Learn the difference

 

🇬🇷 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

Η Ορθοδοξία είναι η μόνη αληθινή πίστη.

Η Ορθοδοξία δεν είναι μία ακόμη «εκδοχή» του Χριστιανισμού.

Είναι η Μία, Αγία, Καθολική και Αποστολική Εκκλησία, όπως παραδόθηκε από τον ίδιο τον Χριστό και τους Αγίους Αποστόλους.

Η Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία:

• δεν άλλαξε το δόγμα,
• δεν πρόσθεσε καινοτομίες,
• δεν προσαρμόστηκε στο πνεύμα των καιρών.

Διατήρησε αναλλοίωτη την πίστη, όπως αυτή ορίστηκε από τις Επτά Οικουμενικές Συνόδους, από την αυγή του Χριστιανισμού.

Αντίθετα, με το πέρασμα των αιώνων:

• ο Παπισμός απομακρύνθηκε από την Αποστολική Παράδοση, εισάγοντας δόγματα και εξουσιαστικές καινοτομίες,
• ακολούθησαν οι Προτεστάντες και στη συνέχεια αμέτρητες ομολογίες, ομάδες και «εκκλησίες»,
• σήμερα υπάρχουν χιλιάδες διαφορετικές ομάδες που αυτοαποκαλούνται «χριστιανικές», η καθεμία με τη δική της ερμηνεία.

Αυτό δεν είναι ενότητα· είναι διάσπαση.

Ιστορικά υπήρξαν τρεις μεγάλες πτώσεις:

1. Η πτώση του Σατανά
2. Η πτώση του Αδάμ
3. Η πτώση του Παπισμού με το Σχίσμα του 1054

Η αλήθεια όμως είναι μία.

Και βρίσκεται στην Εκκλησία που ίδρυσαν οι Δώδεκα Απόστολοι:

την Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία.

Ορθοδοξία σημαίνει:

• Ορθό = σωστό, αληθινό, αναλλοίωτο
• Δόξα = πίστη, δογματική αλήθεια

Όσες «εκκλησίες» απομακρύνθηκαν από αυτή την πίστη,

έχασαν την Αποστολική τους συνέχεια, γιατί άλλαξαν το περιεχόμενο της πίστης.

🇺🇸 ENGLISH

Orthodoxy is the only true faith.

Orthodoxy is not just another “version” of Christianity.

It is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, founded by Christ Himself and preserved by the Holy Apostles.

The Orthodox Church:

• did not change the faith,
• did not introduce innovations,
• did not adapt doctrine to modern trends.

It preserved the faith unchanged, exactly as it was defined by the Seven Ecumenical Councils, from the very beginning of Christianity.

Over time:

• Roman Catholicism departed from Apostolic Tradition by introducing new dogmas and centralized authority,
• Protestant movements followed,
• and eventually thousands of denominations appeared, each claiming to offer “Christian services.”

This is not unity — it is fragmentation.

Historically, there were three great falls:

1. The fall of Satan
2. The fall of Adam
3. The fall of the Papacy in 1054 (the Great Schism)

But truth is one.

And it is found only in the Church founded by the Twelve Apostles:

the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox means:

• Ortho = right, correct, unchanged
• Doxa = faith, doctrine

All so-called churches that departed from this faith

lost Apostolic succession, because they altered the truth they had received.

MAKARIOS

 

As I was reciting, he says to me, and the turn of the blessed one came, I heard from my right.

an angelic voice, blessed archpriest, blessed archpriest, blessed archpriest,

And I look to my right, he says, and a bishop was standing.

And I heard within me, this is the blessed one of Kypourou.

, and he said to me, the blessed one spoke to me, thank you, Father Jacob, for without us ever

meeting, without me ever doing a good deed, you are doing

this good deed to me.

As soon as I told him, it was very natural. I say to him, how did you see the elder? He

says to me, as I see you, you see me. He was all wearing his hierarchical

robe. He was in the light, and he was saved,

He says to me, for the many alms he did, the forgiving spirit he

had and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his place, and all his mistakes

were forgiven by God. Yeah.

Θεία κοινωνία

Hello TikTok brothers. And on top of wondering

if I am receiving communion unworthily or not, this has crossed my mind

many times. Not that it has stopped me from going to Holy Communion, but every time

I am about to go to communion, I wonder and think, my Christ, 

how unworthy can I be to receive your precious blood and

your holy body within me. Since one of you good people sent me a

post which is from the historiography

off the wall, let's say from the historiography of Archimandrite Christodoulos

and is entitled What does it mean to receive communion unworthily? 

Holy Communion is not a symbol. It is Christ himself. It is heaven

descending into the heart of man. When we approach the Holy

Chalice, we do not receive something sacred. We approach God himself, the living, 

the risen, the Lord of glory. And yet this supreme honor can

also become a burning fire if we approach it with indifference, frivolity, or without

repentance. Because it is not God who punishes. 

It is his own love that cannot be reconciled with

our false heart. Terrible. Well, it is not sin that

makes us unworthy, but the lack of repentance. I take Christ and continue to live as if

 I did not know him. When Christ becomes my body and I

remain hard, critical, unrepentant, then grace cannot bear fruit. 

It is not that divine communion loses its power. It is that I close the

doors of my soul. Communion is not a prize, it is

medicine. We do not commune because we are good,

but because we are in pain and want to be healthy. 

Holy Communion is the medicine of immortality, as Saint Ignatius the

God-bearer used to say. If we waited to become worthy to

receive communion, we would never approach. 

That is why the church calls. After the fear of God, faith and love, we approach

because with fear. Because God is present. Because with faith. Because only faith

sees the invisible. Because with love Because only love

accepts him. How the soul is truly prepared, 

true preparation is not only fasting and penance. It is

inner humility. Let us look within ourselves and say, 

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but say one word and my soul will be saved

. It is the word of the centurion that became a prayer of the ages. It is the attitude of the

man who knows that nothing belongs to him and yet everything is given to him. 

When you receive communion, you tear the cup, 

with emotion, with the awareness of how small you are and how great

the one who receives you is, then you do not receive communion unworthily. Then divine

communion becomes a consolation. Light, a new beginning, and the soul, even

if it carries wounds, feels embraced by God. 

Christ does not ask us to be worthy. He asks us to

praise him. Value is not moral. 

It is a relationship. When I receive communion unworthily, it is because I do not

praise him. Because I receive communion out of habit, not Christ.

But when I receive communion with longing, with love, with the awareness that without him I cannot

live, then even if I fall every day, 

his grace lifts me up. 

An unworthy communicant forgets that he is receiving communion with love, and a worthy communicant is one who approaches

wounded but sincere. With a heart that does not

justify itself, does not hide, only asks. 

God does not count mistakes; 

He counts repentance. And so every time we approach with

awe, humility, and gratitude, Christ whispers within us. Do not

be afraid. I have come for you

and I am waiting for you again.