Miracles by the Holy Belt of Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary) [Volume 5]

The Holy Belt has performed innumerable miracles over the years. We will only refer to some of them, here.

1.    The ship stays montionless
Once, the inhabitants of Ainos invited the Holy Belt. The monks who were accompanying it were being offered hospitality at the house of a priest, whose wife secretly cut off a small piece.     When the monks boarded the vessel, the ship stayed motionless, even though the sea was calm. When the woman saw this extraordinary event she realized her mistake and handed back the missing piece. The ship sailed off only after the piece was handed over. Since then a second casket was crafted to accommodate this piece to this day. read more…

Miracles by the Holy Belt of Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary) [Volume 4]

The history of the Holy Belt chapter

The Holy Belt of the Mother of God, divided these days in three parts, is the only relic or remains, which endures from her life on earth and is being safeguarded at the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi. According to the tradition, the belt was woven from camel hair from the Mother of God herself, and after her Repose, while she was ascending to heaven, she handed it over to Thomas the Apostle. The apolytikio of the feast for the deposition of the Holy Belt of the Mother of God says: “While you were ascending to the forthcoming glory, you have given your most venerable belt to Thomas the Apostle”.  read more…

Miracles by the Holy Belt of Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary) [Volume 3]

The Holy Apostles became the vessels of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Miracles are events beyond nature, which use and are being energized by material things (handkerchiefs and aprons), which are full of Grace. Our Orthodox Church celebrates the worship of the “chains” of Saint Peter in January. When he had been imprisoned by Herod in Jerusalem, his hands were chained. An angel sent by the Lord, freed him. The Christians have preserved the chains and they have been honoring and worshiping them for the benefit of their souls. The chains have received “eternal grace” and became “the cure of ailments, the consolation of those afflicted, the harbor for those distressed”. In a troparion of the Canon of the feast it is written: “Peter, drive away demonic disturbances, pacify the tempest of sin and eradicate all sicknesses, dangers and afflictions as well as the assaults by barbarians from all those who revere your chains”. read more…

Miracles by the Holy Belt of Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary) [Volume 2]

Introduction

Our Church honors the holy and sacred relics, whether they are derived from the bodies of Saints, or are items belonging to them. One such relic, the only one which has been found to this day and belongs to the Most Holy Mother of God, is her Holy Belt. It constitutes a precious treasure and the most sacred relic which the Great, Holy Monastery of Vatopedi possesses. The Grace of the Holy Spirit continues to act through the holy relics. As Saint Chrysostomos says: “Jesus Christ, honoring the struggles, the blood they have shed and the martyrdom of the saints, has safeguarded their souls in heaven. But He left on earth their body and their holy relics to assist in our salvation”. read more…

Miracles by the Holy Belt of Most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary) [Volume 1]

 

Prologue

The works of God and His Saints, which cannot be rationally explained, are called miracles. God performs miracles ad infinitum. This is revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ who says: “My father is working until now” ( John 5, 17). By His uncreated energies, God provides, preserves and controls the whole universe, the whole creation. That is, God preserves the creation in the mint condition He had created it. He conserves and protects it by His divine consideration. Therefore, God’s uncreated energies are constantly and incessantly being revealed in the physical world and cause natural and physical results.Therefore, we are living a constant miracle. All of our abilities are being set in motion by God’s will. If God withdraws His energy from one of our abilities, we are going to lose it. Now I am able to see. I can see because God allows it. If God withdraws his energy I will become blind. read more…

The miraculous icon of Panagia Myrtidiotissa (“of the Myrtle Tree”), Kythera [Commemorated on September 24]

«The Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos «Of the Myrtle Tree» (Myrtidiotissa) is in the monastery church of Myrtides on the Greek island of Kythera. It derives its name from the fact that it was found in a myrtle bush in the fourteenth century. read more…

Elder Ephraim’s radio interview on Sky (ΣΚΑΪ 100,3) on the Dormition of our Lady

The Abbot of Vatopedi monastery, Archimandrite Ephraim, spoke on the radio programme “Η Γκίζα κάπου αλλού” (Gisa somewhere else) of ΣΚΑΪ (Sky) 100,3 FM on Saturday 14th August 2010, on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of our Lady, Mother of God. Elder Efrem was celebrating the feast at the Vatopedi Metohi of Porto Lagos.
Here is the full text of the interview. read more…

The feast of the Annunciation of our Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25)

The feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary  is a feast of the Lord and of the Mother of God (Theotokos). It is a feast of the Lord because Christ who was conceived in the womb of the Theotokos. It is a feast of the Theotokos because it refers to the person who aided in the conception and Incarnation of the Word of God, that is, the All Holy Virgin Mary.

Mary (the Theotokos) has great value and an important position in the Church, precisely because she was the person whom all generations awaited, and she gave human nature to the Word of God. Thus the person of the Theotokos is associated closely with the Person of Christ. Furthermore, the value of the Virgin Mary is not only due to her virtues, but also mainly to the fruit of her womb. For this reason, Theotokology is very closely associated with Christology. When we speak of Christ we cannot ignore her who gave Him flesh. And when we speak of the Virgin Mary, we simultaneously refer to Christ, because from Him she draws Grace and value. This shows clearly in the service of the Salutations, in which the Theotokos is hymned, but always in combination with the fact that she is the mother of Christ: «Rejoice, for you are the throne of the king. Rejoice for you bear Him Who bears all things».

The role of women in the Eastern Orthodox Church (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1

Divine priesthood is a “functional imaging of the divine priesthood of God the Father through Jesus Christ” (Voulgaris 1996 : 35). It can thus only be imaged by man who is connected to the imaging of divine fatherhood. A woman’s role differs in that she images functionally the role of the Paraclete who is the assistant of Jesus Christ in His work in the Ekklesia. Both men and women are considered in Orthodoxy, to be harmonious and mature persons with a sense of great personal responsibility. Each of the sexes has a deep gnosis or knowledge of their total dependence on the Triune Godhead for their salvation by the Grace of God the Father. Holy Scripture teaches us that Salvation is the task of the entire Triune Godhead. The Father wills that certain things happen. The Son fulfills the will of the Father and the will is then perfected in each individual believer by the Paraclete. This is the foundation upon which the teachings of the early Church was based concerning priesthood as a specifically masculine function. Men and women thus have distinct roles and functions within the Church. There is expected to be synergy in what men and women do in the Church in the same way that Jesus Christ and the Paraclete co-operate.

The circumcision of Jesus Christ and Saint Basil the Great

Εικόνα Ι. Μ. Μ. Βατοπαιδίου

 

The circumcision of our Lord and God and savior Jesus Christ

The eighth day following His birth, the Divine Child was presented in the Temple and circumcised according to the Law existing in Israel since the time of Abraham. On this occasion, He was given the name Jesus, which the Archangel Gabriel announced to the All-Holy Virgin Mary. The Old Testament circumcision was the proto-type of the New Testament baptism. The circumcision of our Lord shows that He received upon Himself the true body of man and not just seemingly, as was later taught of Him by heretics.

The Christmas Message of the Ecumenical Patriarch

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Prot. No. 1237 

BARTHOLOMEW

By God’s Grace

Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome

and Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church

Grace, peace and mercy from the Savior Christ

Born in Bethlehem

 

Beloved concelebrants and blessed children in the Lord,

Heaven and earth have united

Through the birth of Christ.

Today, God has appeared on earth,

And man has ascended to heaven.

(Christmas Hymn)

The distance and separation between God and humanity resulting from sin has been abolished with the assumption of the entire human nature by the Only-Begotten Son and Pre-eternal Word of God. It was God’s good will – that is to say, His initiative and will – that the incarnation of His Son should abolish all such distance uniting heaven and earth, as well as creation with its Creator.

Απολυτίκιο και Κοντάκιο της Συλλήψεως της Αγίας Άννης – Apolytikion and Kontakion of St Anne’s Conception

Η θαυματουργική εικόνα της Αγίας Άννας στο Κυριακό της Σκήτης της στο Άγιον Όρος. The miraculous icon of St Anne at the Kyriakon (the central church) of her Skete on Mt Athos.

Απολυτίκιον. Ήχος δ΄.

Σήμερον της ατεκνίας δεσμά διαλύονται, του Ιωακείμ γαρ και της Άννης εισακούων Θεός, παρ’ ελπίδα τεκείν αυτούς, σαφώς υπισχνείται θεόπαιδα, εξ ης αυτός ετέχθη ο απερίγραπτος, βροτός γεγονώς, δι’ Αγγέλου κελεύσας βοήσαι αυτή· Χαίρε Κεχαριτωμένη, ο Κύριος μετά σού.

Apolytikion. Fourth Mode. Read more…

I Have an Announcement

Do you know what the jackpot is on the lottery? Usually, I don’t worry about playing until the amount of the lottery is over $100 million dollars. Why bother? (duh) Once it hits that plateau, I begin to believe that I will be the next lottery winner. After all, why should the devil get all the money? I can just picture what I will do with the money. Its all good, of course and I can just see what a blessing I will be to the Church (new chapels for everybody!) In fact, with such good intentions, I wonder why I haven’t won in the past. I wait by the phone, but the Lotto never calls me. Instead, the money goes to all kinds of people who aren’t Orthodox and who end up wasting the money on frivolous things.
What’s that? You have to buy a ticket to win? Is that right? Why, I thought they just picked your social security number and called you. No?
I am kidding, of course, I don’t play the lotto.
Its instructive to read the reports of what happens to those who win. Its seems so odd to me that most of them end up being very miserable, and a few ended up in bankruptcy. The Lord whispers in my ear that, should I win such a sum of money, I would end up losing my soul.