This is how the Malayalam speaking people of Kerala, a small state in southern India addresses "Santa Claus" in the most loveable way. Appoopa means old man; a dear old man Santa, the Christmas father. He is our childhood hero, who is imagined as an old man in a red robe and a white long beard, with his most famous red hat, travelling on a sleigh, pulled by a reindeer. Christmas time is here and its time to remember our childhood hero. Children singing the Christmas rhyme, "Dreams of Santa,Dreams of snow..... " hang stockings on their front doors with the hope that Santa would place gifts in it, just before bedtime, believing the age old story of "Santa Claus".
Church Fathers
I WILL GET UP AND GO TO MY FATHER….LUKE 15:18
“I will get up and go to my father” are the words of the Prodigal son; this is the experience of the resurrected life. The impact of repentance begins with man’s return to himself by means of the Holy Spirit, to discover he is in a state of hunger. He realizes the ego, the ‘I’, has knocked him down to the ground due to the void situation in himself. He realizes he has absolutely fallen to the ground, and has come to be under the judgment of eternal death. But the Holy Spirit uncovers his vision so that he sees in his Savior Jesus Christ, the risen from the dead “the, mystery of the resurrection”. Christ grants the dead ‘resurrection, so they live in the experience of His resurrected life’. Repentance is not a passive work. It is the means by which man discovers his drawbacks and even his absolute devastation; it is a positive job in which the Christian believer accepts his Christ as the mystery of his resurrection and his life, so that he lives all his estranged days experiencing the new life. He goes on from strength to strength, enjoying one glory after the next, and one grace in addition to the other. He is eager to reach the full measure of Christ (Eph.4: 13). Repentance is the practical blessing of the permanent resurrection.
Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction–Part 4
The article continues from....Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction -----Part 3 Conclusion: Each of us should examine our life to measure whether our values, desires and actions are in conformity to the world or in conformity to Christ. Through a regular discipline of self-examination or preparation for the Holy Mystery of Confession … Continue reading Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction–Part 4
What will become of him (Heterodox / Non-Christians)? Is there Salvation for all?
Question: Hi! This has been a nagging question for me and my friends. Is eternal life promised only to those who have received and known Christ? If yes, then does orthodox faith imply that God denies this gift of eternal life to mortal men just because they are born and brought up in a family … Continue reading What will become of him (Heterodox / Non-Christians)? Is there Salvation for all?
Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction —–Part 2
Continuing from Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction -----Part 1…. Heresies We are living in an age enslaved in many kinds of deification of modern rationality, its twin product science and technology and in the midst of false teachings or doctrines. Before we start with our discussion on heresies let us remember … Continue reading Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction —–Part 2
Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction–Part 1
St. Basil’s Hexameron – Homily 1 -- 6th point-- Such being the different senses of the word beginning, see if we have not all the meanings here. You may know the epoch when the formation of this world began, it, ascending into the past, you endeavor to discover the first day. You will thus find … Continue reading Maintaining an Undefiled Conscience in the World of Distraction–Part 1
Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 3–
The article continues from...Is Science a Laborious Vanity? -- Part 2 Conclusion: From the understanding about astronomy and astrology we have read through in the previous two parts, clearly explains the deceit of the King of the world—Satan, the great deceiver. The greatest deceit, the great victory of Satan is not that he is leading … Continue reading Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 3–
Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 2 —
The article continues from....Is Science a Laborious Vanity? -- Part 1 Many atheists arrogantly proclaim that they are more than happy to believe in God if only someone would prove that God exists. Yet it is often these very same people who are so willing to place their lives into the practice of open evilness, … Continue reading Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 2 —
Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 1 —
This Article has three parts. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 which is posted as three different blog posts. St. Basil’s hexameron--Homily 1--points 3, 4 and partly 5. 3. Do not then imagine, O man! that the visible world is without a beginning; and because the celestial bodies move in a circular course, and … Continue reading Is Science a Laborious Vanity? — Part 1 —
God’s Creation Vs Science/Cosmology–Part 2
“The Creator and the creation----Sayings of the Holy Fathers” The article 1-part 2 continues from God’s Creation Vs Science/Cosmology--Part 1 To start off, let us look into the foreword written by Fr. Seraphim rose in his book Genesis, Creation and Early Man, Part I, An Orthodox Patristic Commentary of Genesis. Fr. George Calciu, in his … Continue reading God’s Creation Vs Science/Cosmology–Part 2
The Orthodox Christian Life 