical Theology (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

This Sunday is dedicated by the Church to the Holy Fathers who convened the Fourth Ecumenical Synod in Chalcedon in the year 451 AD, which confronted the heresy of Monophysitism. This is the heresy that claims that the two natures of Christ - divine and human - were united in one nature and in particular the human nature was absorbed by the divine nature. This view subverted the whole teaching of the Church, which maintains that the human nature is preserved in Christ even after its union with the divine nature.

The heresy of Monophysitism is a continuation of the great heresy of Arianism, which claimed that Christ is a creature and not God. The basis of these first heresies was that they tried to interpret the Person of Christ with logic. The important thing is that the heretics and all their like-minded people theologized using Greek philosophy and reflection, while the Fathers used the experience of the Prophets and Apostles, as expressed in Holy Scripture, but also as confirmed by their own spiritual, ecclesiastical experience. This is the basic difference between heretics and the Fathers. The heretics tried to interpret the relationship of the Father with the Word, and the relationship of the two natures in Christ, using philosophical presuppositions, while the Fathers knew from experience that the Word is God, because in His appearance to the Apostles and to them He shone like Light, like the sun. Thus, the Word has the same essence and energy as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Also, the union of the two natures in the Person of Christ became "unmingled", "unaltered", "indivisible" and "inseparable".

Reflection for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman (St. Theophan the Recluse)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

The Samaritan woman's fellow citizens said to her after two days with the Savior in their midst, "Now we believe not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). It happens this way with everyone. At first they are called to the Lord by an external word, or as for many now, simply by birth. But when they taste in practice what it is to live in the Lord, they no longer cleave to the Lord through their external affiliation with Christian society, but through their inner union with Him. It is necessary for all who are born in Christian societies to make this a law for themselves; that is, to not limit themselves to mere external affiliation with the Lord, but to seek to unite with Him inwardly, that they may always bear witness within themselves that they are standing in the truth. Why is this necessary? It is necessary to embody within oneself the truth of Christ. The truth of Christ is a restoration of what is fallen. Thus, put off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, which is created after God in righteousness and true holiness (cf. Eph. 4:22–24), and you will know within yourself that the Lord Jesus Christ is in truth the Savior — not only for the world, but also for you.

Orthodoxy as Therapy (Fr. George Metallinos)

Orthodoxy as Therapy

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos

If we wanted to give a conventional definition of Christianity, as Orthodoxy, we would say it is the experience of the presence of the Uncreated (God) within history and the possibility of those who are created (people) becoming God "according to grace".

Given the perpetual presence of God in historical reality in Christ, Christianity offers mankind the possibility of theosis, just as Medical Science offers mankind the possibility of preserving or restoring his health through a specific therapeutic procedure and a specific way of life.

The Empirical Path Towards the Knowledge of God (St. Justin Popovich)

By St. Justin Popovich

The more a man exercises himself in the virtues, the greater becomes his knowledge of God. The more he knows God, the greater is his asceticism. This is an empirical and pragmatic path. “If any man will do His [God’s] will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God” (John 7:17). In other words: It is by living the truth of Christ that one comes to know its veracity and uniqueness. This is truly an empirical, experimental and pragmatic path. The knowledge of the truth is not given to the curious, but to those who follow the ascetic way. Knowledge is a fruit on the tree of virtues, which is the tree of life. Knowledge comes from asceticism. For the true Christian, Orthodox philosophy is in fact the theanthropic ascesis of the intellect and of the whole person. Here, those arresting words of the Savior are especially significant. “Him who hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

Mysticism and Rationalism in the Middle Ages: The Views of St. Gregory Palamas

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Lecture Delivered at the University of Seattle in 1999)

SUMMARY

In man’s effort to obtain the knowledge of God and attain union with Him, various theological movements have appeared in the West and in the East. The West developed so-called scholasticism, while the East developed mysticism.

Scholasticism (11th-13th century AD), which originated from the Schools of the 9th century, is based mostly on reason (“ratio”) and this is why it is called rationalism. Its central position is that there is a single knowledge for the creation and for God, and a single methodology for the acquisition of this knowledge of the created world and the uncreated God. This means that the investigation of the created world and the acquisition of the knowledge of God are both achieved through reason.

The Lessons I Learned From My Acquaintance With the Athonite Father Paisios

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos

On July 12th is honored the newly-appeared star of Orthodoxy, Saint Paisios the Athonite, or "Father Paisios", as we used to call him.

I have often been asked to give an opinion on Father Paisios, but I have avoided it. Not by indifference or devaluation of the person - away with the blasphemy! My hesitation is due to the fact that I do not consider myself worthy of such a thing. The Apostle Paul taught us that "he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" (1 Cor. 2:15) (The bearer of spiritual gifts sees and understands everything, but he is not understood by anyone who is not illuminated by the Holy Spirit.) And according to Saint Makarios of Egypt: "He knows each man, from whence he speaks, and where he stands, and what measures he is in; but not a man of those that have the spirit of the world is able to know and judge him, but only he that has the like heavenly Spirit of the Godhead knows his like."

The Method By Which St. Cyril of Alexandria Corrected a Theological Error of a Holy Elder

The same Abba Daniel told of another great old man who dwelt in lower Egypt, who in his simplicity, said that Melchizedek was the son of God. When blessed Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, was told about this he sent someone to him. Learning that the old man was a worker of miracles and that all he asked of God was revealed to him, and that it was because of his simplicity that he had given utterance to this saying, using guile the Archbishop said to him,

Instructions to Get the Heart Receptive to Orthodoxy

The following instructions come from the book With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man, which is a text of recorded dialogues between Saint Paisios the Athonite and his spiritual children. When inquirers and converts ask about how to make the first steps towards Orthodoxy, or even Orthodox who have been estranged from the Church for years, the advice given below are adequate and wise instructions to get the heart to be receptive to the message of Orthodoxy and the spiritual life of the Church.

Homily on Saint Andrew the Apostle (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

November 30, 2013

The historical and megalonymos city of Patras honors today and praises its patron and protector saint, the First-Called Apostle Andrew.

For the lovers of feasts of this Local Church it is a bright festival, but also for the entire Orthodox Church, especially the Ecumenical Patriarchate, since Saint Andrew is the founder of that Church. But Patras has the great honor of being the city of his glorious martyrdom, which he irrigated with his sanctified blood.