Guatemalan Update: The Church Mourns, but not without Hope

After the loss of its dynamic and visionary leader- Fr. Andres Giron- the Guatemalan clergy and faithful entered into a difficult period of mourning and readjustment. In every parish that we visited, there was sadness, but no loss of hope. On the contrary, a strong desire to continue the work of Fr. … [Read more...]

ORTHODOXY IN THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS: A LIGHT SHINES BRIGHTLY

On the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, in the humble and unspoiled village of Aguacate, we celebrated one of the most moving liturgies of my stay in Guatemala. For the first time in the Altiplano, I had the joy of experiencing uninterrupted worship from "Blessed be the kingdom" to the last … [Read more...]

LOSING OURSELVES IN CHRIST’S MISSION

When the great missionary saint, Kosmas Aitolos, Equal to the Apostles, had prayed, fasted and wept for his sins over a period of 17 years on Mt. Athos, he felt a gnawing sensation, like that of "a worm eating away at wood."  It was calling him to leave the safe and tranquil confines of his … [Read more...]

The Call To Serve!

"Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips," cried the prophet Isaiah, upon seeing "the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up"(Is. 6:1). Despite the profound sense of impurity provoked by this holy vision in the Temple, The Lord, after mystically cleansing the lips of His prophet with a hot … [Read more...]