Author: Abbot Tryphon

Gratefulness Brings About Happiness We all know that money can’t buy happiness, yet many are not aware that practicing simple gratitude does bring about happiness. Being grateful for the people we have in our lives, and for the things that we have, brings about a happiness that can not come

Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you One of my favorite passages in Scripture is James 4:8, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you”. The simplest prayer can begin a life long relationship with God, because our God desires that we commune

A Healthy Soul is one that Seeks out Silence We are addicted to noise. We find it impossible to drive our vehicles without the radio on or a CD playing. Our televisions are running from the moment we’ve returned from work. We take our runs with earphones filling our minds

Let My Prayer Arise As incense Before Thee From Old Testament times believers have burned incense as an offering when worshiping God. The ancient temple in Jerusalem even had priests whose sole duty was to keep the censer burning twenty-four hours a day. Ancient pagan kings were often escorted with

How do we find God in an unbelieving world? God is a merciful God, quick to forgive, quick to show mercy, quick to embrace us when we turn to Him. In all of eternity our God chose to create humankind in His image and likeness, offering His creatures the opportunity

Our Focus Must Be On Repentance And Holiness In all our busyness, and with all the distractions that come our way on any given day, it is easy to forget that repentance is the only possible way we can embrace holiness. Since we sin daily and fall short of the

When We are the Occasion for Another Person’s Disdain Because we are all brothers and sisters, we are responsible for the way we impact others. Often we are entirely innocent, yet by our very existence we become a source of great irritation and anxiety for other people. The only way

Do not Turn Right or Left According to Saint Basil the Great, “The person who does not allow his thought to incline towards excess or deprivation but directs it to the midpoint, that of virtue, is upright in his heart”. Virtue must be practiced. Just as one who would desire

Just Whose Recipe Is It Anyway? One of the most powerful reasons for embracing Orthodoxy is to be found in the Church’s insistence that she holds to the evangelical and apostolic doctrine of the Ancient Church. In an age when everything is up for change, there is a certain security

In The Church We Are Forever United In Christ The Church Fathers saw Orthodoxy as a Way of Life, rather than a religion. Although the Church has many of the same attributes as religion, this does not mean she is herself a religious institution. Rather, she is a Hospital for