The Measure of Love is to Fulfill Christ’s Commandment Sometimes we’ve done things that cause us to wonder how we can ever forgive ourselves. Perhaps we’ve hurt someone we love or disappointed people we respect by behaving in a way we deeply regret. Maybe we’ve said some unkind thing to
A couple young men exploring monastic life. click to enlarge Successful Membership in a Health Club Requires Exercise Health clubs make much of their profit from people who decide to join because they want to get in shape, but after a few sessions with the weights, drop out. Membership in
Striving to Attain the Kingdom If we are always complaining about how unfairly we are treated, we will have failed in our imitation of Christ, Who was abused by His enemies unto death. We should strive to reign with Our Lord by loving our enemies and never complain. Christ looked
The Church: Unity in Faith The Lord Jesus Christ desires that each of us be joined together in unity within the confines of His Church. This union of all who confess Christ as true God and true man, and who are united as one body in Him, have as their
A visitor from China gifting Abbot Tryphon with the crest of his city. Letting the Church be Put in Order Whenever we hear of problems in the Church it is our natural inclination to want to read all about it and root out all the details. Yet if we really
Cultivating Your Own GardenWe teeter on the edge if we let ourselves be concerned about our neighbors garden rather than being concerned about the cultivation of our own garden. Judging another persons spiritual life is one of the most dangerous things we can do, for judging another distracts us from
My favorite photo of Hammi and me Monasticism in the World Monasticism within the tradition of the Orthodox Church has many expressions. Some are called to live in the wilderness as hermits, living the solitary way of life. Others, such as Saint Maria of Paris and Saint John of San
Detachment and the Life of a Monk Detachment from the world is not necessarily cutting off all social contact with people, or avoiding any exposure to or contact with things of the world in some sort of pharisaical obsession with keeping oneself ritually ‘pure’. The work of purification is an
Conspiracies and the Living of the Christian Life It is spiritually fruitless if we allow ourselves to be distracted by the delusions created by Satan that draw us away from the awareness of the presence of God. When we allow the thrall of conspiracy theories to fill us with fear,
The Struggle Against the Passions and Our Victory in Christ As we struggle with anger, gluttony, with judging others, sexual impurity and a myriad of others passions, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless. We find ourselves feeling defeated and tempted to give up the battle. Sometimes we even