"It is not true, as some maintain who are led astray by error, that the human being is irremediably dead and can no longer do anything good. A small child is incapable of anything; it cannot run to its mother on its own legs; it tumbles on the ground, cries out, sobs, calls out to... Continue Reading →
Let us Glory in Christ and Not In Ourselves
"The sun shines on all alike, and vainglory beams on all activities. For instance, I am vainglorious when I fast; and when I relax the fast in order to be unnoticed, I am again vainglorious over my prudence. When I am well dressed I am quite overcome by vainglory, and when I put on poor... Continue Reading →
Despair Not
"Do not then despair of the most perfect change [repentance]. For if the devil had such great power as to cast you down from that pinnacle and height of virtue into the extremity of evil doing, much more will God be able to draw you up again to your former confidence; and not only indeed... Continue Reading →
Let Us Follow The Spirit
"In certain cases, the spirit follows the inclinations of nature like a slave. The body takes the upper hand, rouses the passions and drives us to demand selfish pleasure. Then the spirit gives in to the body and even supplies it with the necessary means to satisfy its lusts. This is not the experience of... Continue Reading →
The Samaritan Woman & The Living Water
"But He calls the live-giving gift of the Spirit, 'living water', whereby alone human nature, though well parched to its very roots, and is now rendered dry and barren of all virtue by the villainies of the devil, runs back to its pristine beauty of nature, and, drinking in the life-giving grace, is adorned with... Continue Reading →
Inward Solitude
"Many live on the mountains and behave as if they were living amidst the uproar of a city, and they are lost. It is possible while living amongst a crowd to be inwardly solitary, and while living alone to be inwardly beset by the crowd." Amma Syncletica from Saying of The Desert Fathers. Amma Syncletica,... Continue Reading →
Food For The Soul
"Fasting is food for the soul, nourishment of the spirit." St. Ambrose of Milan, On Elijah and Fasting 2,2.
Let Us Use Our Means For The Other
Have you seen the insignificance [the worthlessness] of human affairs? Have you seen the frailty of power? Have you seen the wealth which I [have] always called a runaway and not a runaway only, but also a murderer. For it not only deserts those who possess it, but also slaughters them; for when any one pays attention to it then the most it does for him is to betray him. Why do you pay attention to wealth which today is yours, and tomorrow is another's? Why do you court [or attract] wealth which can never be held fast [close]? Do you desire to court it? Do you desire to hold it near? Do not bury it but give it into the hands of the poor.
The Fasting of The Soul
"Behold, my brethren, how much a fast can do, and in what manner the law commands us to fast. It is required that not only with the body should we fast, but with the soul. Now the soul is humbled when it does not follow wicked opinions, but feeds on becoming virtues. For virtues and... Continue Reading →
Inward and Outward Virtue
There are some who are clothed in modesty on the outside but are arrayed in licentiousness within. There are some who are fasters outwardly but inwardly are gluttons and greedy.
Look on The Good Your Neighbour Does
"And if you see your neighbour sinning, do not take only his sin into consideration. Reflect upon all that he has done or continues to do rightly. If it often the cause, when your examination goes through every detail and you do not judge based on partial information, that you will discover that he is... Continue Reading →
The Epistle to Diognetus Part 6 – He Came in Love
“For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them,.. nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 