Holy Metropolis of Kythira: Sunday's message (16-11-2025)

To

The Holy Clergy and

Christonymos Laon

of our Holy Metropolis

Kythira and Antikythira

                          «… But we, knowing that he is impure and

No one who is haughty is acceptable to the Lord… Let us fast and pray with a contrite heart, self-reproach, and humility, so that our fasting may be pure and pleasing to God, as well as our presence and worship in the Temple of God.» (St. Gregory Palamas, Homily 7^η, "On Fasting," P.G. 151, 89).

My dear brothers and fellow ministers,

My Christian brothers, my beloved children in the Lord,

May the beginning of this season be blessed, peaceful, and spiritually fruitful
The Forty Days of Christmas.

          This holy season of the Christmas fast began with the feast commemorating (November 14) the ascetic Hierarch of our Orthodox Catholic Church, Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (14^os (aion).

And the spiritual topic that will engage us and invigorate us is the «Our fasting is pure and godly», as he calls it.

In the brief excerpt from his discourse on fasting, which we have quoted above, this godly Archbishop of Thessalonica emphasizes that we Christians, unlike the Pharisee in our Lord’s parable, since we know that every proud and haughty person is unclean and not accepted by our Lord and God … let us fast and pray with a contrite heart and self-reproach (self-accusation) and with humility, so that our fasting may be pure and pleasing to God, as may our entry into and presence in the Temple of God.

In view of this, then, our entry into the holy season of the Forty Days of Christmas, SaintGregory Palamas speaks to us about pure and godly fasting, providing us with the true dimensions and proper parameters of God-pleasing fasting. For it is a fact that many Christians do not fully appreciate the manifold benefits and giftsof dual fasting— both physical and spiritual fasting, and a certain negative prejudice and bias toward fasting.

Let us listen, however, in simplified terms, the divinely inspired words of Saint Gregory Palamas on the God-taught fast, so that, through the Grace of God, our spiritual horizons may be broadened and we may attain a true understanding of the divine gift of fasting.

«Fasting is a commandment of life. It was given by God to Adam to preserve the Divine Grace that had been bestowed upon him by God. Intemperance contributes to the death of both body and soul. What person, then, does not wish to find life and grace from God? The Lord shows us the way to victory over corruption. By fasting in all things, He overcame temptation. I will therefore try to show you what godly and true fasting is.

You should know that physical fasting is not praised for its own sake, but rather its effect on spiritual well-being. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that physical exercise is of little benefit. The God-bearing Fathers, speaking from experience, do not approve of prolonged fasts. They believe that when we fast, it is more beneficial to eat once a day and not to eat until we are full. It is very beneficial to stop eating while one still has an appetite. Of course, everyone’s disposition and capacity are different. That is why the quality and quantity of food must be appropriate for each individual. Indeed, it is permissible for a patient to eat food appropriate for their illness and in moderation. Of course, they must be careful not to add the superfluous to the necessary. One should seek nourishment and not indulgence, drink rather than get drunk, and use things in moderation rather than excess and abuse, does not detract from his holiness. This is The beginning of true and godly fasting. The purpose for which it was established and honored by Christians is the purification of the soul.

During the fast, special attention should be given to the practice of charity. If you are well-off, offer your surplus to bring comfort to those who are hungry. In this way, by fasting, you will share in Christ’s suffering, so that you may be resurrected with him. Since you nourish yourself with self-control through fasting, do not hoard your surplus. You fast of your own free will; therefore, feed the one who is hungry against his will. Then your fasting will be like the dove that carries an olive branch in its beak and heralds the good news.

If you do not want to give of your own, at least keep your hands off what belongs to others. Do not seize and hoard for yourself at the expense of the poor—and sometimes so unjustly. The plunderers and the unjust will not have the courage to appear before Christ. The rich man is condemned not because he wronged anyone, but because he did not give of what he had rightfully acquired. For wealth is shared, coming from the common treasuries of God’s creation. How, then, is the one who appropriates what belongs to the community not a profiteer, even if he does not openly seize what belongs to others?;

Those who have loved Christ’s poverty—or, if not that, at least the poor—, while they chose self-restraint and frugality for themselves, They are the authors of the Gospel commandments. Why did Christ ask His Father to grant us the grace to be one: «May they all be one, just as we are one», he said. Those who have not shared their possessions with those in need and have not welcomed those who are merelyare far away, are not truly children of God.

          Let all of this fill us with fear, for it is terrible, and let us conduct ourselves in a way that pleases God. The Lord Himself became poor for our sake. It is therefore necessary for each of us to live out the poverty of Christ. Let us cultivate compassion. We won't find better weather than we're having these days. Let us combine fasting with compassion. Let us thus worship the Divine Nativity of the Divine Infant, our Lord and God, who became incarnate out of boundless love for humanity and goodness, so that we may attain eternal redemption,’, which the God-man, our Lord and God, bestowed upon us through His redemptive Sacrifice and His Holy Resurrection».

My dear brothers,

Saint Gregory, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Palamas, has shown us the full scope—both material and spiritual—of pure and godly fasting. He recommends that, during the fast, special attention be given to the practice of charity. The wealthy should offer their surplus to relieve the poor and the needy. He who fasts and goes hungry of his own free will should feed the one who is hungry against his will. No plundering or injustice. Plunderers and the unjust will not have the courage to appear before Christ.

Those who have loved the poverty of Christ—or at least thethe poor. Christ asked His Father to grant us the unity of the Holy Trinity. Let us cultivate compassion; let us combine fasting with compassion, advises Saint Gregory.

How beneficial and essential fasting would be for our lives if it possessed the characteristics mentioned above!

However, it is a sad fact that in our turbulent and confusing times, when the «gale» of the «new era» and the «new world order,» the love of many has grown cold, fasting is met with ridicule and contempt, prayer and asceticism are regarded as foreign and paradoxical phenomena, respect for human rights and the freedom of human will, when it comes to personal choices and circumstances, is sidelined, as unwanted things are sometimes imposed (such as, for example, the personal identification number for a large segment of the population, which is the subject of much discussion).

Wars and the sounds of war in the north, between Russia and Ukraine, Syria, Gaza, and the Middle East, are spreading death and destruction. Christians are being ruthlessly persecuted in the aforementioned war-torn regions. Civilians and infants are being killed every day. The interests of different nations are in conflict, and unfortunately, the fear and threat of a global conflict have not been eliminated.

Scandals sometimes erupt in the political sphere, but also in the ecclesiastical sphere. It is with deep sorrow that we note violations and breaches of age-old ecclesiastical traditions, Sacred Canons, and doctrinal principles, which lead to joint prayers with heretics, those who are excommunicated and those of other faiths, and which scandalize the Christ-named Flock of our Holy Orthodox Church. And from the lips of high-ranking clergy, the unthinkable is heard: all people believe in the same God (idolaters, atheists, heretics, heretics, members of other religions, etc.), whereas in the Holy Symbol of our Faith, (which heterodox and heretics are not permitted and have no right to recite «in a Church of the Orthodox people,» when they have not renounced their heretical and heterodox teachings), we confess our Orthodox Faith in our true Triune God and in the One and Only Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which extends from one end of the world to the other. And while it is blasphemously proclaimed that all religions constitute «paths to salvation,» the Holy and God-bearing Apostles Peter and John, expressing the holy and blameless Faith of devout Christians, confessed that «There is no salvation in anyone else (except in Jesus Christ); for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved» (Acts 4:12).

Unfortunately, we do not have the compassion and sympathy that Saint Gregory Palamas recommends as an extension of the struggle «of pure and godly fasting», when the appointed instruments of Divine Justice sometimes follow the example of Pontius Pilate, who, although convinced of the innocence of our Lord, the God-Man, «He handed Christ over to be crucified», for reasons of expediency, and in this way he slaughtered the just, the one and only, and the irreplaceable Righteous One of all humanity.

My brothers,

May all believers and the whole world accept the redemptive message of the «a pure and godly fast», as the God-inspired Shepherd and Teacher of the Church of the Thessalonians (Saint Gregory), in the 14th^on age. «Brothers and sisters, as we fast physically, let us also fast spiritually.».  «True fasting is the renunciation of evil …».

Fasting, as described above, is beneficial and salvific. It prepares the Christian for his spiritual struggles, the battle against evil spirits, and the invisible war against the devil. And it strengthens and empowers the faithful servant of God, so that he may have compassion and sympathy toward his fellow human beings, so that he may willingly put into practice the words of the Apostle Paul: «Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep» (Rom. 12:15).

And with all this, I remain with prayers and love

THE BISHOP 

†Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythira

H/S This Circular is to be read during the Divine Liturgy on Sunday (December 16, 2025) or on the preceding day (Saturday, November 15, 2025).

Spiritual - Confession Program for the ceremony
of the Holy Sacrament of Penance and Confession,
during the time of fasting
of the Holy Forty Days of Christmas.

• Rev. Metropolitan Seraphim: wherever possible (by telephone) and in Antikythera.
• Archimandrite Peter Kasimatis : to the Holy Monastery of St. Theodore in Aroniadika, Mylopotamos, Pitsinianika, Kalisperianika, and Kypriotianika.
• Archimandrite Frumentios Demetriou: in Chora, Stratopodi, Capsali, Fratsia.
• Archimandrite Peter Slavos : to Alexandrades, Goudianika, Katouni, Travasarianika, Karvounades, and Keramoton.
• Archimandrite Pavlos Dimitrakopoulos : to the Holy Monastery of the Virgin Mary of Myrtidiotissa.
• π. Panagiotis Megalokonomos : at the Holy Monastery of Saint Elese, Kalokairina, Agios Ilias, Kontolianika, Fatsadika, Ano Livadi, Kato Livadi, and Kalamon.
• π. Peter Mariatos : to Potamon, Trifyllianika, Drymona, Avlemona, Mitata, and Viaradika.
• π. Panagiotis Diakopoulos : in St. Pelagia, Caravan, Frigianica, Castrsianica, Logothetianica.

It is requested that the Pontiffs and Reverend Pastors, in consultation with the holy Spiritual Directors named in the attached list, announce to their flock the exact date and time of the beginning of the Confession and discreetly invite their parishioners to come to this holy sacrament.

† THE K.S.