Author: Abbot Tryphon

Apart from the Church, all achievements are insufficient The Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica said, “We think we know a lot, but what we know is very little. Even all those who have striven all their life to bring progress to mankind — learned scientists and highly educated people — all

No one is required by God to remain in an abusive relationship The best way to respond to another person’s anger is not to withdraw, but to move towards them with kindness. There are times when distancing yourself from someone who is angry, is necessary, for there is absolutely no

Piety without stoking the flames of pride Many years ago I remember attending a Liturgy at a parish church and noticing a young man standing near the iconostasis, while making profound bows, and frequent, almost exaggerated signs of the cross. My first thought was that he must be a newly

The energy of the mind inside the heart In the patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. This self-awareness is the energy of the mind inside the heart, something the holy fathers referred to as our “noetic faculty”. There is an important distinction that must be noted

We must not allow guilt to destroy us The conscience is that gift God has bestowed upon us that tells us when we have sinned against Him, and against our neighbor. The conscience calls us to turn from our sin, and seek to change the patterns of behavior that have

Holding bad thoughts negates everything good The Fathers, such as Saint Paisius of Mount Athos, teach us that when we hold bad thoughts about anyone, or nurture a grudge against another, we negate everything good that can come from keeping vigil, or fasting. Ascetic discipline is useless if we do

The saints are alive in Christ Jesus Vigil lights are placed before the icons of the saints, according to Saint Symeon the New Theologian, as a way of showing that without the Light, Who is Christ, the saints are nothing. It is only as the light of Christ shines on

Racial discrimination has no place in the life of a Christian It is important to understand that genetically, all humans are of but one race. Indians, Arabs, Jews, Caucasians, Africans, and Asians, are not different races, but rather, different ethnicities of the human race. God created all humans with the

We must put aside all resentment “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:9) The decision to forgive another

Finding one’s true home in the Orthodox Church The one thing I have learned since my entrance into Orthodoxy is that this is the preserved Church that Christ founded, and the very Church whose first bishops were the apostles themselves. Preserved once and for all, it is neither Eastern nor