The Relationship Between Love and the Acquisition of Holiness As Christians, we know the struggle against the passions must be a daily battle, if we are to live according to biblical standards. This quest to defeat the passions is impossible without love, for a loveless heart desires nothing beyond supporting
Category: The Morning Offering
Hieromonk Andrew Falls Asleep in the Lord On Monday of this week my good friend and confessor, Hieromonk Andrew (Fr. Nicholas Letten), fell asleep in the Lord. Father Andrew gave his whole mind and heart to Christ, and for those of us who had the privilege of being around him,
When the Gift of Sexuality Becomes an Occasion for Sin Sins of a sexual nature are common among many people today. Much of the struggle is directly related to the fact that people do not take advantage of having a spiritual father. If you are your own guide the struggles
The True Christian Life is One Filled With Grace Many people sail through their life thinking happiness is something they have created for themselves. Good fortune, and success in work and play, is something they’ve brought about, either through struggle, or by pure luck. Yet when they experience difficult times,
An Ignored Heart is a Lost Heart It is important that we direct all our thoughts, all our actions, and all our desires towards a burning love for God. Our heart must become inflamed with the love of God, and all our intellectual and emotional striving must be directed towards
Where Heaven and Earth are Joined Whenever we have non-Orthodox visitors, I am touched by the look on their faces as they gaze for the first time at the sublime, otherworldly, beauty of the interior of our little temple. They are often speechless, just as one would be when seeing
The Saints Serve as our Guides in Serving the Poor In many parts of the American countryside one can find the remnants of poorhouses (sometimes called workhouses), institutions run by local county or state governments as a means of dealing with the issue of the unemployed poor and homeless. These
The Feast of the Revelation of the Holy Trinity Our Holy Church commemorates Theophany as the time when Saint John the Forerunner baptized his cousin, our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, in the River Jordan. The Tropar or hymn for the Feast of Theophany tells us that the
We Must Put the Blame in the Right Place We all have a natural tendency to lay blame on others, when in truth we must blame only ourselves. When facing our own sins and shortcomings, it is always easy to put the blame on others, yet our faith tells us