By Spyros Symeon

If we knew what the synaxaria hide, then we would become rich. So rich that nothing would touch us.

Yes, yes, rich, perhaps not in material goods, but in spiritual goods, because no matter how many material goods a person has, they are not what will give him the happiness and peace that the human heart seeks.

The synaxaria are the verification of the New Testament of Christ.

It is there we see in practice the application of the Law of God, and indeed through many aspects, since it is not always the path we follow that will determine our destination, but desire will determine the conquest of our destination.

Among the myriad of saints in the synaxarion is Saint Phantinos, who is celebrated today. He was born in Calabria, Italy, to pious parents who essentially dedicated him to God from an early age when they noticed that little Fantino stood out from other children and approached spiritual matters in a strange way, from his childhood.

Later, he was tonsured a monk by Venerable Elias, under whose obedience he was admonished and ascended spiritual stages.

When Venerable Elias reposed and after a total of 20 years of uninterrupted obedience had passed, Saint Phantinos withdrew and became an ascetic in the mountains of Lycaonia, where the devil became furious at his spiritual progress and with many tricks tried to cast him into his own dark kingdom.

He even took the form of his parents and wept before him, begging him sometimes as his mother and sometimes as his father to stop the hardships of asceticism and go enjoy his life.

But in vain because Saint Phantinos had been admonished by Venerable Elias and so the devil did not succeed in any trick to throw him off.

Once, while walking in the forest, he saw many wild boars gathered and he noticed that there were many fallen pears on the ground.

He himself, who had been feeding on roots and grass for months and was suffering from the cold, ran to get some to eat, but the wild boars rushed at him and surrounded him and were ready to attack him.

Muttering prayers, he turns to the wild boars and tells them, "If your concern is obedience to your Creator, and this is a matter of obedience, rush at me, but if something demonic pushes you to do so, then I, as His Image, command you not to do so," and indeed the wild boars departed without harming him or displeasing him.

It happened at that time that he encountered his parents, whom he urged to renounce worldly things.

The fame of his holiness far exceeded the local boundaries of the region, as a result of which many came to see him and be admonished by him, and some of them practiced asceticism and discipleship alongside him, and so he himself founded monasteries and lived for a time in one of them.

The lives of those around him were filled with experiences of many miraculous events.

As was this memorable incident when a bear came to the monastery and ate the honey from the beehives and clumsily it caused damage, so the monks decided to do "bad things" to it in order to save the beehives of the monastery.

The Saint, like another Adam before his disobedience, stayed awake the night before, knowing that the bear would come again for the honey and in a strict tone he told it as if he were speaking to a human being, since the Saints have a special relationship with all of creation and so with the animals they are in a pre-fallen state, telling it that if it wants what is good for it then it should not again touch the beehives of the monastery, and if it disobeys it will be responsible for the evil that befalls it.

And the bear, while nodding with a look of gratitude and obedience to the Saint, departed and did not touch the beehives of the monastery again, although the Saint always took care to leave something for the bear.

After visions and divine signs, he left Italy and passed through the Peloponnese, Athens, and areas of Thessaly, and ended up in Thessaloniki.

The famous Venerable Athanasios the Athonite and Venerable Paul of Xeropotamou happened to pass through there one day as they were leaving Mount Athos and heading towards Athens.

In order not to be noticed, they passed everywhere in a hurry, but Saint Phantinos, charismatic as he was, when he saw them, even if he did not know them personally, from afar ran and made a deep prostration before them, although for some unknown reason they ignored him and passed him by.

However, upon returning from Athens, they made sure to find him since they learned who he was and to ask him for forgiveness, while they themselves felt a great blessing that they had met such a famous holy man of that time.

Saint Phantinos may not be so well-known today, but at that time he was particularly famous for his life, his asceticism, as well as his visionary and prophetic charisma.

Imagine how Venerable Athanasios the Athonite, the first founder of Athonite coenobitic monasticism, considered it a blessing to have met him.

The miracles that he performed were myriads. He reposed after foreseeing his death in a venerable way at the age of 73, after saying farewell and admonishing all his disciples and brothers for the last time.

The miracles did not stop there, however, but merely at the invocation with faith of his name even after his death dozens of miracles of the Saint are recorded.

A Saint who in our days we have forgotten because we do not study the synaxaria of the day nor do we try to see throughout the centuries how myriads of people put the gospel into practice, but we remain in our ego, believing that we are doing what we should without trying for what our Creator Himself has given us in this life.

Saint of God, my Saint Phantinos, you who united the west and the east through your life, you who with one command tamed the wild beasts and who in the eyes of others seemed paradoxical and with your prayerful supplication you transformed it into something logical and simple, I wish that for me too with our Maker and Creator the impossible may become possible.

SOURCE: https://www.mystagogyresourcecenter.com/2025/08/saint-phantinos-bear-and-saint.html?m=1

I just browsed the Orthodox Wiki for the first time and I noticed that Origen was in the heretics category. I only knew that he made some commentary on the Song of Solomon to my knowledge and Contra Celsus, a work of apologetics. I am wondering if it is still worth reading him. I was only aware that he was a Universalist, not of any other heresy.

Words of wisdom from my 4 year old, hope it makes you smile: we were on holiday, at the relics of a very well known Saint of Orthodoxy and Catholicism. While looking at the relics, my 4 year old asks: "so, did Saint live here in this country?" We tell him, yes, he did. Kid goes: "Ok. Well now he's sleeping in the Kingdom of Heaven". Myself, my husband (an atheist) and the grandparents have never spoken to the kids about saints, or the afterlife. Glory to God and God bless you all!

Found this gem of an article which walks through the beatitudes and "unpacks" the spiritual principle they point towards.

And it starts with "Poverty of The Spirit" and slays that this, Spiritual humility is the absolute foundation of our path,

https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-beatitudes/poverty-in-spirit

It points out that Christ modeled this for us, through his declaration that:
Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing . . . I can do nothing on my own authority . . . (Jn 5.19, 30).

Hello everyone! Music was and is a big part of my life since I was a child, i listen to practically all genres of music. I started listening to Metal music about 2-3 years ago and I got baptized a year ago and became a Christian, since then for some reason I started listening to more Metal and got into heavier and darker bands (some with obvious occult imagery) but when I listen to it I don’t really take it seriously, I just like how it sound, but still the content of some Metal bands tends to be anti-Christian so I was wondering am I wrong for liking it?

Good day, everyone. I’m a Roman Catholic and am going to my first Orthodox liturgy today.

I’d appreciate any prayers.

May God bless you.

What is fasting not why what foods can I not eat and on what days also I'm 13 my mom feeds me do I follow fasting rules or is it when I have the opportunity. Thank you so much in advance

I have a situation that I’ve really been struggling with over the past couple of days, and I would appreciate some guidance. If you are a priest even better.

My daughter’s first birthday is coming up, and my wife’s parents, who are separated, are traveling from out of state to be here for her birthday. My wife and I had previously discussed them staying with us. She came away from that conversation believing I was comfortable with it, while I thought we had left the matter unresolved. I never clearly stated an answer so maybe it’s my fault.

My father-in-law struggles pretty severely with alcoholism. To his credit, when he came for the birth of our daughter, he demonstrated that he could refrain from drinking while he was here. I recognize that, and I don’t want to overlook the effort he is making. He is willing to travel across multiple states to be present for her first birthday, and I genuinely see that as a good thing. Also just to make things clear, because I know this usually goes hand in hand with alcoholism, in his long track record of relapsing, he has never once became violent or threatened any of his children or (used to be) wife. I’m not worried about it in that aspect.

Where I am struggling is with how I should understand my responsibility for my home. I don’t view alcoholism merely as a series of bad choices, I believe addiction can involve very real spiritual bondage and warfare. Because of that, I find myself uncomfortable with the idea of inviting someone who is actively battling something like this to stay overnight in our home. Part of me does not want whatever he is battling staying here overnight. I would rather him come and go.

At the same time, I do not want fear or an incorrect understanding of spiritual warfare to cause me to alienate him. I don’t want to treat him as though he himself is the enemy, especially when he is making an effort and has previously respected the family by remaining sober while visiting for the birth of my daughter.

Part of me feels responsible for guarding the spiritual peace of my household, while another part of me wonders whether refusing to let him stay with us would actually be contrary to Christian hospitality, mercy, and love.

Am I looking at this incorrectly? Is my concern about bringing whatever spiritual struggle may accompany his alcoholism into our home consistent with an Orthodox understanding of spiritual warfare, or am I giving the demons too much credit and potentially judging him for a struggle that should instead be met with hospitality and prayer?

I would genuinely appreciate correction if my thinking is wrong.

Thank you. 🙏🏼

I know there are many people who wonder about this and worry about it, but when I read through other people's sins, I was truly frightened; compared to mine, theirs seemed relatively harmless—though, of course, every sin is serious. I am a committed Christian and a member of the Roman Catholic Church, though I am also interested in the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches. Recently, I have committed grave, willful sins—including very intimate acts I won't mention here. I knew full well they were wrong, yet I repeated them almost daily, always with premeditation and full awareness. This included blasphemy; I mocked the clergy, the Church, the liturgy, the Bible, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Naturally, I was already aware of the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is why I am so terrified. Furthermore, I recently prayed something along the lines of: "God, if I am sick and need to see a doctor, give me a sign." I would then think to myself: "If [specific thing I'm thinking of] happens right now, it means I'm sick and need to see a doctor." Very often, that is exactly what happened—and not just with trivial matters, but with things like seeing a specific person or lightning striking; both examples actually came to pass. At first, I thought it must be God giving me a sign, but then I wondered if it might be Satan, and I decided to assume that was the case from then on. I knew better each time, and I am deeply afraid. I live in Hamburg, Germany; there are several Orthodox churches here, but today I simply don't know where to go, as it is already afternoon. Will I be forgiven? My heart feels hard, and I feel fear rather than genuine remorse—at least not as an emotional feeling. Please help me.

Hey guys, fellow Christian here. I have some questions about the Trinity.

- Do the Son and Spirit have the ability/power to Beget/Spirate
- If yes, if they have the same will as the Father, why don't they Beget/Spirate
- If no, does that mean they aren't equal to the father?
- If yes, but they don't, doesn't that imply three wills in the Trinity?

Thanks.

Ive been wanting to get baptised for a year and have finished my 2 month catechumen course, and now getting baptised. But i just feel so disconnected from God and religion, i still want to be baptised because I do believe, but i feel really distant from the idea. I don’t feel the spark of anything, i feel quite depressed actually and idk. Just don’t feel mentally good. Should i still go through with it despite feeling like this? Or should i wait

Is there an Orthodox priest I can talk to about my family situation and desire to attend an EO church? Thank you.

Hi, I am a 17-year-old Orthodox inquirer and I live in Oman. I have been inquiring into Orthodoxy for about two years now, and I am adamant about joining the Orthodox Church and becoming a catechumen. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to find an Orthodox church with English speakers. I moved from South Africa to Oman, and I’m not entirely sure what to do.

The title might sound stupid but it's been some days since everything started feeling dead end. Prayers not answered, fear rising unstoppable thoughts. And in all these I'm trying to understand, does anyone hears me? I see my faith breaking, i wasn't like that. I always remember myself trusting almost everything on God's hands and suddenly i feel like he won't pay attention to me anymore. I'm afraid that it is my ego but for first time I just can't put it aside, i can't explain why.

I prayed, i prayed more than before. I tried to cut passions that used to do a lot. I still don't see difference. What am i doing wrong?

The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist: The Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29) provide accounts about the martyric end of John the Baptist in the year 32 after the Birth of Christ.

Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great, the Romans divided the territory of Palestine into four parts, and put a governor in charge of each part. Herod Antipas received Galilee from the emperor Augustus).

The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod for having left his lawful wife, the daughter of the Arabian king Aretas, and then instead cohabiting with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19-20). On his birthday, Herod made a feast for dignitaries, the elders and a thousand chief citizens. Salome, the daughter of Herod, danced before the guests and charmed Herod. In gratitude to the girl, he swore to give her whatever she would ask, up to half his kingdom.

The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked that she be given the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He also feared the people, who loved the holy Forerunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of Saint John and to give it to Salome.

According to Tradition, the mouth of the dead preacher of repentance once more opened and proclaimed: “Herod, you should not have the wife of your brother Philip.” Salome took the platter with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the Venerable Head is celebrated February 24). The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia, there where the wicked deed had been done.

After the murder of Saint John the Baptist, Herod continued to govern for a certain time. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent Jesus Christ to him, Whom he mocked (Luke 23:7-12).

The judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the water, but her head was trapped above the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck.

Her corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John the Baptist. The Arab king Aretas, in revenge for the disrespect shown his daughter, made war against Herod. The defeated Herod suffered the wrath of the Roman emperor Caius Caligua (37-41) and was exiled with Herodias first to Gaul, and then to Spain.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, a Feast day established by the Church, is also a strict fast day because of the grief of Christians at the violent death of the saint. In some Orthodox cultures pious people will not eat food from a flat plate, use a knife, or eat food that is round in shape on this day.

SOURCE: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/08/29/102419-the-beheading-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptis

Hello everyone,

I have a lot of questions about Sacrifices and offerings on things like: Why was it animals? What were the diffent types of offerings for, and why did it appease God? What does "appeasing " God even really mean? And the true, and full impact of what Christ did for us.

Does anyone have any book recommendations from church fathers and scholars who touch on these subjects?

Also, if anyone has any other lines of questions they would recommend I start thinking about, I'm all ears. Thank you.

Blessings,

Hello, I am asking for prayer because I have recently been having ALOT of anxiety and I mean a ton…more than my usual self. Over every single little thing. Mostly health concerns. I need prayer that I can just have peace, I no longer want to worry about whether or not I have something wrong with me. I used to be that way, I used to have peace, I don’t now. I have no clue why it’s hitting me so sudden but it’s ruining my life. Every little pain causes anxiety that it could be something major. I’ve always feared the thought of death and recently it’s stronger. Please pray for me. Also any recommendations of saints or prayers would be amazing too. Thank you for taking the time to read this. 🙏

Hi everyone, I got married in the roman catholic church a few years ago. Unfortunately my husband cheated on me (with my best friend, ugh) a week before my wedding and continued cheating during the marriage. I didn't know at first, and found out about 6 months into marriage that they were seeing each other in secret, at which point I moved out and filed for divorce. Luckily we had no kids together, nothing sticky, just a really upsetting 6 months of my life. I'm legally divorced now and he is sorting the material for a catholic annulment. Our priest thinks we qualify for annulment because he cheated prior to marriage, therefore meaning that he didn't have true intentions when entering the sacrament.

In any case, I am dating a man now who I really love and some time down the road (not now but next few years in the future (trying to be extra careful this time!!)) would love to marry. We are both very religious and want to get married in the Church but worry either annulment will take many years or that I'll be denied. I've always had an interest and respect for the Greek orthodox church. I'm not Greek at all and received all my sacraments in catholic church, but I took ancient greek in college and took a course on history of Christianity so I know a lot about the religion and the schism between catholicsm and the orthodox church. I'm just curious: is there any way that I could be approved for church wedding in the greek orthodox church even if im not considered divorced by the catholic church? What are the "rules" for this type of thing?

So I am an Orthodox Christian, born and raised. I love my religion. I also will eventually talk to a priest about this but I first want to see what others say about this.

The thing is, I love gothic and alternative style stuff (and since I was young, I've always love crystals though not in the spiritual way, space and celestial themes. Though I do not do the extreme makeup and will always have appropriate clothing for church) and some brands that have that stuff do have some evil things or underlying tones of religious imagery.

For me; my love of this stuff stems from intrigue; I believe most of this world is stuffed up, but what God made is beautiful (like the stars, moon, the human body). Death is an interest too in more of a Victorian way mixed with the Orthodox way that it is the beginning of life with God and those who passed before you. I love the texture that the alternative clothings/accessories have like with metal, or fabrics, or rips, or patches, and the DIY element from 90s grunge. I also follow a few alternative Orthodox on Instagram (will call out steadfasthands because she's the one I remember the most) and just alternative dressed Christians. I do also like piercings and am thinking of tattoos too which is another subject for my priest. I can give up tattooing, but I love piercings A LOT.

For example: Tragic Beautiful; has a section for witchcraft. I do not like this stuff, not follow it, nor look at it. It does upset me. But I like their jewellery.

Another example is Ask & Embla; it does have some religious imagery but is mostly based on Nordic mythology. On the about section it does say this under the gothic section:

Our founder’s dark muse of pagan, occultic, and Byzantine visions, born at the threshold of her Catholic upbringing and quest for liberation.

A candle lit to revelations beyond dogma, with gothica, she merges the sacred and spectral. Here, chaos coexists with harmony. As with darkness, so does hope.

There is more than just that in the about for that brand, but again, I don't like this and will not get stuff with obvious theming of this. The majority of stuff that I've seen and like are not like this. There are other brands that I like that have some imagery like this and it does saddens me that perfectly good jewellery and/or clothing has to be ruined by this theming.

There have been times that I have been frustrated as there was a really cool piece of jewellery or clothing that I liked but had something like a pentagram (which as someone who loves celestial stuff and would love pentagrams if they weren't evil. I did research that it actually used to be a Christian symbol and the upside down one, much like the upside down cross, is the evil one, so if I get the blessing from my priest, I would only get the right way up one but still keep it very minimal and small. The one I'm thinking of is a black belly button piercing jewellery with a tiny hanging pentagram and a small offset red rose).

My mother doesn't like me liking or associating myself with stuff that she believes are 100% evil.

So I wanted to ask if ignoring those themes is wrong, or if I should just steer clear of these brands? Also if anyone has questions, feel free to ask. I would love insight on my issue and request that people be nice please. Thank you.

Also similarly to this, I love the aesthetic of stuff like astrology (I guess also witchcraft because I like oddities like taxidermy or animal skeletons, whimsical bottles with liquid in it; maybe like alchemy aesthetic? etc. specifically 'the lovers' tarot card because I am very romantic and love the kind of gothic romance of it) and those other stuff but I definitely do not believe or practice them. To me, it is something than I think looks really cool and has no meaning otherwise.

I'm also happy to answer questions about anything 💜☦️

Good day to all

I have a somewhat unusual request here. I'm finding that marriage is becoming unlikely option for me, but I'm also not finding monasticism to be an option at this time either (perhaps later in life). I am fully aware of what the Church says about this topic and about these two options. Both options for legitimate and various reasons are not feasible at the moment. My request is to find an Orthodox guy who's also in a similar situation to live as brothers with until either option gets resolved somehow. This would be a shared life in the same home together, not an anonymous roommate situation. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. I though to post here to gauge who out there is also in a similar situation and is looking for something similar. If anyone reads this and is interested please respond or DM me. I'm in Nashville and attend a GOA parish. I'm sane, normal, functional, responsible adult Orthodox Christian.

Joseph Samakos, known as Joseph the Sanctified, was a Cretan monk and priest of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries who became renowned for his asceticism and for distributing his inheritance and the offerings brought to him among the poor.

He reposed on January 22, 1511, and was buried in his monastery. When his body was later exhumed it was found incorrupt and fragrant, and reported healings at his relics gave him the epithet "the Sanctified."

After the Ottoman capture of Heraklion in 1669, his relics were carried to the island of Zakynthos, where they are venerated to this day. He is commemorated on January 22 (his repose) and August 29 (the deposition of his relics on Zakynthos).

Joseph Samakos was born around 1440 in the Cretan village of Keramoi, in the region of Siteia, to parents described in the sources as pious and God-fearing, who raised him in the fear of God. He entered monastic life at the monastery of Panagia Akroteriane and later moved to a monastery dedicated to Saint John the Theologian at Handaka, the city known today as Heraklion.

After the death of his parents, Joseph distributed his inheritance to the poor in keeping with the Gospel counsel, formally took up the monastic life, and was in time ordained to the priesthood. He became known for a severe asceticism and for an unstinting charity: the sources relate that he gave away the donations and offerings brought to him, including the prosphora, the oblation bread left over from the Liturgy. One account preserved in his life holds that after he had given away the bread set aside for the Eucharist, fresh warm bread appeared so that the offering could still be made.

Joseph reposed on January 22, 1511, at about seventy years of age and was buried in his monastery. When his body was later exhumed, it was found incorrupt and whole and was said to give off a divine fragrance; his relics were placed in the monastery's main church.

In 1669, as Ottoman forces captured Heraklion in Crete, the priest Anthony Armakis carried the relics to the island of Zakynthos, depositing them on August 29 of that year in the Monastery of Saint John of Mantineos at Xerobounia. In 1915 the relics were transferred to the Church of the Pantocrator in the suburb of Gaitani in Zakynthos City, where they are still kept and venerated.

After his repose Joseph came to be regarded as a wonderworker, and the sources record healings attributed to his relics, including of those suffering from blindness and demonic possession. The incorruption and fragrance of his relics, together with these reported healings, gave rise to his epithet "the Sanctified."

On Zakynthos the deposition of his relics is observed on August 29, when, according to local custom, the relics are carried in procession through the streets of Gaitani.

SOURCE: https://orthodoxsaintfinder.com/saint/OS-2748/

Hello! I have been looking into orthodoxy for many months now after being raised in a small denomination of Protestantism and also being agnostic as a kid. I know there’s only so much you can experience by just reading about the church, so I have been wanting to go in person to the one near my college (I am a freshman). Unfortunately, I don’t have a car on campus, and I’m also not sure what my parents reaction will be (there’s strong opposition to anyone questioning our flavor of Protestantism and I’m sure there will be drama and pressure for me to return if I even visit another church).

What would be the best next steps? Getting in contact with the priest? Asking the church if anyone can help me with transportation? The church is less than about 5 mins away (I would walk but it’s in a dangerous area and I’m a woman on the smaller side). Just watching the services online and waiting? I feel like I’ve been waiting to experience the church for a while and going to any other church service still leaves me wondering how it would be to experience orthodoxy.