God is Heard in the Silence of the Heart The very heart of Orthodox monasticism is found in hesychia, that is, keeping stillness.The hesychast denies in order to affirm. Based on Christ’s injunction in the Gospel of Saint Matthew to “go into your closet to pray”, hesychasm in tradition has
He Who Does Not Love Remains In Death There are those who fear commitment for fear of loss. They fear the other will either leave them, or be lost in death, so they remain aloof from any possible relationship. Some put on a facade of indifference, for fear of rejection,
Christ’s Resurrection Paves the Way The fact that we Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of original sin as espoused in the West, does in no way suggest that we do not need to be born again (born anew). We believe, as did the Early Church Fathers, that we inherit
When Charity Becomes an Occasion for Self-Worship Food is a common problem for many people, for food so often fills a void, becoming a way of comforting oneself when faced with the stresses that are a part of our modern, everyday world. Being in service to others, such as volunteering
We Must Collaborate with God If we are to be healthy spiritually, we must cooperate with God’s divine grace. The nous, as the center of our being, refers to the noetic energy that functions in the heart of every spiritually healthy person. Only the Holy Spirit can bring about the
The Life of my Patron Saint: Tryphon, Abbot of Vyatka Commemorated on October 8/21 Saint Tryphon, Archimandrite of Vyatka, came from pious parents, living in the Archangelsk diocese. His parents intended to marry Tryphon off, but from his youth, he desired the monastic life, and he secretly left his home
A Defeatist Attitude is a Prescription for Defeat “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me (Job 3:25).” As Christians we must believe that our ultimate welfare is in the hands of God and recognize that
Our Hope is Eternal Because the Gifts of the Lord Abound “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15).” If