Weekly Events

WEEKDAY SERVICES

Thursday, January 17, 2019 —

ST. ATHANASIOS — GREAT VESPERS in Arlington

There will be NO PARAKLESIS to the Most Holy Theotokos

Friday, January 18, 2019—

ST. ATHANASIOS Divine Liturgy at 8:30 a.m.

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MEMORIAL SERVICES

On Sunday, memorial services will be offered for the repose of the souls of Bess Efstathopoulos, George, John, Eleni & Stathi Havanidis and for the souls of Anthony & Catherine Kourepinis.

The coffee hour will be kindly hosted by the Raschi & Havanidis families.

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INVITATION TO TAKE THE AFFIRMATION OF OFFICE 2019

Fr. Konstantinos is pleased to invite the entire Parish Council, including the newly elected Council Members, to receive the Affirmation of Office THIS Sunday, January 13th, 2019. The ceremony will take place immediately after the Div. Liturgy

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PROSFORO & LENTEN ARTOS LESSONS—Presvytera Anna will be giving lessons on making Prosforo and Lenten Artos on January 19th at 10 a.m. Please bring your seal for the Prosforo. Children are welcome. There will also be a light Pot luck luncheon.

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PARISH COUNCIL MEMBERS ON CHURCH DUTY SUNDAY JANUARY 13TH, 2019

Philippos Dres, Domenica Karavitaki & Diane Karavitis

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. First Mode. Psalm 32.22,1.
Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
Verse: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 4:7-13.

BRETHREN, grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (in saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Προκείμενον. First Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 32.22,1.
Γένοιτο, Κύριε, τὸ ἔλεός σου ἐφ' ἡμᾶς.
Στίχ. Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε δίκαιοι ἐν Κυρίῳ

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Ἐφεσίους 4:7-13.

Ἀδελφοί, ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Διὸ λέγει, Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, καὶ ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Τὸ δέ, Ἀνέβη, τί ἐστιν εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ κατέβη πρῶτον εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς; Ὁ καταβάς, αὐτός ἐστιν καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὰ πάντα. Καὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν τοὺς μὲν ἀποστόλους, τοὺς δὲ προφήτας, τοὺς δὲ εὐαγγελιστάς, τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους, πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας, εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· μέχρι καταντήσωμεν οἱ πάντες εἰς τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Gospel Reading

Sunday after Epiphany
The Reading is from Matthew 4:12-17

At that time, when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Sunday after Epiphany
Κατὰ Ματθαῖον 4:12-17

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ὅτι ᾿Ιωάννης παρεδόθη, ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὲτ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καπερναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλείμ, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ ῾Ησαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ γῆ Νεφθαλείμ, ὁδὸν θαλάσσης, πέραν τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότειεἶδε φῶς μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτουφῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς. ᾿Απὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς κηρύσσειν καὶ λέγειν· μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.

Saints and Feasts

January 13

The Holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus

Saints Hermylus and Stratonicus contested for piety's sake during the reign of Licinius, in the year 314. Saint Hermylus was a deacon, and Stratonicus was his friend. For his confession of Christ, Hermylus was beaten so fiercely that his whole body was covered with wounds. Stratonicus, seeing him endure this and other torments that left him half dead, wept with grief for his friend. From this he was discovered to be a Christian, and when he had openly professed his Faith and had been beaten, he and Hermylus were cast into the Danube River, receiving the crown of martyrdom.

January 18

Athanasios and Cyril, Patriarchs of Alexandria

In the half-century after the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea in 325, if there was one man whom the Arians feared and hated more intensely than any other, as being able to lay bare the whole error of their teaching, and to marshal, even from exile or hiding, the beleaguered forces of the Orthodox, it was Saint Athanasios the Great. This blazing lamp of Orthodoxy, which imperial power and heretics' plots could not quench when he shone upon the lampstand, nor find when he was hid by the people and monks of Egypt, was born in Alexandria about the year 296. He received an excellent training in Greek letters and especially in the sacred Scriptures, of which he shows an exceptional knowledge in his writings. Even as a young man he had a remarkable depth of theological understanding; he was only about twenty years old when he wrote his treatise "On the Incarnation." Saint Alexander, the Archbishop of Alexandria, brought him up in piety, ordained him his deacon, and after deposing Arius for his blasphemy against the Divinity of the Son of God, took Athanasios to the First Council in Nicea in 325. Saint Athanasios was to spend the remainder of his life laboring in defense of this Holy Council. In 326, before his death, Alexander appointed Athanasios his successor.

In 325, Arius had been condemned by the Council of Nicea; yet through his hypocritical confession of Orthodox belief, Saint Constantine the Great was persuaded by Arius's supporters that he should be received back into the communion of the Church. But Athanasios, knowing well the perverseness of his mind, and the disease of heresy lurking in his heart, refused communion with Arius. The heresiarch's followers then began framing false charges against Athanasios. Finally Saint Constantine the Great, misled by grave charges of the Saint's misconduct (which were completely false), had him exiled to Tiberius (Treves) in Gaul in 336. When Saint Constantine was succeeded by his three sons Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius, in 337, Saint Athanasios returned to Alexandria in triumph. But his enemies found an ally in Constantius, Emperor of the East, and he spent a second exile in Rome. It was ended when Constans prevailed with threats upon his brother Constantius to restore Athanasios (see also Nov. 6). For ten years Saint Athanasios strengthened Orthodoxy throughout Egypt, visiting the whole country and encouraging all: clergy, monastics, and lay folk, being loved by all as a father. After Constans's death in 350, Constantius became sole Emperor, and Athanasios was again in danger. On the evening of February 8, 356, General Syrianus with more than five thousand soldiers surrounded the church in which Athanasios was serving, and broke open the doors. Athanasios's clergy begged him to leave, but the good shepherd commanded that all the flock should withdraw first; and only when he was assured of their safety, he also, protected by divine grace, passed through the midst of the soldiers and disappeared into the deserts of Egypt, where for some six years he eluded the soldiers and spies sent after him.

When Julian the Apostate succeeded Constantius in 361, Athanasios returned again, but only for a few months. Because Athanasios had converted many pagans, and the priests of the idols in Egypt wrote to Julian that if Athanasios remained, idolatry would perish in Egypt, the heathen Emperor ordered not Athanasios's exile, but his death. Athanasios took a ship up the Nile. When he learned that his imperial pursuers were following him, he had his men turn back, and as his boat passed that of his pursuers, they asked him if he had seen Athanasios. "He is not far," he answered. After returning to Alexandria for a while, he fled again to the Thebaid until Julian's death in 363. Saint Athanasios suffered his fifth and last exile under Valens in 365, which only lasted four months because Valens, fearing a sedition among the Egyptians for their beloved Archbishop, revoked his edict in February, 366.

The great Athanasios passed the remaining seven years of his life in peace. Of his fifty-seven years as Patriarch, he had spent some seventeen in exiles. Shining from the height of his throne like a radiant evening star, and enlightening the Orthodox with the brilliance of his words for yet a little while, this much-suffering champion inclined toward the sunset of his life, and in the year 373 took his rest from his lengthy sufferings, but not before another luminary of the truth -- Basil the Great -- had risen in the East, being consecrated Archbishop of Caesarea in 370. Besides all of his other achievements, Saint Athanasios wrote the life of Saint Anthony the Great, with whom he spent time in his youth; ordained Saint Frumentius first Bishop of Ethiopia; and in his Paschal Encyclical for the year 367 set forth the books of the Old and New Testaments accepted by the Church as canonical. Saint Gregory the Theologian, in his "Oration On the Great Athanasios", said that he was "Angelic in appearance, more angelic in mind; ... rebuking with the tenderness of a father, praising with the dignity of a ruler ... Everything was harmonious, as an air upon a single lyre, and in the same key; his life, his teaching, his struggles, his dangers, his return, and his conduct after his return ... he treated so mildly and gently those who had injured him, that even they themselves, if I may say so, did not find his restoration distasteful."

Saint Cyril was also from Alexandria, born about the year 376. He was the nephew of Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who also instructed the Saint in his youth. Having first spent much time with the monks in Nitria, he later became the successor to his uncle's throne in 412. In 429, when Cyril heard tidings of the teachings of the new Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, he began attempting through private letters to bring Nestorius to renounce his heretical teaching about the Incarnation. When the heresiarch did not repent, Saint Cyril, together with Pope Celestine of Rome, led the Orthodox opposition to his error. Saint Cyril presided over the Third Ecumenical Council of the 200 Holy Fathers in the year 431, who gathered in Ephesus under Saint Theodosius the Younger. At this Council, by his most wise words, he put to shame and convicted the impious doctrine of Nestorius, who, although he was in town, refused to appear before Cyril. Saint Cyril, besides overthrowing the error of Nestorius, has left to the Church full commentaries on the Gospels of Luke and John. Having shepherded the Church of Christ for thirty-two years, he reposed in 444.

January 17

Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony, the Father of monks, was born in Egypt in 251 of pious parents who departed this life while he was yet young. On hearing the words of the Gospel: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor" (Matt. 19:21), he immediately put it into action. Distributing to the poor all he had, and fleeing from all the turmoil of the world, he departed to the desert. The manifold temptations he endured continually for the span of twenty years are incredible. His ascetic struggles by day and by night, whereby he mortified the uprisings of the passions and attained to the height of dispassion, surpass the bounds of nature; and the report of his deeds of virtue drew such a multitude to follow him that the desert was transformed into a city, while he became, so to speak, the governor, lawgiver, and master-trainer of all the citizens of this newly-formed city.

The cities of the world also enjoyed the fruit of his virtue. When the Christians were being persecuted and put to death under Maximinus in 312, he hastened to their aid and consolation. When the Church was troubled by the Arians, he went with zeal to Alexandria in 335 and struggled against them in behalf of Orthodoxy. During this time, by the grace of his words, he also turned many unbelievers to Christ.

Saint Anthony began his ascetic life outside his village of Coma in Upper Egypt, studying the ways of the ascetics and holy men there, and perfecting himself in the virtues of each until he surpassed them all. Desiring to increase his labors, he departed into the desert, and finding an abandoned fortress in the mountain, he made his dwelling in it, training himself in extreme fasting, unceasing prayer, and fierce conflicts with the demons. Here he remained, as mentioned above, about twenty years. Saint Athanasius the Great, who knew him personally and wrote his life, says that he came forth from that fortress "initiated in the mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God." Afterwards, because of the press of the faithful, who deprived him of his solitude, he was enlightened by God to journey with certain Bedouins, until he came to a mountain in the desert near the Red Sea, where he passed the remaining part of his life.

Saint Athanasius says of him that "his countenance had a great and wonderful grace. This gift also he had from the Saviour. For if he were present in a great company of monks, and any one who did not know him previously wished to see him, immediately coming forward he passed by the rest, and hurried to Anthony, as though attracted by his appearance. Yet neither in height nor breadth was he conspicuous above others, but in the serenity of his manner and the purity of his soul." So Passing his life, and becoming an example of virtue and a rule for monastics, he reposed on January 17 in the year 356, having lived altogether some 105 years.

Sunday's Sermon

APOSTLE, SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

St. Paul says today: “but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” and then continues “and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some Evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph, 4:7,11). The Apostle wants to highlight that all of our talents are gifts from God that are offered to us. These gifts are bestowed upon us in order to use them for the edification of the other Christians. This edifying, refers, according to the preaching of St. Paul, to the advancement and progress of the faithful towards the correct faith. St. John Chrysostom asking himself what edifying means, he explains: «it is to progress toward perfection and replenish anything that you are missing». The second reason for been granted our gifts is in order to be able to complete our ministry of love, to exhibit our love for one another and for all the members of the Church. Another use for our gifts is for the building of the spiritual foundation of the Church which is the body of Christ.

Gifts can be divided into physical and spiritual. Physical gifts are the various faculties that people possess and which have been given to them by God during creation (human love, philanthropy, charity, bravery etc). These are given to every man since according to our faith, man was created as an icon of God, therefore man has within him all the godly gifts which he is then expected to work upon and improve. The spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit however, such as repentance, saintliness, discernment etc. are given to the children of the Church who through baptism become members of the body of Christ. We all have physical gifts and we are all capable of developing spiritual ones. One important clause for the development of spiritual gifts however, is faith and the observance of the Will of God. Saint Maximus states about that: “the works of the Holy Spirit depend on man’s will”. In other words, man has to strive in order to acquire genuine spiritual gifts.

St. Paul also tells us today: “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13).

Here Paul sets in front of all of us the goal that we should be looking towards, and that we should be striving for as Christians. The unity of the faith means the unity and communion which exists within the body of the church when its members are nurtured by the same true faith. A faith which is not a blind and dry acceptance of certain religious beliefs but rather a living relationship with Jesus Christ. This unity according to creation and the studying of the Holy Scriptures, because that knowledge can also be possessed by the impure –instead it refers to the supernatural knowledge of the Son of God which is obtained through holy illumination and the enhypostatic enlightenment of the heart. This knowledge is only offered to the perfect and to those who are completely pure from spiritual and physical passions.”

My brothers and sisters, the Apostle today, acting as the messenger of God, is calling out to us from within his prison cell, words that are immortal and timeless. Almost two thousand years later his message is crisp: Progress spiritually, united all together inside the body of the Church, until each one of you reaches the pure knowledge of Christ and resembles to His perfection.

Those who listened to the words of the Apostle met with the Resurrected Lord from this life. The Orthodox Church continues to teach the way by which each Christian can attain communion with the Living Christ throughout the ages. The Church’s recipe is old, from the time of the Apostles, nothing has changed. The dogma and its teachings remain the same, two thousand years later. It is us, modern Christians who changed, because we were fooled into believing that there is an easier way to the Kingdom of Heaven. It seems that we forgot the words of our Lord who said to us that the road is narrow and full of sorrow.

Fr. Konstantinos Manetas

ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ, ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗΣ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΑ ΦΩΤΑ

Λέει λοιπόν σήμερα ο Παύλος: «στον καθένα από μας δόθηκε η χάρη, σύμφωνα με το μέτρο με το οποίο ο Χριστός μοιράζει τη δωρεά Του», ενώ λίγο παρακάτω συνεχίζει: «Αυτός έδωσε άλλοι να είναι απόστολοι, άλλοι προφήτες, άλλοι ευαγγελιστές και άλλοι ποιμένες και διδάσκαλοι» (Εφεσ. 4:7,11). Ο Απόστολος λοιπόν μας τονίζει ότι τα χαρίσματα που διαθέτουμε είναι δώρα του Θεού σε μας. Δίνονται από τον δωρεοδότη Κύριο με θεία σοφία και διάκριση για να υπηρετήσουν κάποιον ιερό σκοπό που είναι ο πρώτα απ’ όλα ο καταρτισμός των αγίων, δηλαδή των χριστιανών. Καταρτισμός και καταρτίζω ήταν όροι που αρχικά σήμαιναν επανατοποθετώ, αποκαθιστώ στη θέση του κάποιο εξαρθρωμένο μέλος του σώματος. Στη διδασκαλία του Αποστόλου Παύλου καταρτισμός σημαίνει την προαγωγή και την προκοπή των πιστών στην ορθή πίστη. Ο Ιερός Χρυσόστομος διερωτώμενος τι σημαίνει «καταρτίζεσθε» απαντάει: «να προχωρείτε στην τελειότητα και να αναπληρώνετε ότι σας λείπει».

Δεύτερος λόγος που χορηγούνται τα χαρίσματα είναι για να εκπληρωθεί το έργο της διακονίας, δηλαδή να υπάρχη η έμπρακτη πίστη, εκείνη που αποδεικνύει την αγάπη και την φιλαδελφία ανάμεσα στα μέλη της Εκκλησίας. Σκοπός των χαρισμάτων ακόμη είναι και η οικοδομή του σώματος του Χριστού. Δηλαδή να χτίζεται και να στερεώνεται το πνευματικό οικοδόμημα της Εκκλησίας, που είναι το σώμα του Ιησού Χριστού. Τα χαρίσματα μπορούμε να τα διακρίνουμε σε φυσικά και σε πνευματικά. Τα φυσικά χαρίσματα είναι οι διάφορες ικανότητες που διαθέτει ο κάθε άνθρωπος, οι οποίες έχουν δοθή από τον Θεό κατά τη δημιουργία του (η κατά φύσιν αγάπη, η φιλανθρωπία, όπως γνωρίζουμε από τη διδασκαλία της διδασκαλία της Εκκλησίας, ο άνθρωπος όπως γνωρίζουμε από τη διδασκαλία της Εκκλησίας, ο άνθρωπος πλάσθηκε κατ’ εικόνα του Θεού, έχει δηλαδή μέσα του σαν σπέρματα όλες τις Θεϊκές ιδιότητες, τις οποίες καλείται να αυξήση και τελειοποιήση.

Τα πνευματικά χαρίσματα, δηλαδή οι καρποί του Αγίου Πνεύματος, όπως η μετάνοια, η διάκριση, η αγιότητα κλπ. χορηγούνται στα τέκνα της Εκκλησίας, που με το Αγιο Βάπτισμα γίνονται μέλη του σώματος του Χριστού. Ολοι έχουμε χαρίσματα φυσικά και την δυνατότητα να αποκτήσουμε χαρίσματα πνευματικά. Ο κλήρος έχει το χάρισμα να ποιμαίνη το ποίμνιο, αλλά και οι λαϊκοί Χριστιανοί γίνονται χαρισματούχοι, επειδή αξιώνονται να δέχονται την επενέργεια της θεοποιού ενεργείας του Θεού. Βεβαίως απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση εκδηλώσεως των πνευματικών χαρισμάτων είναι η πίστη και η εκπλήρωση των εντολών του Θεού. Ο Αγιος Μάξιμος μας λέει πάνω σ’αυτό: «η επιτέλεση των έργων από το Αγιο Πνεύμα, εναπόκειται πάνω στο θέλημα του ανθρώπου». Με άλλα λόγια απαιτείται αγώνας και προσπάθεια γιά να μπορέση ο άνθρωπος να αποκτήση γνήσια πνευματικά χαρίσματα.

Στη συνέχεια της σημερινής περικοπής ακούμε τον Απόστολο Παύλο να μας λέει: «ώσπου να φθάσουμε όλοι να έχουμε μιά πίστη και ξεκάθαρη γνώση γιά τον Υιό του Θεού και να γίνουμε ο καθένας τέλειος άνδρας, στα μέτρα ωριμότητας και πληρότητας του Χριστού» (Εφεσ. 4:13). Εδώ ο Παύλος βάζει μπροστά στον καθένα μας τον τελικό σκοπό προς τον οποίο πρέπει να αποβλέπουμε, και γιά τον οποίο θα πρέπει να αγωνιζόμαστε όλοι οι Χριστιανοί. Η ενότητα της πίστεως σημαίνει την ενότητα και κοινωνία που εξασφαλίζεται μέσα στο σώμα της Εκκλησίας, όταν τα μέλη της εμφορούνται από την ίδια, τη μία και αληθινή πίστη, η οποία δεν είναι μία θεωρητική και ξερή αποδοχή ορισμένων θρησκευτικών ιδεών, αλλά μιά ζωντανή σχέση με τον Ιησού Χριστό. Αυτή η ενότητα των πιστών πηγάζει κατά τον Παύλο από την επίγνωση του Υιού του Θεού. Μας ερμηνεύει γιά την επίγνωση ο Αγιος Νικόδημος ο Αγιορείτης: «επίγνωση του Υιού του Θεού εννοεί ο Παύλος εδώ όχι τη γνώση του Θεού που προέρχεται μέσω της θεωρίας των κτισμάτων και της μελέτης των Θείων Γραφών-διότι αυτήν μπορούν να την έχουν και οι ακάθαρτοι, αλλά την υπερφυσική γνώση του Υιού του Θεού που αποκτάται με τη θεία έλλαμψη και τον ενυπόστατο φωτισμό στην καρδιά. Η γνώση αυτή δίνεται μόνο στους τελείους και καθαρμένους εντελώς από τα ψυχικά και σωματικά πάθη, και σ’αυτήν εύχεται ο Απόστολος να φθάσουν όλοι οι Χριστιανοί».

Αδελφοί μου, στο σημερινό αποστολικό ανάγνωσμα ο Απόστολος, σαν αγγελιοφόρος του Κυρίου, μέσα από τη φυλακή φωνάζει λόγους αθάνατους, άφθαρτους από το χρόνο. Σχεδόν δύο χιλιάδες χρόνια μετά, τα μηνύματα του παραμένουν ξεκάθαρα και αναλλοίωτα: να προκόπτετε πνευματικά μας λέει, μέσα στο σώμα της Εκκλησίας, ενωμένοι όλοι μαζί, μέχρι να φθάσετε να αποκτήσετε ο καθένας ξεκάθαρη γνώση γιά τον Χριστό και να Του μοιάσετε στην τελειότητα. Οσοι υπάκουσαν στα κελεύσματα του Αποστόλου συνάντησαν τον Αναστημένο Κύριο από αυτήν την ζωή.

Η Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία μας έχει διασώσει διά μέσου των αιώνων τον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο κάθε πιστός μπορεί να φθάση σε κοινωνία με τον ζώντα Χριστό. Η συνταγή της είναι παλιά, από την εποχή των Αποστόλων. Τίποτα δεν έχει αλλάξει. Το δόγμα παραμένει 2000 χρόνια το ίδιο, η διδασκαλία η αυτή. Εμείς οι σύγχρονοι Χριστιανοί αλλάξαμε, γιατί ξεγελαστήκαμε και πιστέψαμε ότι υπάρχει και εύκολος δρόμος γιά τη Βασιλεία των Ουρανών. Φαίνεται ότι ξεχάσαμε τα λόγια του Κυρίου μας που είπε ότι η Οδός είναι στενή και τεθλιμμένη...

π. Κωνσταντίνος Μανέτας

Wisdom of the Fathers

Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when ye assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Epistle to the Ephesians Ch. 13, 2nd century

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