Thoughts That Arouse Us To Judge Our Neighbor At the very first sign we are tempted to judge our neighbor, we must condemn ourselves. Self-condemnation is the only weapon that assures us of escaping the sin of judging another, for when we make ourselves confront our own sin, the sin
Author: Abbot Tryphon
I am abbot of All-Merciful Saviour Orthodox Monastery (ROCOR) on Vashon Island, WA. The island is a twenty minute ferry ride from West Seattle, and a fifteen minute crossing from Tacoma.
Surrounded by the Salish Sea, the island is some 87% undeveloped forest, with a rural population of around eleven thousand citizens. If you wish to contact me personally, you can email me at: abbottryphon@vashonmonks.com
We Must Impart The Faith As A Missionary People Two Byzantine brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius, brought Orthodox Christianity to the Slavs in the ninth century. The brilliance of Eastern Orthodox missionary outreach, as opposed to that of the Latin Church, was in the very use of the vernacular. These
Anger and Road Rage Banished with the Jesus Prayer The very best tool to banish anger and road rage is the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. Calling upon the Holy Name of Jesus, when under spiritual attack, is a quick way to dispel the demon of anger. When confronted with
The Transformational Power of a Faith Unchanged In an age when many Christian denominations are trying to appear relevant and modern, I am finding that large numbers of people are drawn to the Ancient Faith by the beard and robe. I am constantly thanked for dressing as I do by
The Church Is Forever United With 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 the Soul,
Those Occasions When We Mature Into Spiritual Adulthood There are those times in our lives when God seems distant, even absent from us. These are usually times when our faith seems weak and we struggle to believe God really cares for us, or perhaps we begin to question whether God
In Confession We Humble Ourselves Before Another Person It is only out of delusion we believe we do not need others to see, understand, and treat our spiritual sickness. Anyone who believes that he alone can cure his spiritual diseases has isolated himself from a Mystery of the Church and
It Was I Who Was Lost But Have Been Found If we allow ourselves to belittle anyone, either because of their appearance or because of their state in life, we dismiss the truth that God can, in His Divine Providence, transform anyone into a saint. The person who seems to