Lives of the Saints

Hagiography, lessons from the saints, their witness and example

  • St. George: Trophy-Bearer of Christ

    ByJobin

    St. George: Trophy-Bearer of Christ

    Who was George, really? What did he actually give up when he stood before Diocletian? Why has this soldier-saint held the hearts of the Orthodox Christian faithful
    (especially Indian Orthodox) for so many centuries? And what does his witness say to our generation today?

    Our latest reflection on Seeking Theosis traces the life of Mor Geevarghese from the Roman military barracks to the place of martyrdom at Lydda, through the Syriac tradition that brought him to Kerala, and into the feasts and pilgrimage sites that have made him one of the most beloved saints of the Indian Orthodox Church.

    A saint whose intercessions are sought every day of the year belongs to no single date on the page.

    St. George, pray for us. 🙏

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    She Stood There: The Theotokos at the Foot of the Cross

    ByJobin

    She Stood There: The Theotokos at the Foot of the Cross

    🕯️ Thirty-three years before Golgotha, Simeon held the infant Jesus in the temple and said to Mary:

    “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.”

    She did not know then what the sword would look like.
    Today she knew.

    St. John Chrysostom says the sword was real. The pain of watching her son crucified was not spiritualised away or made bearable by some special divine protection. She felt what any mother would feel. The theology of the Incarnation does not exempt the Theotokos from human suffering. If anything it intensifies it. Because she knew, with a clarity no one else had, exactly who it was dying on that Cross.

    She knew He was the Son of God.

    And she stood there watching the Son of God die.

    And she did not leave. Not until He gave her somewhere to go.

    Good Friday reflection on the blog. On the Theotokos at the foot of the Cross. On the sword that was promised and the standing that received it.

    She stood there. And today we stand with her.