Author: Abbot Tryphon

Fasting for the right reasons The Lord condemned the Pharisee, not because he fasted, but because his motivation was based on pride. The Pharisee wished to be seen by men, and he had no fear of God. He dared to stand before the Lord in pride and arrogance, while the

Communing from the Body and Blood of the Master during the period of spiritual combat The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is attributed to Saint Gregory the Dialogist († 604), Pope of Rome, but in actuality, it is not the work of one individual, but is a composite work coming

The Lenten Journey and the banishment of hell One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the

Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man Most Protestant churches strongly reject all saintly intercession, citing passages such as 1 Timothy 2:1-5, which says that Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man, as well as Deuteronomy 18:10-11 which seems to forbid invoking departed souls. They also

The Journey of Joyful Sorrow in the expectation of the Resurrection The main reason Christianity spread so rapidly following the Resurrection of Christ, was the power behind the resurrection. The truth of Christ’s resurrection empowered believers to joyfully embrace martyrdom, knowing that they would be joined in eternal bliss with

And the corporate nature of salvation There is a certain emptiness in trying to live the Christian life outside the life of the Church. This is because it is impossible to truly live as a Christian without the Church. The reading of the scriptures, and our commitment to prayer, are

A replay of that which happened in the Garden of Eden The Orthodox Church teaches that the Lord took on our humanity by means of a Virgin Birth because he desired to become the first-fruits of a new spiritual humanity, one in which those who were to be united with

Humankind is a microcosm of the universe God is the Creator of the whole cosmos, and ordered his creation with its own integrity, and as a positive reality. Creation is the good work of the good God (Gen. 1), made for the blessed existence of humanity. According to the Cappadocian

The Jesus Prayer and the Acquisition of Inner Peace The Jesus Prayer, also known as the  Prayer of the Heart, is the central prayer for monastics. One of the early desert fathers, Saint Macarius the Great, said of the phrase from the Psalms, “The meditation of my heart is in

Virtue of a saint or passion of a harlot? We are all called to live the angelic life, for it is not just monks who are called into communion with God. We are all invited into that sublime life in imitation of the angels, and whether we live as monastics