The Prayer Rule is the medicine that helps us progress on our journey to God One medicine for the heart, is the use of a “Prayer Rule.” This “Rule” is of the utmost importance, for the prayer rule helps develop the discipline we all need to progress, spiritually. It is
What to do when we feel isolated and lonely While on my pilgrimage to Alaska, I met a number of priests who serve isolated village parishes, many of whom expressed difficulty in overcoming a sense of loneliness. This sense of isolation is not reserved for those who live in tiny
Showing proper respect for those who have gone on before us Every time I walk in a cemetery, I look at all the outrageously expensive monuments and consider the immense amount of money not only spent on them but on embalming (creating a vast pool of embalming fluid under ground,
The enemy of faith is pride The absolute necessary element for salvation is faith. Faith alone will save us, for only faith brings us into communion with God. Faith is a free gift, for nothing we can do can save us. No good works can save us. Being a
We must become a more compassionate people “In this way will the inequalities of earthly states be leveled out at God’s judgment (Saint Theophan the Recluse).” It is right that we consider the teachings of the Orthodox Church concerning our duties to those who have less than we. Saint John
The life-giving grace of the Church is for everyone For many Orthodox Christians, clergy among them, it can be a great temptation to judge others harshly, especially if we think their sin or lifestyle is so horrid that we can’t think of them as worthy to enter our churches. If
The energy of the mind inside the heart In the patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. This self-awareness is the energy of the mind inside the heart, something the holy fathers referred to as our “noetic faculty”. There is an important distinction that must be noted
The role of bodily suffering in the salvation of human kind Elder Ambrose of Optina Monastery said, “We should not forget that in our age of ‘sophistication’ even little children are spiritually harmed by what they see and hear. As a result, purification is required, and this is only accomplished
The Feast of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ The Transfiguration of of Christ is the episode in the New Testament narrative in which Our Lord is transfigured and becomes radiant with bright rays of light. At that moment the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to Him, and He speaks
The Jesus Prayer and the Acquisition of Inner Peace The Jesus Prayer, also known as the Prayer of the Heart, is the central prayer for monastics. One of the early desert fathers, Saint Macarius the Great, said of the phrase from the Psalms, “The meditation of my heart is in