In the following photos you will see candid shots from the litany at the Hilandar monastery, where Abbot Ephraim was given the first place of honour at the litany in the Monastery of Hilandar. This happens because of the great love between the two brotherhoods, love which is traced back to the founding of Hilandar, because the founders were saints from Vatopaidi – Saint Savvas and Symeon. Ever since then, the two monasteries are regarded as sister monasteries.

Love is essentially the banishment of every kind of contrary thought, for love thinks no evil. So, we must love others as they are and not as we want to be, according to our selfish desires. We can pray for them, we can give them our good example–even our good counsels. But we must not direct our anger toward them.

Since our Lord Jesus Christ was without sin, He was not subject to death, since death came into the world through sin. He died, therefore, because He took death on Himself, on our behalf, and He made Himself an offering to the Father for our sakes. For we had sinned against Him, and it was meet that He should receive the ransom for us, and that we should thus be delivered from condemnation. God forbid that the blood of the Lord should have been offered to the tyrant.

When Jesus is on the cross, he cries to God, “Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?” (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)

At the last supper, our Lord gave us the model of leadership: while we tend to gain power to assign tasks to others He just quietly picked a towel and a basin of water and began to wash his disciples’ feet. He gave everything, including His body, and that’s why he received everything.

The path to victory is like this: Struggle as much as you can and God will do as much as He can. You will not succeed but, if you have the conscience of your humbleness and you are open to Him, then He will take your failed effort as a concrete sign that you want the victory and then He will give it to you.

Here on earth, we need material wealth for our body but never, ever tie your soul to it. Christ called Judas “devil” because of his love of money. “Devil” is not a species of angels but it is a description of behavior: it is the one who calumniates, the one who decries. (Gr. Διαβάλλω = to calumniate, decry). Love of money means hate of people.

It’s not necessary to particularly focus to say the prayer. You don’t need to put effort into it when you have divine love. Wherever you are,

First of all, in the Palm Sunday services, we learn how volatile is vain glory. On Palm Sunday, our Lord was hailed as a king by the same people who, in very few days later, crucified Him.

We should be trying to lead our children to seek to turn on the “spiritual television”. Mothers must be helped to understand that television dulls their children’s minds.

Usually at the beginning, God gives small intimate gifts in order to see that He is real and to show you a very small part from what’s possible: like a candy-maker who advertises his products.

Trouble reminds the wise man of God, but crushes those who forget Him. So, whoever desires to eliminate future tribulations must bear present tribulations with joy.

Judas was not forgiven, because

The great schema monk becomes a heavenly man, something he really experiences inside him….

While struggling against all passions, let us who are in communities struggle every hour, especially against these two:

They asked an elder, “What is humility?” The elder said, “When your brother sins against you,

You cannot turn me from my holy Faith by threats, nor with promises of riches and pleasures. I will obey your orders willingly, if you will leave me free to follow my religion. I would rather surrender

Some Christians are far too focused on Hell. Some Christians are far too focused on Heaven. Instead, try focusing on bringing YOURSELF closer to God. Some Christians are far too focused on the past. Some Christians are far too focused on the Future. Instead,

He who has become the servant of the loving Lord will fear his Master alone and nothing else on earth, but he who does not yet fear Him is often

If you do good, you must do it only for God. For this reason, you must pay no attention to the ingratitude of people.

Humility is a divine shelter to prevent us from seeing our achievements. Humility is an abyss of self-abasement, inaccessible to any thief. Humility is a strong tower against

God, through His Angel, said to the Virgin Mary, “You will give birth to a child.” Then she said, “How can it be?” Then, the Angel had a perfect disposition of obedience and loving servitude, explaining to her how this will be accomplished. Responding with the same perfect disposition of loving obedience, Mary gave her accord.

The Lord is always waiting for us to unite ourselves with Him in love; but instead, we drift further and further away from Him. We know that there can be no life without love. This means that there is no life without God, for God is Love. But His love is not according to the understanding of the world. The love that the world gives us consists of suffering and enslavement, because the spirits of evil interfere with it.

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell

Holy grace makes a man harmless, guileless, and