Category Archives: Metr. Hierotheos /Vlachos/
Metr. Hierotheos /Vlachos/ – Elder Sophrony speaks, “Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany”
For us Christians the central point of the universe and the highest meaning of the history of the world is the coming of Jesus Christ, Who will not deny the archetypes of the Old Testament, but He will verify them, revealing to us their true grandeur and will give new dimensions to all things, eternal and endless. The new Covenant of Christ announces the beginning of a new period in the history of mankind. Now the divine sphere radiates into the uncharted greatness of the love and humility of our God and Father, and the coming of Christ will change everything, will bring the new revelation that will affect the fate of the whole creation, the whole world. And so He appeared. He to whom the world owed its creation, except with rare exceptions, “the world did not recognize Him” (Jn. 1:10). The event was immeasurably above the perception of an ordinary man. The first who recognized Him was John the Baptist, which is why He said of him: “Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater that John the Baptist” and that he is the end of the law and the prophets (Matt. 11:9-13).
Christmas Despair and Hope
By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou We have learned from a young age to consider the celebration of Christmas as a warm family holiday. On these days everyone will gather in their homes and they will seek to offer themselves a drug to escape everyday problems and tribulations. They will enjoy this day in a way that synthesizes with modern life and thus they will remove themselves from the burning and torturing questions that plague them. The great meaning of the holiday, instead of it being a drug of regeneration will become an antidepressant, and instead of being a drug of transcending death it will become a pain killer! Many will celebrate Christmas as a holiday of a dead and buried God. In the thinking of many people, Christ is a concept and not the Living God who directs history. Yet Christmas is still considered a family holiday, which will give many excuses for an escape and forgetfulness. We will enjoy the coziness of family or winter vacations and trips and nothing more. Many people of our time have included Christmas within the atmosphere of our morals and customs, which has become the marketing of the shopping
