SUNDAY'S MESSAGE (audio message)
BY HIS EMINENCE THE METROPOLITAN
KYTHIRA & ANTIKYTHIRA SERAPHIM
SUNDAY OF LENT - SAINT JOHN OF THE CLIMACTERIC
(22-03-2026)
WRITTEN DIVINE PROCLAMATION
Today we are in the fourth week of Lent, which is a period of repentance. In today's Gospel we heard that the Lord removed the power of the adversary of our salvation by healing the child of the unfaithful father.
But today is also the day of St. John of Clemacus and it is worth quoting his own phrases, so relevant to the particularity of the period we are living through:
«Repentance is a renewal of our baptism; it is a renewal of our covenant with God, of our promise to change our lives. It is a period in which we can acquire humility, which is peace; peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with the whole created world. Repentance is born out of hope, that is, when we reject despair. And this is achieved through a life of worthiness, alienated from the sins we committed in the past. Repentance is the cleansing of our conscience. Repentance means total freedom from sorrow and pain.».
Also, on prayer he says: «In prayer do not use pretentious words, for it is often the simple and unpretentious chanting of children that pleases our heavenly Father. When you speak to God, do not try to say too much, because otherwise the mind, seeking words, will be lost in them. The one word whispered by the publican brought him God's mercy; one word full of faith saved the thief on the cross. The variety of words, when we pray, scatters the mind and excites the imagination. The one word we address to God assembles the mind in His presence. And if in your prayer, this one word touches you in your heart, if you feel it deeply, stay with it, stay, because in moments like this our guardian angel prays with us, because we are true to ourselves and to God.
Let us not forget these words of Saint John of Clemacus, because he was a man who knew what it means to turn to God, to abide in God, to be the joy of God and to rejoice in Him. This period is offered to us, as we move into the days of the Passion, as an example of what God's grace can do to transform a simple and ordinary man into a light of the world.
Let us learn from him, let us follow his example, let us rejoice in seeing how the power of God can work in man with Faith, with trust, with joy, triumphant and peaceful. Let us follow his advice to find the way of life with God and in Him we shall indeed live, because He is the truth and the way and the Eternal Life.
Archimandrite Frumentios Demetriou
