"The Holy Unmercenary Saints Gave Me Holy Communion"

A Priest named Stylianos gave the following testimony:

On 9/27/2001 I suffered a severe stroke (thrombotic) and my left arm and leg were completely immobilized. My speech was slow and unsteady. I stayed in the hospital for ten days and then I went home. At the end of December of the same year, I started to get up and walk around with a cane.

On 1/9/2002, even while I was on blood thinners, I suffered a second stroke and at the same time a pulmonary embolism. Again the left arm and leg remained motionless. The doctors said there is no salvation for me. This treatment does not justify the blood clot that caused the cerebral and pulmonary embolism. I am again at AHEPA [a hospital in Thessaloniki] on a bed of pain.

Homily Two for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew - The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily for the Eighth Sunday of Matthew

The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

"And they all ate and were satisfied" (Matt. 14:20).

Beloved brethren,

The ancient ecclesiastical hermenutical tradition gave an ecclesiastical and eucharistic meaning to the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves, which we heard today in the Gospel reading. This miracle is a prototype of the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, according to which the spiritually dead person receives Christ and is revived. Therefore, we are given the opportunity to formulate some thoughts about this supernatural and great mystery which is the center of ecclesiastical and spiritual life.

Synaxarion for the Holy Thirteen Venerable Martyrs and Confessors of the Monastery of Kantara

 

 On the 19th of this month [May], we commemorate the Holy Thirteen Venerable Martyrs and Confessors of the Monastery of Kantara in Cyprus, John, Konon, Jeremiah, Markos, Kyrillos, Theoktistos, Baranabas, Maximos, Theognostos, Joseph, Gennadios, Gerasimos and Germanos, who in the year 1231 under the Latins had their end by fire.

Verses

Revered assembly, Champion Fathers,
You contested radiantly, against the Latin-minded.
On the nineteenth, the thirteen went to heaven together.

In 1228, when Cyprus was subject to the Latins, and the Orthodox were in many ways deprived of their faith, two God-bearing ascetics, John and Konon, came to Cyprus from Pamphylia in Asia Minor, and having first entered the Monastery of Machairas, they then settled in the abandoned Monastery of Mount Pentadaktylos called the Theotokos of Kantara, where they struggled in asceticism and piety and all means of philanthropy. With them there joined nine other monks - Jeremiah, Markos, Kyrillos, Theoktistos, Barnabas, Maximos, Theognostos, Joseph and Germanos.

Homilies on the Divine Liturgy - Holy Communion (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

  Homilies on the Divine Liturgy

 
Holy Communiont

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou 

All the Mysteries of the Church, my beloved brethren, are closely connected with the Divine Eucharist. We are baptized and chrismated with the Holy Myrrh so that as members of the Church we can take part in this Secret Supper and receive Christ in us. The Mystery of the Priesthood is made so that there may be Bishops who will perform the Divine Liturgy and who will ordain Presbyters to perform the Divine Eucharist on their behalf. The Mysteries of Confession and Anointing are made to prepare us to truly participate in the Divine Eucharist, but also the Mystery of Marriage is made so that the couple can participate in the Divine Eucharist, to feel united not only on a biological level, but as unity with Christ.

Homilies on the Divine Liturgy - Preparation for Holy Communion (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 Homilies on the Divine Liturgy

Preparation for Holy Communiont

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou 

After the prayer of the anaphora, my beloved brethren, which is the most central part of the Divine Liturgy during which, by the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and in our prayers we address Christ on behalf of our ecclesiastical government, our Church prepares us to commune of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Divine Liturgy is not done just to pray, because if it had this purpose, then we could replace it with other services, namely Vespers, Matins, Paraklesis, etc. Rather, the Divine Liturgy is done to commune, that is, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ and to have communion with Christ. It does not mean that the Clergy liturgy in the Holy Bema and we do not commune with the Body and Blood of Christ. In ancient times, all Christians communed, as long as they did not have an obstacle to Divine Communion.

Homily Before Holy Communion on the First Sunday of Great Lent (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

Before you come, listeners, to Holy Communion, let's talk about what benefit we get when we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, and with what feelings we should approach this Awesome Mystery.

What benefit do we get when we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ? We are most closely united with Jesus Christ, so that Jesus Christ then begins to abide in us, and we in Him: "He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56), says Jesus Christ. What exactly is happening in us then? It is impossible to explain and realize this, it is impossible, one can only feel it a little, and even then not completely.

Homily on the Friday of the First Week of Great Lent (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

Some Christians, as you know, do not partake of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ even during Great Lent. Surely, listeners, among you who are now standing in this temple, are there those who will not receive communion during this present fast? If there is one among you, I will turn my conversation to them. Listen to what I'm going to tell you: God Himself has sent you to church today so that you can hear how harmful it is for the soul to withdraw from Holy Communion.

Tell me, why don't you think of partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ? Or do you not know why? So, for no reason do you think about taking communion, or maybe you don’t even think about it, that you won’t take communion? Is it all the same for you whether to take communion or not? Oh, if you are like that, then come to your senses, think of yourself. You descend into the depths of sin, and therefore do not take care of yourself; you have forgotten about the salvation of your soul, and that is why you do not remember that you need to take communion. You are sick in soul and do not feel your illness, and therefore you do not understand that you need to take communion for the healing of the soul. You don’t care about the future life and don’t think at all whether it exists, that’s why you don’t think about communion into eternal life, that’s why it doesn’t matter for you whether you commune or not. Come to your senses, think of yourself: you are sleeping, you are dying,

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

The Mystery of the Divine Eucharist

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Since so far, my beloved brethren, we have analyzed Baptism and Chrismation, today we must emphasize a few points about the great mystery of the Divine Eucharist. Of course, for this mystery we highlighted what was needed in last year's liturgical sermons. But now we must emphasize some points that have to do with the spiritual life and the Divine Eucharist.

Man is first born, then he must have movement and energy in him and of course in order to live he needs to be nourished. If someone after his birth has no energy and does not eat, there will come a time when he will die. The same is true of spiritual birth. First one is reborn from the spiritual womb of the Church which is the Font, then one is anointed with Holy Chrismation and acquires movement, and then one comes to Divine Communion and communes of the Body and Blood of Christ to live.

Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: The Relationship of the Panagia with Orthodox Ecclesiology (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: 

The Relationship of the Panagia with Orthodox Ecclesiology 

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Delivered in 2002)

The Church of Christ, my beloved brethren, is the Body of the God-man Christ. The Church of the Old Testament was spiritual and consisted of the righteous, who did not overcome death, but with the incarnation of Christ the Church became physical, that is, she was received by Christ and became His Body. And the Panagia cooperated in this, because she gave her body to Christ, who deified it and made it a Church. This alone shows the great value of our Panagia, and that this is the joy and the cause of our deification.

Therefore, when we say Church we mean the Bridegroom Christ, the Mother of the Bridegroom Christ and the friends of the Bridegroom Christ, the saints. In this society the deification of man and the sanctification of creation are achieved and of course all the great changes take place in society and the world.

The Causes of the Fall of Constantinople, According to Joseph Bryennios

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453 was the culmination of the declining glory of the Roman Empire, the so-called Byzantium. Much has been written about the causes of this fall, which presents the situation in which the Roman Empire-Byzantium was at that time, since all of Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace was lost and only Constantinople and its environs remained. The occasional enemies had inflicted great damage, culminating in a final blow by the Frankish occupation of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade on April 13, 1204. After a few years (1261) its recapture and liberation offered nothing really substantial, because the city was already destroyed and completely looted.

Apart from the political and social causes that contributed to the fall of Constantinople, special mention should be made of the spiritual causes to which we usually do not pay much attention.

The Immortal Table

By Metropolitan Kallinikos Karousos of Piraeus

"Come, O faithful, let us enjoy the Master's hospitality and immortal table, in the upper room, that is, in elevated minds."

The Church has elevated us to the sacred atmosphere of the Secret Supper tonight. That night the Lord delivered to His disciples the All-Holy Mystery of the Divine Eucharist. And He made the greatest gift to His faithful by giving them for spiritual food His Body and His Blood.

This great gift, inconceivable to the human mind, invites us to pay special care and enjoy it, as it should be, according to the holy hymn writer.

Elder Gabriel the Agiovarnavitis (+ December 5, 2013) - Part 1 of 2

 

Elder Gabriel Siokouros, the man of God, came from Lysi of Cyprus. As a layman, as a Hieromonk and as Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Barnabas after the invasion of the Turks, he was a man of prayer, sacrifice and love. His desire and longing was to offer everything to the Church, to help all people, especially young people and to lead them to the Church, to Christ. He served in Missions and Philanthropy with all his soul. He was a fighter who gave it his everything

Returning from Mount Athos in 1974 where he had remained for two years in order to perfect the art of Iconography, and before leaving for his Monastery in Cyprus, he learned of the Turkish invasion. Unable to return to his homeland and to his favorite Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas, because they had been occupied and destroyed by the Turks, he remained in Greece for several years. He settled in Nafplio, in the Monastery of Saint Demetrios of Karakalas and served there as a Priest.

Life of the Holy Hermits John, Andrew, Heraclemon and Theophilos of Oxyrhynchus

 

Below is continued the Life of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian by Abba Paphnutios, which follows Abba Paphnutios after the burial of Saint Onouphrios (June 12), with his encounter of some anonymous monks, and this is followed by his encounter with the Holy Hermits John, Andrew, Heraclemon and Theophilos, who are commemorated together on December 2nd.

Life of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian

By Abba Paphnutios

And when I perceived that it was not according to the will of God for me to remain in this place, I spread out my hands, and I prayed unto the Lord; and behold, the man who had come to me at the first, and who had given me strength, came to me again as he had done before. And he said unto me, "My God, our Lord, informed us this day that thou wast coming to us in this place. Behold, for six years we have seen no man except thyself."

The Story of a Communion Spoon

 

 

The following text was posted by the priest Ioan Valentin Istrati of the parish of Saint Nicholas in Constanta, Romania. His father was also a priest, while his grandfather was a military priest:

"This silver spoon is sanctified (see photo above). My father gave it to me. With it I have communed Christ to thousands of people without transmitting any disease. With the same spoon every time I also consume the Body and Blood of Christ from the Holy Chalice.

Seven Nuggets in the Time of the Coronavirus (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

The coronavirus humbled us all, disorganized our society, took us out of our anxious "bliss", our self-sufficiency, our activism and the veneer of our faith. At the same time, it humbled the arrogance of some scientists and politicians.

Each of us, locked in our own monastic cell, thinks, "philosophizes", prays, fills our time creatively and plans. Others suffocate in the small spaces of their residence, contemplating the "before" and "after" of the coronavirus.

The Theotokos as the Mystical Tongs

By John Sanidopoulos

A common issue in time of epidemics is whether or not to change the way Orthodox Christians receive Holy Communion, which is done with a common spoon. This spoon, however, is not called a spoon by Orthodox Christians, but it is referred to as Holy Tongs, because it holds Christ the burning coal, who is consumed as a burning fire. This is based on the vision of the Prophet Isaiah (6:6-7):

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquities are taken away and your sins have been purified.”

In the liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church, based on the writings of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint Romanos the Melodist, and Saint Methodios of Olympus, the vision of the Prophet Isaiah was interpreted as a prefiguration of the Reception of Christ in the Temple. The burning coal which cleansed the prophet of his sins was Christ, "who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn. 1:29), while the tongs which held the coal represented Mary the Mother of God.

Official Announcement of the Church of Crete on the Manner of Reception of the Divine Eucharist

The Sacred Eparchial Synod of the Church of Crete, on the occasion of the discussion that has arisen, but also due to the online public debate and the various positions and views, in reference to the Mystery of Mysteries, the Divine Eucharist and Divine Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a deep sense of pastoral responsibility, unanimously announces, and in every way, that the All-Holy Mystery of the Divine Eucharist is nonnegotiable, as the ecclesiastical experience testifies that the established method of transmission today, and for a series of centuries, of the All-Holy Body and Honorable Blood of our Christ to the faithful, is not the cause of illness, therefore it is not a matter of discussion or dialogue.

Ten Reasons Why It Is A Bad Idea To Permanently Change the Way Orthodox Christians Receive Holy Communion Due to Covid-19

By John Sanidopoulos

I've been a bit perplexed why so many Orthodox Christians around the world have been quick to jump on the "get rid of the common communion spoons" bandwagon. Not just temporarily, but permanently. Has covid-19 frightened the faithful so much? It seems so. And sometimes our reactions due to an extreme form of fear causes us to forget the consequences of our actions. For this reason, I decided to list ten reasons why I think it would be a bad idea if the common communion spoon will be done away with permanently due to covid-19 or any other virus. I will avoid being theological and just stick to being practical as much as I can.

The Secularization of the Mystery of the Eucharist Due to Covid-19

By Kostas Nousis

The situation has begun to escalate. The focus, unfortunately, is in the way the Holy Eucharist is transmitted.

The images circulating on the internet and in the news have become, mainly from Orthodox bishops and priests, absolutely heartbreaking.

You may be increasingly wondering where Orthodoxy will be a few years from now.

We know very well that the boundaries between fundamentalism and healthy zeal are easily shifting these days because of the unpredictable pandemic, due to our sins.

Father Benedict Petrakis and the Tuberculosis Patient

Archimandrite Benedict Petrakis

By Archimandrite Haralambos Vasilopoulos

In Ioannina, near the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries of Kastro, within the castle of Ali Pasha, there was a small sanatorium for tuberculosis patients who were about to die.

Between 1938 and 1940 after the Divine Liturgy, Father Benedict Petrakis would go to this sanatorium every Wednesday or whenever he was needed and he would give Holy Communion to the sick patients.