The Bond That Keeps the Bricks of the Our New Church Together

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

(Mat 22:37-40)

St. John the Little, a disciple of St. Pachomious the Great, said once “Nobody builds his house from the roof down but from the foundation up”. Asked what he meant by this he said “our foundation is our neighbor; to him I should tend first, because on him hang all the commandments of Christ.”  The essence of… Continue reading

My Big Fat Greek Festival

Reposting this older article as we get closer to the 30th Greek Festival in Eules, October 7,8,9 2011.

Festival page here

We just closed the doors of another Greek Festival at Saint John’s. We are all happy, but tired, and some may think, and we cannot blame them, why we do this every year? A short answer would be: we need the money! And it is a good answer, but maybe we could find other ways to raise the needed funds. Still I think, even though we might manage to get there, we should continue doing the festival. And I will present my argument for it.

In the present times the… Continue reading

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All Gladsome Dialogues Readers, our blog has been nominated for the Eastern Christian New Media Awards – 2010. If you like our blog please go HERE and vote and give our blog more exposure. You can find it under the Most Visually Attractive Blog section at the bottom of the page.

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🙂 !!… Continue reading

The way of the pilgrim

I just returned from a pilgrimage to Mount Athos and as much as I would like to share what one feels in such a spiritual journey, it is difficult to put into words. Everything is so impressive and so divine that you can’t choose what to say. One may tell stories about the historical buildings, the vistas, the old icons, the relics, the music, but at the end of the day the one thing that boldly comes out and makes all the other things possible is the monk’s commitment to a life in Christ, their desire to go beyond the image of Christ and achieve also His likeness.

Living for a week in a monastic republic, in a place… Continue reading

Love in times of recession

theotokos-eleussa“The LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you.”

(Deu 23:5)

What makes our Christian religion unique is our concept of salvation. As Christians we have a Savior that loves us and in His love He comes down on Earth and saves us by

The Orthodox Nativity Fast Can Help Prevent Holiday Blues and Christmas Depression – Lisa C. DeLuca

Much of the post-holiday blues and Christmas depression that occur in the United States may have something to do with the way Americans celebrate Christmas. The Orthodox Nativity fast may be the remedy many people need.

When people are suffering in their lives with things like divorce or other losses, financial stress, aging or illness; the sudden onset of pre-Christmas cheeriness may leave them feeling even more isolated and deprived, because the rest of world is portrayed as happy and fulfilled in stark contrast to how they feel.

Others who do embrace pre-holiday celebrations often feel let down and weighed down by food and debt shortly after Christmas day. The novelty of the new material things wears off quickly, friends and family go home, and people may be left feeling blue. This is the feeling known as post-Christmas let-down.

The Orthodox way of celebrating Christmas can yield completely different results. Continue reading