UDABNO, Georgia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Standing near an ancient monastery perched on a rocky ridge in southeast Georgia, armed border guards keep a watchful eye over tourists visiting the site, stopping those who venture too far uphill. On the ridge’s opposite slope – where the tourists are headed – sit mountain caves with 1,000-year-old…

The earliest known Marian prayer, like the Gospels themselves, is written in Greek. That is why, in it, the Virgin Mary is called Θεοτοκος, “theotokos,” the “Birth-Giver of God,” “the Mother of God.” That in such early prayer the Virgin Mary is already referred to with this title is quite important, both from a historical…

Myrrh appears to seep from the “Miraculous Myrrhstreaming Icon of the Mother of God” at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Christian Church in Post Falls, Sept. 1, 2019. The letter paper-sized icon, which was brought to Idaho for the first time on Sunday, is believed to be a holy miracle and travels around the world….

There are two basic ways of a cure. The first is for a person to abandon “wealth” of the mind. In speaking of poverty, Saint Niketas Stethatos maintains that poverty is not only the renunciation of material goods, but is also the denial of the “wealth” of the mind. Moreover, I can add that “spiritual…

One of the biggest noblemen from Gaza asked Saint Zosimas, “How can you say that you are nothing? You make miracles, you heal people, you are a saint!” Saint Zosimas told him, “I don’t know but, in the way I see myself, I am really nothing.” While the noble made a gesture of disbelief, Saint…

September 1, 2019 New Ecclesiastical Year   The Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy Esteemed Members of the Metropolitan Council, Esteemed Members of the Parish Councils, Philoptochos Sisterhood, Faculty and Students of the Catechetical and Greek Afternoon Schools, Directors and Participants of all Youth Organizations, and all devout Orthodox Christians of the Communities of the Greek…

On Monday, September 2, 2019, the Archbishop of America His Eminence Elpidophoros conveyed his condolences to the families of victims of Hurricane Dorian, which ravaged the Bahamas. He also expressed his sadness over the destruction left in the hurricane’s wake. A tweet posted on the Archbishop’s official Twitter account read:   Today many are in…

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A ceremony presenting and honoring this year’s recipients of the Church of Greece academic scholarships was held on Tuesday at the Holy Synod’s Synodical Grand Chamber, in central Athens. A total of 48 Greek students were awarded scholarships for post-graduate studies abroad, while 37 students from around the world were awarded scholarships for undergraduate and…