As we have celebrated the Joyous and Bright Saturday, we contemplate the liturgical poetry of St. Ephrem the Syrian. Death is conquered by the one Who enters therein! Death says, "The death of Jesus is to me a torment. I prefer for myself His life rather than His death. This is the Dead One whose... Continue Reading →
The Loosing of Lazarus and Our Release from Sin
After the Lord cries out that Lazarus arise we read, "Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go." And this too is representative of the general resurrection, when, being loosed from sin and the corruption of death, every one will be set free. For, falling into sin, we have wrapped the shame of... Continue Reading →
Prayer as Participation in God
For God is indeed present to all, but all are not present to Him. But then, when we have invoked It [The Trinity], by all pure prayers and unpolluted mind, and by our aptitude towards Divine Union, we also are present to It.
He shall give His angels charge over you- Our Temptation and Christ
Commenting on Satan's temptation to Christ, "Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their... Continue Reading →
The Life-Giving Blessing: Genesis and The Eucharist
We have already seen that the first chapters of Genesis have much to teach us. In extending our dialogue to the Eucharist we move to a consideration of food, Divine food. Following Genesis: The Book of The Promise we see what is revealed about the food which God once offered to us through the law... Continue Reading →
Let us amass the riches of Repentance
"Let all of us who wish to enter the sacred gate of the holy fast erase and banish all earthly thoughts from our hearts; and let us pass the whole of it in holy fashion in good works. We fast by abstaining not from food only, but also from bitterness and malice; and from every... Continue Reading →
The Life-Giving Cross
"By your life-giving Cross, O Christ, the depth of the riches of wisdom and power can be seen. For when you who are the power of God were nailed upon it, upon the wood of infirmity, that is, the Cross, You changed it into a wood of power, such as befits God." St. Severus of... Continue Reading →
The Spiritual Sequence of Psalms 1, 2, 3
"The sequence related to salvation also looks to this [our benefit], and the order which assists us to this end is best. For example, the first psalm removed humanity from its cohesion with evil. The second, having indicated the appearance of the Lord through flesh in advance, showed to what we should cling, and that... Continue Reading →
An Exhortation To Repentance
“O Lord, I am a suppliant to You; You [The] Good! I am knocking at Your door; Break not, O Lord, Your promise, "Knock, and I will open to you. " Thy door is not closely fastened When the sinner comes and knocks at it; Thy door is always opened To the righteous and the wicked.... Continue Reading →
Distractions at Prayer
When the demons see you yearning to pray truly, then they propose representations of certain things that are supposedly necessary and shortly thereafter they raise up and implant the memory of them, setting the mind in motion to search for them. When the mind does not find them, it is deeply grieved and discouraged. Then... Continue Reading →
Christianity’s Forgotten Spirit
"Therefore because of the grace of the Spirit which has been given to us, we come to be in him, and He in us. And through his becoming in us, and we having the Spirit, it is reasonable that, since it is the Spirit of God, we are considered to be in God and God... Continue Reading →
Morning Hymn of St. Severus
"Come speedily, you peoples, let us go to the spiritual Jordan or the temple of the baptistery in order to honour the God-befitting mystery of the holy resurrection, and let us all in it worship the life-giving death of God who became incarnate and suffered on our behalf in the flesh; which also caused a... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 