Every Sunday evening from 7:30 - 8:00 P.M. (EST) the television program of our Metropolis, "Orthodox Voice", airs on the Odyssey Television Network. You can also view episodes by going to our Multimedia Section.

Welcome to the Website of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada)

Καλώς Ήλθατε στην Ιστοσελίδα της Ι.Μ. Τορόντο (Καναδά)!

Τὸ προσταχθὲν μυστικῶς, λαβὼν ἐν γνώσει, ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ Ἰωσήφ, σπουδῇ ἐπέστη, ὁ Ἀσώματος λέγων τῇ Ἀπειρογάμῳ· ὁ κλίνας τῇ καταβάσει τοὺς οὐρανούς, χωρεῖται ἀναλλοιώτως ὅλος ἐν σοί. Ὃν καὶ βλέπων ἐν μήτρᾳ σου, λαβόντα δούλου μορφήν, ἐξίσταμαι κραυγάζειν σοι, χαῖρε, Νύμφη ἀνύμφευτε!

- Απολυτίκιον, Σάββατο του Ακαθίστου

When the bodiless one learned the secret command, in haste he came and stood before Joseph's dwelling, and spake unto the Maiden who knew not wedlock: The One Who hath bowed the Heavens by His descent is held and contained unchanging wholly in thee. Seeing Him receiving the form of a servant in thy womb, I stand in awe and cry to thee: Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded.

- Apolytikion, The Akathist Hymn

If you want to learn more about the Akathist Hymn, click here!

Εάν θέλετε να μάθετε για τον Ακάθιστο Ύμνο, παρακαλώ πατήστε εδώ!

Lent: An Opportunity for Self-Discipline

Last month the greatest golfer in history apologized to the world for committing adultery with multiple women. Tiger Woods was viewed by most of the world as a role model for children and youth. He represented a person with a positive attitude and a person with integrity, good values, discipline, and spirituality. Yet, this great golfer who was taught at a young age that perseverance, focus, and discipline is the key to becoming a great golfer failed to instill discipline and self control in his personal and moral life. This lack of self control and self discipline led him to risk everything he has accomplished and to embarrass and hurt his family - it caused him to fall from God’s grace.

The great King David of the Old Testament also fell into the same trap as Tiger Woods. King David was a shepherd, and God blessed him by making him the King of Israel. In King David’s life, God directed his life, made him into a great warrior, protected him from his enemies, blessed him with a kingdom, and gave him the King’s daughter. David loved God, and God loved him; yet after all the blessings God gave King David, he did not honor God’s commandments when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and eventually had her husband killed. This disappointed God and caused contention in his family. The great King David, who was blessed by God, like the focused and discipline golfer Tiger Woods, was vulnerable to the temptations of sin and unrestraint. These great men were great because they were disciplined in certain areas of their lives. However, they compromised their principles and beliefs because they failed to exercise discipline in their spiritual and moral lives. Both King David and Tiger overstepped boundaries that should not have been crossed.

In the same month Tiger Woods was apologizing for being unrestrained in his personal life, the Orthodox Church began the period in which its members begin practicing restraint. This period is known as Lent. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, and preparation for the commemoration of the death of Christ and the celebration of His resurrection. It is also a time for self restraint and an opportunity to detach ourselves, not just from food, but from the things that we like. Lent is a time to truly test ourselves in seeing if we are enslaved by our desires and material things. The Church provides the period of Lent to help us reestablish balance in our lives. It prevents us from living excessively and helps us realign our lives onto a good and healthy path if we have gone astray. Lent helps us realize that we need to exercise self-discipline in certain area of our lives by setting some boundaries. This is so we do not harm our lives by unstrained thoughts and actions the way Tiger Woods and King David harmed their own lives because they failed to practice some restraint.

It is important for us to use the period of Lent to detach ourselves from material things and to start practicing some self-control in our thoughts and actions. Setting some boundaries is needed because we can easily lose our souls and ourselves in a society that is constantly promoting excessive pleasure and consumption. An effort during Lent should be made to detach ourselves from the internet, TV, the phone, shopping or sensual things we really like that have taken a hold on our lives. We should detach ourselves from the material and entertaining world so that we can attach ourselves to the spiritual world by spending some time in prayer or silence with God. Self-discipline should be practiced by avoiding gossip, anger, hate, pride, jealousy, bad thoughts, and behaviours caused by an unrestrained temperament.

We should truly examine ourselves and ask ourselves which bad habits need to be corrected or moderated, and we should try to find ways to transform them into good habits or to control them. We may fail at times, but the goal is to get up when we fall and to persist in what we are trying to achieve. With the grace of God and His help, let us try to exercise some self-discipline during this Lent so that we can free ourselves from the bad habits and establish a balanced and spiritually healthy life.

Andy Petaroudas, Student

Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy

iEcclesia's Annual Lenten Series

Join us in February as we begin our annual Lenten Series, featuring weekly episodes.

This year's theme is the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of sloth, idle curiosity/meddling, lust for power and idle talk.
But grant unto me, Thy servant, a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own faults and not to judge my brother.

For blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Lenten Series lineup includes:

Sloth and Idle Curiosity: The Lazy Meddler

Love of Power and Idle Talk: The Greedy Blabber

Chastity and Humility: Why wait and be modest?

Patience and Love: Becoming like Christ (Friday, March 12th)

“Yeah, Lord and King…”: An Ending to Remember (Friday, March 19th)

Great Lent and St. Ephraim: A Lasting Connection (Friday, March 26th)

Holy Week and St. Ephraim: There's no Resurrection without Crucifixion (Holy Friday, April 2nd)

To access these or any shows, visit www.iecclesia.com.

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