Changing the world begins with me The Elder Sophroni of Essex said he believed in changing the world, one person at a time. These words are in agreement with those of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, who said acquiring inner peace causes a thousand around us to be saved. As long
How should we pray? Over the years, as strange as it may seem, we’ve had a number of people ask us if we’d pray they win the lottery, promising that if they did they’d donate a large portion to the brotherhood. The logic seemed to suggest that if the monks
The theological vision of God, and natural science Orthodoxy does not exclude from the theological vision of God the findings of natural science. Science and faith can be in concert with one another and our desire to reinstate our communion with God can involve both natural science, and the science
Man is made up of soul and body Our Orthodox faith does not teach the duality of body and soul, but rather that the whole of man is made up of both soul and body. Since the soul is the whole man, we do not put the emphasis of our
The link between the Old and New Testament Temple Orthodox temples have kept to the same form and function since ancient times. Using the Old Testament Temple model, Orthodox churches are divided into several courts or spaces peculiar to their function. The Holy Table, upon which is celebrated the Eucharist,
Give thanks to God for all things The word Thanksgiving has it’s roots in the Greek word, εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), where the Church gets the word Eucharist. For Orthodox Christians the ultimate giving of thanks to God comes when we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, where we enter into the Heavenly Banquet,
First responders to first responders Chaplains are called to be for officers what the officers cannot be for themselves. Chaplains must be advocates for their police officers, before their chiefs, and with the community. Police, by their vary nature, have to be tough, often forced to swallow the pain and
The most arduous of all ascetic practices St Gregory of Sinai spoke of the effort involved in prayer, when he wrote, “No bodily or spiritual activity without pain or toil ever brings fruit to him who practices it, because ‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it
Humans are as priests before the Altar of Creation “Everything that lives and breathes is sacred and beautiful in the eyes of God. The whole world is a sacrament. The entire created cosmos is a burning bush of God’s uncreated energies. And humankind stands as a priest before the altar
When one family experiences loss, we all feel that loss As an island community, we have had more than our share of death. We’ve witnessed, in the past few years, the suicides, as well as the accidental deaths, of many of our precious young people, and these deaths have exposed