Author: Abbot Tryphon

December 25th or January 7th? Regarding the Church Calendar (also known as the Old Calendar, or the Julian Calendar), I am grateful that our monastery is part of a jurisdiction that has remained true to the Traditional Calendar. The move to the Papal Calendar was, to my mind, divisive, and

God is in control of the forces of nature The massively destructive and deadly hurricanes that have ever increasingly been plowing into the east coast of the United States should not surprise to any of us. How could we expect there should not be consequences for a nation that has

A Grateful Heart is Fertile Ground When you strive to interact with members of your family, with friends, coworkers, and all others, with respect, humility, and dignity, you lay the groundwork for the abundance of Grace needed to quicken your heart for the things of God. The soil is prepared

Living the evangelical life in imitation of the angels Monastics are an integral part of the Church and should not be seen as independent of the Church Universal. Monks are bound by the same Gospel as other Christians and need to avail themselves to the missionary and pastoral needs of

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

The role of godparent is an awesome responsibility It is always a good idea to revisit the important role godparents play in the life of the newly baptized child. Godparents are also expected to play an important role in the religious and spiritual life of adult converts who’ve been received

The limits of human reason and the knowledge of God There is the seen, and there is the unseen, the material and the immaterial. That which is material can be scientifically examined and experienced, the immaterial can only be seen and experienced spiritually. These are two worlds that are only

Our goal must be directed towards repentance and the remembrance of death In our struggle on the path to God, repentance must be the central theme. Only in repentance will we find the true meaning of life, for only in repentance can one enter into communion with God. This life

The Church, like a forest, provides needed oxygen Growing up in Northern Idaho, I was surrounded by mountains and forests. I don’t remember a time when forests did not tug at my heart and fill my imagination with thoughts of adventure. As a small child my parents took my brother

  Photo: Keagan Latrell and Edwin Baxter have been spending time with us. Sunday December 16, 2018 / December 3, 2018 29th Sunday after Pentecost. Tone four. Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). Fish Allowed Prophet Zephaniah (Sophonias) (635 B.C.). Venerable Sabbas, abbot of Zvenigorod, disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1406).