Thursday, October 5, 2023

Encyclical on the Catechism of the Youth (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 
My beloved brethren,

By decision of the Sacred Synod, the Catechism for male and female students begins again this year, which is a serious work of the Church, by which young people are introduced to the blessed institution of the Church.

Normally, Catechism precedes the mystery of Baptism, because first one gets to know the life of the Church and then enters it.

Since, however, with the passage of time, infant baptism was introduced into the Church, that is, a person is baptized a short time after their birth, while they are still an infant, for this reason the Catechetical Schools began to function from a long time ago, for those who were preparing to be baptized who were of mature age, and for the illumined, that is, for those who had been baptized.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Children Celebrate the Patron Saints of Education on a Remote Greek island Without a Priest

 

Arkoi is a small island in the Dodecanese near Patmos, with few inhabitants. The two children of the island have one teacher, but there is no priest, and without a priest there is no Divine Liturgy, no confession, no Holy Communion, unless a special visit is made to them or they go to a more inhabited nearby island.

This past January 30th, however, which is the feast of the Three Hierarchs, who are revered as the patron saints of education, the teacher of the two young boys took it upon himself to honor the Three Hierarchs with his students at a chapel on the island. Here is what he said about it:

Saturday, December 3, 2022

When Saint Porphyrios Traveled Invisibly To Serbia and Observed the Emptiness of the Youth


Saint Porpyrios of Kavsokalyva once said the following to Bishop Irinej of Bačka:

"One day I sat on a bridge over there in your parts [in Serbia, where he used to travel in an invisible way by divine grace], I was observing the people who were passing by. And by the grace of God I saw them transparent, both their bodies and their souls.

What can I say to you, Irinej! I saw empty, lonely, wounded, broken souls. I saw boys and girls passing by holding hands, but without their souls having the strength to truly love. They fall in love roughly and superficially. Raised without a family or even in an atheistic family, they have no provisions for true love. Many of your girls are not even in a position to become mothers from the libertine life they lead.

Monday, September 12, 2022

Message for the Beginning of the School Year for Elementary, Middle School and High School Students (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)


Message for the Beginning of the School Year for Elementary Students

My beloved students,

With the beginning of the school year, I feel the need as the Metropolitan of this Sacred Metropolis to communicate with you to wish you to have health of body and soul to meet the demands of your education.

You have understood by now that you live your lives between the family and the school, the society and the Church. You were born and grew up in a small family and there you got to know the first impressions of your life.