Religious Liberty: The Litmus Test for all Human Rights Freedom of religion has always been the hallmark of our American way of life. Our Founding Fathers migrated to the shores of the New World primarily to seek religious freedom, fleeing as they were the religious persecution they suffered in England.
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
Whom Do We See When We Look into the Face of Another? Our world is polarized in ways not seen in many generations. This polarization is brought closer to home because we now live in a nation that is far more cosmopolitan than in the past. Even small towns across
Tapping into the Noetic Memory of the Heart The heart does not only have a natural operation as a mere pump that circulates blood. In Orthodox patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (+1809) calls the heart a natural and supernatural
God is not a Prosecutor, but a Physician The Scriptures, the works of the Early Church Fathers, and the liturgical texts of the Church, all attest to the fact that the Ancient Church did not teach that Christ’s Incarnation was intended to be a propitiation of divine righteousness. Rather, Christ
Suffering is Meant to be Salvific The Lord does not allow anything beyond our power of endurance, to afflict us. Whenever difficulties come our way, we only sin if we are unwilling to endure. Suffering is meant to be salvific, for the Holy Apostle Paul tells us, “God is faithful
Why We Orthodox Christians Face East in Our Worship We Orthodox Christians collectively worship facing east. Together with our bishops and priests, we all stand before the Lord in the direction of the east. Our priests are sort of like captains of a ship, looking towards the ocean and leading
We tell ourselves we’ll do it tomorrow We all have times when we procrastinate. There is a story of a young monk who confessed to his elder that he was always struggling with procrastination. His elder told him it was his lack of faith which made it impossible for him
Avoiding Hypocrisy in Our Journey to God It is very easy to live our lives in hypocrisy if we are not mindful of the pitfalls of the spiritual life. We can become Pharisees without even noticing, if we let our Christianity be artificially lived. Living our lives as though we