Arsenios of Austria at the Hermitage of the Annunciation of the Virgin on Lake Balatontranslated
On Sunday, August 9, 2026, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Austria, Mr. Arsenios, presided over the High Priestly Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God of Hesychastiri by Lake Balaton. Hieromonk Martinos, Elder Laszlo and Archdeacon George officiated together, while Fr.
During his sermon, His Holiness referred to the Gospel passage of the day, which introduces us to the mystery of faith as man's communion with God, but at the same time as man's liberation from the power of evil. After the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor, Christ descends from the mountain and encounters the pain, the sickness, the weakness of the disciples and the despair of a father who sees his child being tortured. God does not remain at the height of His unapproachable glory, but enters into created reality, into the realm of decay and death, to help man to be saved. His Holiness emphasized that salvation is not man's ascent to a distant God, but begins with God's condescension to mortal man.
The father's cry “I believe, Lord;…
