Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving Jesus Christ called for a thorough conversion of our heart and mind, and a complete turning away from the old man (our fallen nature). The main act that begins this conversion is metanoia, which means thorough change of mind. This happens when we become aware that
Category: The Morning Offering
The Church, Much Like the Gardener, Nurtures Her Children We all struggle with our passions, and like Saint Paul we can say that we do what we do not want to do and do not do what we want to do. The passions hold us down to the ground in
The Importance of the Desert for the Inner Life The Russian word, “poustinia”, means “desert”, and the importance of poustinia to inner life can not be dismissed. If we are to hear the voice of God speaking to us, we must listen to His silence. If we are to learn
Living Our Orthodox Faith in a Non-Believing World In this pluralistic society there are many Orthodox individuals who’ve found themselves sharing their lives with non-Orthodox family members. Sometimes these families are not even practicing Christians, so the struggle to keep to the traditions and practices of the Orthodox Faith can
How Can We Possibly Love Everyone? We are instructed by Christ to love our neighbors as ourselves, and even to love our enemies. There are always individuals who come into our lives that we find difficult to like, let alone love. Given this, how do we follow the commandment of
Centers for Spiritual Healing 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 the Church, as needed. Although
In the Eucharist We Have a Foretaste of Heavenly Things The Russian Orthodox Church requires anyone who desires to receive Holy Communion to have prepared themselves with confession, the pre-communion prayers, and having abstained from food or drink from midnight on. Most of the world’s Local Orthodox Churches hold to
The Problem of Evil in God’s Creation We’ve all read news reports of horrid cases of people being imprisoned for long periods of time by perverted individuals who have been later diagnosed as classic psychopaths. By definition, psychopaths are individuals who are hateful towards others, and incapable of empathy. Sometimes
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