God grants the prayer of him who prays There are so many of us who pray only when we “feel inspired”, or when we “want something” from God, but true prayer must originate from struggle. If we do not struggle to become a prayerful person, prayer will remain sidelined, and
Category: The Morning Offering
When we struggle with habitual and repetitive sins In the Mystery of Confession we avail ourselves before the analoy stand, upon which the holy cross and the Gospel Book rest. The priest stands in as the witness, whereas in the early Church confession was done before the whole congregation of
The Divine Flame will consume you At the very first moment you decide to turn to God, your heart begins to be warmed by the action of the Holy Spirit. Your heart is kindled with the divine flame that will transform you. This flame will consume you completely, and will
Humankind is a microcosm of the universe It has been said that humans are a microcosm of the whole universe because we have within ourselves the entire material world, and with it the noetic powers of the cosmos. Created as we were for immortality, it is our fallen nature that
Abusive behavior betrays a deep spiritual and psychological illness There are people who insist on holding on to resentment, often inventing situations in their minds that never happened, justifying their bad behavior, and putting the blame on others. They see themselves as the abused party, always quick to take offense.
To be a Christian is not about conformity to the image of other people, but to the image of Christ When we enter into communion with one another in the life of the Church, we come broken, and far from the image and likeness that God intended when He created
The importance of silence to the inner life The Russian word “Poustinia”, which means “desert”, is so important to the inner life, that it cannot be dismissed. If we are to hear the voice of God speaking to us, we must enter into silence. If we are to learn to
The Condescension of God and the Deification of Man We Orthodox Christians on the Julian Calendar are now celebrating the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of God on Earth. And this celebration of the Nativity of Christ will mark the spiritual upheaval of the universe, for this solemn day marks
This season of the Nativity of Christ is the perfect time to look closely at what this pivotal moment in human history meant for this material world. That the Logos, the Word of God, joined Himself to our humanity was singularly the most important event in human history. That this
The true self versus the false self Reformed theology focuses on forensic justification, whereas the mystical theology of the Orthodox Church focuses on restoration to God through healing of the darkened soul alienated from Him. These are two very different models, but not really equal, because one can have faith