The “Low Level” Ascetic Saint: Characteristics and Misconceptions

The “low level” saint is a theological term (not accepted by all scholars) aiming to describe a category of saints who lived with ordinary people and who were not usually members of the Church hierarchy (with some exceptions, like St. Nectarios of Pentapolis). There are many well-known “low level” ascetic saints of the ancient Church (for example the various Sts. Anargyroi) and many “low level” ascetics who lived in modern times (e.g. Paisios the Hagiorite, the Elder Porfyrios and Fr. Iakovos Tsalikis) who are considered holy people by the faith community.

Saint Nathaniel in John’s Gospel

St. Nathanael is an apostle of Christ, one whom little is known of. He is referred to only in St. John’s gospel (1:45 and 21:2), the last of the four gospels of the New Testament. Although the ecclesial tradition wishes to identify him with the apostle Bartholomew [possibly, in order to justify the absence of his name in the synoptic gospels], it remains worth noting that St. John calls him Nathanael [despite the fact that John was familiar with the synoptic gospels and the particular references to Bartholomew: Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16].

Sermon on 9th Sunday of Matthew

Today’s Gospel passage, my dear brethren, continues the narrative of St. Matthew’s Gospel from where we left it on last Sunday. After the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves, the evangelist is about to record another wondrous event, only this time, the miracle is restricted within the close circle of the Lord’s disciples. For whereas the multitudes were given bread, that is, that which appealed most immediately to their desires and needs, the disciples were given a sign of a different kind: to them Christ’s reveals the miracle by which miracles are made, that is, the miracle of faith.

Friendship in Late Antiquity: the Case of Gregory Nazianzen and Basil the Great

I.Introduction: Classical and Christian Friendship One thing we should expect to find unchanged when we look at the new world that emerges during the Christianization of the Greco-Roman Empire is the fact that people continue to form friendships and, as friendship often leads to, continue to consider and reflect on the nature of friendship as […]

An Orthodox Christian Response to Ecofeminist Theological Claims

The term “ecofeminism” was coined in 1984 by Francoise d’ Euabonne to describe women’s ability to work towards the purposes and goals of the ecological movement. Since then, it has been adopted by many intellectuals who aim to connect, historically and philosophically, the phenomena of women’s oppression and nature’s exploitation.  Ecofeminist theology serves the goals […]

The Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms in Three Patristic Texts

  The doctrine of the two kingdoms, analyzed in the works of the reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin, is a doctrine that also appears in the patristic thought. The doctrine teaches that God’s heavenly Kingdom is superior to any earthly kingdom; that is why Christians must “obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29). This […]

Sermon on 13th Sunday of Matthew (21:33-42)

Today’s passage of the Holy Gospel, my dear brothers and sisters, is a parable that illustrates Christ’s own mission and the spreading of His Gospel to the nations. The language of this parable is borrowed from the beginning of the fifth chapter of the Prophet Isaiah: I will sing for the one I love     […]