Author: Abbot Tryphon

Arming our children with spiritual weapons It is essential that we expose our youth to the teachings of the Church, and offer them serious facts about traditional Christianity, while letting them see that faith is not simply a religious expression of the ethnic heritage of their parents, or of keeping

Entering into the Silence All Orthodox Christians are aware of the importance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in our journey to God. These three practices are at the heart of the Great Lenten Fast. Prayer is our way of communicating with God on a daily basis, and fasting days (Wednesday

Love turns chaos into harmony The inevitability of death is particularly difficult to face for most Americans. We’ve become a people that eschew traditional funerals, preferring to “celebrate” the life of our loved one, while disposing of the body, and banning any sign of death from the memorial service. Yet

Confronting Our Weaknesses As we continue our Lenten journey, this is a time when the Church puts much emphasis on the role of repentance. We strive to go to confession more frequently during Great Lent, just as we’ve increased our level of fasting, and frequency of attending the services. Holy

Let my prayer arise as incense before Thee From Old Testament times believers have burned incense as an offering when worshiping God. The ancient temple in Jerusalem even had priests whose sole duty was to keep the censer burning twenty-four hours a day. Ancient pagan kings were often escorted with

The Created and the Uncreated 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

On Making a Good Confession Following His glorious Resurrection, as He appeared to His Disciples, Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the command that: “Whosoever’s sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” John 20:23 From that moment in history, the Church has

Sharing Orthodoxy with college students Everyone who knows me is aware of my passion for missionary work. My blog, The Morning Offering, was begun as a pastoral and missionary tool. My use of facebook, with over 5,000 “friends” on my Abbot Tryphon page, and an additional 9,712 on the monastery’s

What to do when we’re broken It is only human to become despondent when we have failed in keeping to our moral, ethical and spiritual standards, succumbing, instead, to temptation. Our Orthodox Faith teaches that we must be compassionate towards others, loving, quick to forgive, exemplar in our Christian living,

Which type of Christian are you? There are two types of Christians. There are those who can say with the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ: it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20)”. And then there are those Christians who