“Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, and the world cannot bear it. We constantly rebel, try to make life easier, try to be half-Christian, try to make the best of both worlds. We must ultimately choose – our felicity lies in one world or the other, not in both.”
“Sometimes during a lengthy prayer only a few minutes are really pleasing to God, and constitute true prayer, true service to Him. The chief thing in prayer is the nearness of the heart to God.” St. John of Kronstadt #prayer #heart #God https://rumble.com/v5h7nst-nearness-of-the-heart.html https://old.bitchute.com/video/ujvjhnJwm8Qk/
Wednesday October 2, 2024 / September 19, 2024 15th Week after Pentecost. Tone five. Fast. Food with Oil Martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon of Synnada (276). St. Theodore, prince of Smolensk and Yaroslav (1299), and his children Sts. David and Constantine. New Martyr Priest Constantine (Golubev) of Bogorodsk (1918).
I am asking for your continued prayers on my behalf. The trauma of two spinal surgeries, and a stroke, followed by spending most of the summer in a hospital and a care center, has left me feeling rather debilitated. I’m exhausted most of the time, and sleeping a good part of
Having returned on the 16th of September after a very long stay in the hospital, I am struggling to get back to fulfilling what I believe God has called me to do. I care so deeply for all of you, yet my pain level, together with exhaustion, has served as
We All Need to Set Priorities We must pay attention when the Lord is calling us to slow down. It is easy to resist taking care of oneself if we run at full speed as though we are the only one who can get things done. We all need to
Today is the Church’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The universal symbol of the Christian faith, the cross, represents Christ’s victory over death. The feast celebrates the redemptive transformation of a barbaric instrument of torture into a divine “tree of life” that brings hope to humankind. I greet
Tempting Trials If we are to avoid the pit of “self-love” that leads to depression, it is imperative that we focused on loving God and neighbor. This state of despondency is often referred to as the demon of noonday, and must not be allowed to distract us from the love
The doctrine of original sin as espoused in the West, is foreign to Orthodoxy, yet in no way suggests we do not need to be born again (born anew). We believe, as did the Early Church Fathers, that we inherit only the results of Adam’s sin, not his guilt.
Old Abbot Tryphon is still unable to negotiate the steps of our monastery’s temple, so I needed our Hieromonk Nicodemus to bring the Holy Mysteries to my monastic cell. Just as we all need the Eucharist to sustain us, when one is struggling with health issues the need is often