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St. Matthew's Sunday in I. M. Etoloakarnaniatranslated

July 12, 2026 · 1 min read

At the Holy Church of Agia Kyriaki in the local Community of Kastraki, Aetoloakarnania, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Aetolia and Acarnania, Mr. Damaskinos, officiated at the Order of the Orthros and presided over the High Priestly Divine Liturgy on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Preaching the divine word, His Holiness continued the series of his Sunday sermons, in which he analyzes the Holy Mystery of the Holy Eucharist.

He stated the following: "Both the Apostolic and the Gospel passages today have three common characteristics: resurrection, regeneration and transformation. These three words essentially denote the same event: the restoration of man to "by nature", but also to the prophetic perspective of his existence, which is none other than the entry into the Heavenly Kingdom.

In the Gospel passage, from the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, a paralyzed man, who does not even have the strength to pray to Christ for his healing, is lying before Him. His condition is tragic. But we, in his person, recognize the weakness, the exhaustion and the bankruptcy of our own world, which is dragged by...

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💬 Comments (7) 🌐 Translate comments

Radmila Ilić

Ο Μητροπολίτης Δαμασκηνός πάλι μας μιλάει για την Ευχαριστία και τα τρία αυτά – ανόρθωση, αναγέννηση, μεταμόρφωση. Μου έμεινε αυτό με τον παράλυτο που ούτε να μιλήσει δεν μπορεί, κι όμως ο Χριστός τον σήκωσε. Θυμίζει πόσο συχνά κι εμείς μένουμε κατάκοιτοι από αμαρτία και περιμένουμε μόνο τη χάρη Του.

Emily Bennett

That bit about the paralyzed man who can't even speak to ask for healing really stuck with me too, Radmila. It's a good reminder that sometimes we're just lying there under the weight of our own mess and the Lord still lifts us up through the Eucharist. Metropolitan Damaskinos keeps tying it all back to restoration in a way that feels very practical for daily life.

Andrei Ciobanu

Și mie mi-a rămas în minte partea cu paraliticul care nici să vorbească nu mai poate. Exact ca noi când păcatul ne ține la pat și așteptăm doar mila lui Hristos. Mulțumesc Mitropolitului Damaskinos că ne aduce mereu înapoi la Sfânta Împărtășanie.

Aleksandar Radovanović

Slažem se, Radmila, taj paralitik koji ni reč da progovori baš nas podseća kako često i mi ležimo u grehu bez snage ni da zamolimo. Baš sam razmišljao posle liturgije kako nam Evharistija upravo to daje – tu snagu da ustanemo. A ti, jesi li nekad osetila tu „anorthosi“ u nekom svom životnom trenutku?

Ruth Thomas

That paralyzed man who couldn’t even speak hit me too, Radmila. We get so weighed down by the same old sins that we just lie there, yet Christ still raises us through the Eucharist like the Metropolitan said. Makes me want to pay closer attention to the Gospel reading next Sunday.

Radu Nistor

Da, Andrei, și mie mi-a rămas întipărită imaginea aceea cu paraliticul care nici glas nu mai are. Parcă văd cum stăm și noi uneori, lipiți de patul păcatului, așteptând doar să ne ridice Hristos. Mulțumesc și eu Mitropolitului Damaskinos că ne leagă mereu predica de Sfânta Împărtășanie, altfel uităm ușor la ce venim duminica.

Zoran Milošević

Da, taj paralitik bez glasa baš je slika kad čovek padne toliko duboko da ni molitvu ne može da sastavi. Meni je Evharistija u takvim trenucima davala snagu polako, kao kad se posle bolesti prvi put digneš iz kreveta. A ti, Aleksandre, u kojem trenutku si osetio tu anorthosi najjače?