"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 →
The Epistle to Diognetus Part 12 – Knowledge That Gives Life
"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 →
The Transfiguration
"For it was Moses who gave the Law and the Jews would therefore understand that he [The Lord Jesus Christ] had never neglected or scorned the Law as they suspected, and never broken it, but rather followed it and was opposed to all who set it aside. And Elijah was filled with zeal for the... Continue Reading →
Genesis: The Book of The Promise
We have been exploring some of the beauty of the Genesis text and what it has to teach us about life (Genesis: The Book of Life), about married life and love (Genesis: The Book of Love), and about our life chosen apart from God (Genesis: The Book of Life and Death). Let us now explore... Continue Reading →
An Ethiopian Prayer
"Pilot of the soul, Guide of the righteous, and Glory of the saints: grant us, O Lord, eyes of knowledge ever to see thee and ears also to hearken unto thy word alone. When our souls have been fulfilled with thy grace, create in us pure hearts, O Lord, that we may ever understand thy... Continue Reading →
His Birth Becomes Our Birth
"Your divine birth, O Lord, gave birth to all creatures.... Humanity gave birth to You in the body; and You gave birth to humanity in spirit.... Praise to You, who became a Child,to make all things new!" St. Ephrem the Syrian, Homily 3 on The Nativity. "God is with thee, and with thee also... Continue Reading →
Genesis: The Book of Life and Death
Throughout our previous two posts on Genesis, we have encountered some beautiful things. We have seen what it means for God to be the Creator of Heaven and earth and how we should read these accounts (Genesis: The Book of Life). We have also learned what it meant for the human being to go beyond... Continue Reading →
Present your wounds to Him
"Your wounds do not surpass the Physician's skill. Have faith; tell the Physician what ails you." St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Baptismal Catecheses II, 6.
Despair Not
"The mercy of God has no limits, nothing is too great for it. That is the reason why anyone who despairs of it is the author of his own death." St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 5.
