The Abbot’s Cell Submitting to the Will of God Pride keeps us from living according to the will of God, and pride causes us to focus only on self. Without submission to God, we wallow in the dankness of our fallen world, and our true self remains dormant. One cannot
Category: The Morning Offering
Put Aside Resentment The decision to forgive another person a wrong done to us begins when we decide to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. To forgive someone does not mean that we forget what they did to us, for this may be impossible. The memory of the
Forgiveness is the Cure for Judgment, Anger, and Resentment. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:37).” In the Our Father, the very prayer given to His disciples
We are Liberated by Solitude If we are honest with ourselves, we are all solitaries, for it is inevitable as humans. As individuals we meet God alone, and we die alone. Spiritual maturity requires inner solitude. To be alone in solitude is to be emptied of all that is important
Multnomah Falls Be still, and know that I am God Great and Holy Lent is seen by most as the forty days before Pascha when we give up certain foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish), and give more attention to alms giving. The season of the Great Fast is also a
The south end ferry dock, with Tacoma, WA off in the distance. If You are to Win the Battle, Focus only on Your Own Sins When we take our eyes off our own failings, shortcomings, and sins, we notice the failings of others. As the sins of others get our attention,
On the top deck of our new south end ferry. If you are to be truly humble, you must never cease to reproach yourself. You must actively pursue a humble heart, and imitate, even embrace the sufferings of Christ. Without the virtue of humility, there can be no salvation. Without
the Old Man Abbot Tryphon, Metropolitan Hilarion, and Priest Sergei Sveshnikov Vomit up the Evil Fruit At the moment we’ve committed ourselves to a life in Christ, change takes place. We begin walking the path of repentance, putting off the ‘old man’ and putting on Christ. The waters of baptism
Philosophers and Theologians There are only a few Orthodox saints who’ve been given the honor of being called, “theologians”. Saint John the Theologian, and Saint Symeon the New Theologian, to give two examples, were declared Theologians by the Church, because of their theology was the outcome of their having encountered the
and the PhariseeThe icon of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee shows both men in the manner in which they enter the temple to pray. The Pharisee goes to a very prominent place where others will see him. The positions of his hands indicate that he is addressing