Author: fr. Vassilios B.

Arise, take the young Child… flee to Egypt… for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him” (Matthew 2:13), the angel told Joseph. There were many ways in which God could have saved the infant Christ from Herod’s sword without requiring Him to flee to Egypt. He could, for example, have made the Child…

An angel told Joseph, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him” (Matthew 2:13). (Note that the angel said “the young Child,” not “your Child.”) Joseph left his home and journeyed to an unfamiliar…

“And when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). The elderly Simeon took Jesus in his arms anduttered a prophecy that filled the Virgin Mary with bewilderment and deep anguish: the suffering she would endure because…

It is easier to preserve the virginity of the body than the virginity of the soul. The body may remain virginal while the soul is impure. The soul first commits fornication, and then the body follows. Thus, the greatness of Mary’s virginity lay not only in the fact that she was a virgin in body…

The Virgin Mary gave birth to the Saviour and Creator of the world under the humblest and most primitive conditions. This was not only because she gave birth in a stable, among animals, and used their manger as the Child’s cradle, but also because she gave birth entirely on her own, without a midwife by…

The first Annunciation, the first joyful message of salvation, was given at the darkest moment of Adam’s Fall. God declared that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent’s head and that there would be enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their offspring (Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:16).Then came the moment when…

The Prophet David prophesied: “Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house. Then the King will desire your beauty” (Psalm 45:10–11). David was referring to Mary, who entered the Temple and remained there, “preparing herself for the divine dwelling” (Menaion, November 21, Matins, First Canon of the Feast,…

There were guest houses around the Temple (Jeremiah 35:4). Some contained rooms where the priests and Temple staff could stay, while others accommodated consecrated widows, pilgrims, and people who had come from afar. Certain quarters, located opposite the sanctuary of the burnt offering, were reserved for virgins. The Virgin Mary stayed in one such room.…

According to the Protoevangelium, the  young Virgin Mary was about two years old when Joachim said to Anna,  “The time has come for us to fulfill our vow, lest we delay and displease the Lord.” Anna replied, “Let us wait a little longer. She is still very young and may not be ready.” They might…