"Suppose there be a circle... imagine that this circle is the world: the centre of the circle, God, and the radii the different paths or ways of life of men. When the saints, desiring to approach God, walk towards the centre of the circle, insofar as they penetrate to the interior, they draw near to... Continue Reading →
The Love of God
So then, whatever is rightly done of free choice is also in us naturally, at least, in the case of those who have not perverted their rational faculty by iniquity. The love of God is, therefore, demanded of us as a strict obligation, and for a soul to fail in this is the most unendurable of all evils.Separation and estrangement from God are more unbearable than the punishment reserved for hell and more oppressive to the sufferer than the being deprived of light is to the eye.
Palm Sunday – The Entry of The King
"The multitudes, being more obedient and yielding to the effect of the sign, went to meet the Christ, hymning Him as One Who had conquered death, and carrying palm branches. And they do not praise Him with ordinary language, but quote from the inspired Scripture that which was beautifully spoken with regard to Him; confessing... Continue Reading →
Social Distancing and Acedia
For those of us who are now under the advisory to quarantine or isolate or practice social distancing, we are now finding ourselves in entirely novel territory. Where once we thought nothing of bouncing around from place to place and store to store we are now to practice some discipline about our comings and goings.... Continue Reading →
What He is, He Does
Commenting on the beginning of Psalm 106 St. Gregory of Nyssa teaches; "For he begins immediately by saying, Give thanks to the Lord,for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever (Ps 106.1).’ Exomologesis is to be understood here in the sense of thanksgiving, not in the sense of confession. He exhorts us here... Continue Reading →
Trading the Transitory for The Immortal?
"Pleasure is only a fleeting delight. Yea, pleasure quickly takes flight, and we cannot tie it down even for a few moments. For such is the destiny of human and sensible things: hardly do we possess them, and they escape us...They offer nothing solid or assured, nothing fixed or permanent. They flow away more rapidly... Continue Reading →
Cut Off the Deeds of Death
The blessed Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he always bore in his body the dying of Jesus (2 Cor 4.10), not as though he alone should make that boast, but also they and we too, and in this let us be followers of him, my brethren. And let this be the customary boast of... Continue Reading →
The Knowledge of God
"The virtues acquired are the flesh of Christ and whoever eats it will find inner freedom. The contemplation of creatures is the blood of Christ and whoever drinks it will be enlightened by Him. The knowledge of God is the breast of Christ and whoever rests on it will be a theologian."
Water into Wine – Death into Life
"Why then did our Lord change the nature of water in the first of his signs? Was it not to show that the Divinity, which had changed natures in the depths of the jars, was that same [divinity[ which had changed nature in the womb of the virgin? At the completion of his signs he... Continue Reading →
God in flesh Kills the Death Therein
God is in flesh. He is not active at intervals as he was among the prophets. Instead he possesses a humanity connatural and united to himself, and restores all humanity to himself through flesh the same as ours in kind. So then, one might say, 'How did the splendour come to all by means of... Continue Reading →
A Great Mystery is The Incarnation
"Who, being a mortal, can tell about the Reviver of all, Who left the height of His Majesty and came down to smallness? You, Who magnify all by being born, magnify my weak mind that I may tell of Your birth, not to investigate your majesty, but to proclaim Your grace. Blessed is He Who... Continue Reading →
Born From Above
“The will of my Father is that a person be made a participant in the Holy Spirit and that the citizen of earth be reborn into a strange and unaccustomed life and be called a citizen of Heaven. And when he says that the rebirth by the Holy Spirit is ‘from above,’ he shows clearly... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 