A fellow-countryman and friend of Saint Basil the Great and other great Saints of the 4th century. Amphilochios early forsook the bustle of the world and withdrew to a cave where, as a solitary, he lived in asceticism for 40 years. The episcopal throne in Iconium then fell empty, and Amphilochios was chosen in a wonderful way and consecrated Bishop of Iconium.

Are the Angels all-knowing, my brethren? They are not; for, if they were, they would be gods. God is one, my brethren, and the Angels are His glorious servants. The mystery of the Incarnation were likewise unknown to the Angels before they were revealed in the Church. The Church is, then, a new revelation for the Holy Angels themselves.

"My soul is athirst for God, the strong, the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?" (Psalm 41:42)

As we continue our forty-day Lenten journey to the Holy Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we, as Orthodox Christians, prepare for this Theophany through spiritual ascesis i.e., prayer, fasting, repentance, and adhering to the Divine commandments of God.

If we move out of our self, whom do we encounter? asks Saint Theophan the Recluse. He supplies the answer at one: We meet God and our neighbor. It is for this very reason that "denying oneself" is a stipulation, and the chief one, for the person who seeks salvation in Christ: only so can the center of our being be moved from self to Christ, who is both God and our neighbor.

When the Most Pure and Divine Maiden, the Most Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotokos, reached the age of three her holy and righteous parents, Joachim and Anna, remembered the vow they had made when they prayed to be delivered from childlessness, promising to offer their offspring as a gift of God. Therefore, as all the ancient holy Fathers testify they called together their relatives living in Nazareth, person of royal and high-priestly lineage, for the righteous Joachim was of royal stock and his spouse Anna was of the high-priestly line.