“The theologian very quickly counters these things by saying, ‘The world did not know him.’ He does not say that he was at fault for being unknown. Let the world blame its own weakness. The Son enlightens, but the creature blunts the grace. The creature was loaned the sight to conceive of the one who... Continue Reading →
A monk came to Abba Sisoes and said: “What should I do, Abba, for I have fallen from grace?” And he replied, “ Get up again.” The monk came back shortly after and said: “What shall I do now, for I have fallen again?” And the old man said to him, “Just get up again.... Continue Reading →
"Prayer is beautiful, making distinct for the soul a notion of God. And the indwelling good is this -- holding God settled in oneself through the memory. We thus become temples of God whenever the continuity of our memory is not interrupted by earthly worries and whenever the mind is not disturbed by unforeseen passions.... Continue Reading →
"It may seem an extraordinary thing to do, to sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor. Actually, however, it is a natural action. It is like going back to creation, to our own birth itself. When Job had lost all his possessions he did not think what had happened to him... Continue Reading →
"And how did the Son restore [humankind]? By slaying death through the death of his holy flesh, and raising up the human race to a mounting incorruption. For Christ was raised for our sake. Therefore, in order that we might learn that it is this one who was the creator of our nature in the... Continue Reading →
Sometimes as we read the Scriptures, we may not realize that we have operative assumptions and thoughts which may guide our reading and interpretations. We are, presumably, well intentioned and therefore believe that we are approaching Scripture and reading it ‘the way it was meant to be read’. Even more so, we believe ourselves to... Continue Reading →
"But our physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the Only Begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the Only-Begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also a man, of Mary... Continue Reading →
"Please, let there be no sophistical bombast in your speaking, no cloying sweetness in your singing, no proud and overbearing tone in your discussions. Instead, in everything get rid of pomposity. Be good to your friend, gentle to your servant, patient with the cocky, kind to the humbled. Console the afflicted, visit the distressed, disdain... Continue Reading →
“You say right: as therefore He made Him, Who knew not sin, sin for us, in order that WE might be made the righteousness of God in Him (for the nature of man has been justified in Him): so Him Who knows not death (for the Word is Life and life-giving) He caused to suffer... Continue Reading →
Wherefore, before everything, and especially theology, we must begin with prayer, not as though we ourselves were drawing the power, which is everywhere and nowhere present, but as, by our godly reminiscences and invocations, conducting ourselves to, and making ourselves one with, it.
"Just as one cannot build a ship unless one has some nails, so it is impossible to be saved without humility." Saying 26 of Amma Syncletica Humility is that which hold the spiritual life together. We may be adorned as a large ship off to voyage in the sea of spiritual warfare but without humility... Continue Reading →
"When you have read and carefully listened to these things, you shall know what God bestows on such as rightly love Him, being made a paradise of delight, presenting [ie bringing forth] in yourselves a tree bearing all kinds of produce and flourishing well, being adorned with various fruits. For in this place the tree... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 