Important for both Confessor and Penitent The Seal of Confession is a hard and fast rule throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. Since 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
I am crucified with Christ In our life, every undertaking, every action, every thought, must be a reflection of Christ in our life. The Lord will grant us the strength and ability to accomplish good works and attain holiness, if we cooperate with His grace. Prayer alone is not enough
The Way into the Kingdom of Heaven The great Elder Anthony of Optina Monastery, told his spiritual children to, “Endure everything, and you will be at peace and you will bring peace to others. But if you complain about details, you will lose peace and along with it salvation”. As
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
Love is rooted in forgiveness The capacity to forgive is directly related to the capacity to love, and it is in our act of forgiving others, that we find forgiveness. For it is in the turning away from our own self-concern, and our own self-will, that we begin to see
What we put into our minds does make a difference We have become a nation obsessed with violence, and our entertainment proves it. Movies portraying extremes in violence make huge sums of money for producers, studios and actors, while polluting the minds of millions of people with sick images of
Proper preparation for the reception of Christ’s Body and Blood is imperative The Russian Orthodox Church requires anyone who desires to receive Holy Communion to have prepared themselves with confession, the Pre-Communion prayers and having abstained from food or drink from midnight on. Most of the world’s Local Orthodox Churches
The need to reunite a society divided by age There are two major populations within our society that are seeing a statistical rise in the number of suicides. At a time when a growing body of research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those
I thank you all so very much! Yesterday I met with my cardiologist, Dr. Peter Demopulos (pictured), of Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and received good news. Dr. Demopulos has given me a clean bill of health. It seems that my heart is now functioning within all the parameters of
There is no salvation outside the Body of Christ Orthodoxy is all about community. The fierce individualism found in much of what claims to be Christianity is in opposition to the Orthodox understanding of faith. The Church as the Body of Christ is where we are united in Christ, becoming