A healthy society values both their old and their young There are two major populations within our society that are seeing a statistical rise in the number of suicides. At a time when a growing body of research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to
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
The dark ink God’s grace uses to write His Law on our hearts We all struggle with our passions, and like Saint Paul we can say we do that which we do not want to do and do not do what we want to do. The passions hold us down
We must empower children in the Orthodox faith Every Orthodox parent wants their children to grow up attending Sunday Liturgies and staying active in the life of the Church throughout their lives. Yet many parents don’t demonstrate the importance of having a relationship with God in front of their children.
It is essential for us to find the way of humility Saint Sophrony of Essex, himself the spiritual son and biographer of Saint Silouan of the Holy Mountain, wrote that the empirical cosmic being is like a pyramid: at the top sit the powerful of the earth, who exercise dominion
True art is a mirror of God’s beauty and light Some time ago I wrote, “some secular music sounds like it had its birth in the depths of hell”. Certainly music itself cannot come from Satan, for it is given birth from the creative mind of people. Some people, however,
We dare not surrender to the temptation of despair The cultural and spiritual warfare that is taking place because of the pandemic, with the forced separation of mass numbers of people from their extended families, elders, parish communities, and fellow workers, has brought our world to a place not experienced
We are all in this together As we struggle in this life, it is good to remember that we are all together. We find our place of silence, where we encounter God, but even in this place set apart, we are together. In our journey to God, our common goal
We must be sensitive to other people, regardless of differences We humans are an odd species. We are capable of great sensitivity and compassion, yet can also be capable of much cruelty. The outpouring of aid and support received by Japanese citizens, following the terrible earthquake and tsunami that caused
My Conversation with Abbot Tryphon of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)