His Holiness Patriarch Kirill
"I remember well my first visit, my first pilgrimage to Athos in 1971. Seven monks were here at the time. When we went to the church there was no electricity, it was dark and we had a feeling that no one was around. It was only when I reached the entrance to the church and saw icon-lamps burning and several hunch-backed Russian monks that I realized that our people were here and our Church was present here, and that the number of people was not the main thing. My heart was filled with joy, for in this little flock I saw the glorious future of our abode."
Fr. Peter Alban Heers
Rating: 6|Votes: 2
The Orthodox Church stands just weeks away from the long awaited “Great and Holy Council,” which will convene in Crete on the Feast of Pentecost. This Council is unique in the history of the Church for the length of time it has been under preparation, but also for another first: the degree to which its preparatory meetings, organization and certain of its texts have, under the influence of a council of the heterodox, the Second Vatican Council, diverted from the Orthodox way.
Rating: 1|Votes: 1
The legal specialness of Athos is a phenomenon unique in the modern world, reflecting its spiritual nature. Athos is important as the center of Orthodox spirituality and the region, which is under the direct control of God. This place brings together earthly and heavenly dimensions. From the point of view of secular geography - it's just a mountainous peninsula in northern Greece, but for the Orthodox believers all over the world - this place has a universal, ecumenical significance.
Evagelos Sotiropoulos
The indispensable building block for Christian unity is in matters of faith. Do Orthodox Christians not pray, in every Divine Liturgy, for the unity of the faith and for the communion of the Holy Spirit? Unity of the faith gives birth to communion in the sacraments - including baptism, and at the Lord’s Table above all.
Fr. Lawrence Farley
Rating: 10|Votes: 2
One joins a church or a monastic community precisely because it is in some way unlike the modern world, and presents one with a clear alternative to secularism. The different clothing witnesses to the presence of this clear alternative—one rooted in the past centuries and preserving its liturgical practice, history, tradition, and dogma.