Author: Abbot Tryphon

When we work on strengthening our relationship with God, our love increases for all those around us. By deepening our faith we diminish the estrangement between ourselves and others, while increasing the bond between ourselves and God. This is our true vocation, that we decrease while Christ increases. With love

A Defeatist Attitude is a Prescription for Defeat As Christians we must believe that our ultimate welfare is in the hands of God and recognize that our life, although filled with many difficulties and struggles, is a journey of anticipation to the Eternal Life that is to come. Because this

Committed to Living as the Presence of Christ According to Saint Ephraim the Syrian (306 – 373), “The Church is not the assembly of saints, it is the mass of sinners who repent, who, sinners though they are, have turned towards God and are oriented towards Him.” As a people

The Veneration of the Holy Virgin in the Ancient Church It is only in relatively recent times that we have Christians teaching that Mary had children after the birth of the Saviour. All the early reformers, including Luther and Calvin, believed Mary to be Ever Virgin. The practice in biblical

It is God Who seeks us out A child who has been adopted by loving parents knows from the outset that he is loved, because he knows they chose him. He was not simply accepted because he was conceived and born into their midst, but was sought out to become

If you are to win the battle, focus only on your own sins When we take our eyes off our own sins we focus only on the sins of the other.  As their sins get our attention, we fail to struggle with the passions that keep us from the wholeness

Abbot Tryphon and Abuna Tekla Saint Catherine Monastery on Mt. Sinai threatened with demolition A retired Egyptian general has, in the spirit of the militant, anti-Christian Muslim Brotherhood, added a note of insanity to the violence against Orthodox Christians in Egypt, which has included the burning of churches and monasteries

Being the beauty of God in a darkened world When others see how we negotiate our life, how we treat our fellow workers, our neighbors, and our family, they should witness in us devotion and praise of God. Our deeds and our speech must reveal the love of God to

The power and influence of good deeds “For it is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2:15). Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic tells us in The Prologue from Ochrid that we are better off if we do not engage

The role of godparent is an awesome responsibility Since many baptisms took place on Holy Saturday, it is 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