Suffering is Meant to be Salvific The Lord does not allow anything beyond our power of endurance, to afflict us. Whenever difficulties come our way, we only sin if we are unwilling to endure. Suffering is meant to be salvific, for the Holy Apostle Paul tells us, “God is faithful
How Our Soul Differs From That Of An Animal The Orthodox Church teaches that animals have souls, although not the same as ours. When conceived, God bestows upon us the nous, which distinguishes us from animals. It is the nous that is the Eye of the Soul. The nous is
Important for both Confessor and Penitent The Seal of Confession is a hard and fast rule throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. The priest, in Orthodox theology, is but a witness to the confession, since the confession is given to Christ Himself, confidentiality is an absolute must. The secrecy
Sin is the Sign of Our Illness In our sense of guilt over our sinful nature, it is quite easy to gaze upon God as though looking upon a judge. We, as sinners, are guilty, and we stand in the dock as one before a judge. Yet the truth of
What To Do When We’re Broken It is only human to become despondent when we have failed in keeping to our moral, ethical and spiritual standards, succumbing, instead, to temptation. Our Orthodox Faith teaches that we must be compassionate towards others, loving, quick to forgive, exemplar in our Christian living,
When God Seems Absent We all have those moments in our lives when we feel as though God is absent, even perhaps nonexistent. Those times leave us feeling alone and abandoned, as though we are lost in an empty stadium. We feel as though we are on a boat that
Remembering to Give Thanks Frequently “We thank thee, O Christ our God, that thou hast satisfied us with thy earthly gifts, deprive us not of thy Heavenly Kingdom; but as thou entered into the midst of thy disciples, O Saviour, and gave them peace, enter also among us and save
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives “Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool