“If reason (logos)... assumes control over such movements [the passions], each of them is transmuted to a form of virtue; for anger produces courage, terror-caution, fear-obedience, hatred-turning away from evil, the power of love the desire for what is truly beautiful; high-mindedness in our character raises our thought above the passions, and keeps it from... Continue Reading →
The Son of Man Came as a Ransom
“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom [lutron] for... Continue Reading →
Christ’s Descent and The Destruction of Death
"Since death was unable to devour Him without a body, or Sheol to swallow Him without flesh, He came to a virgin to provide Himself with a means to Sheol... And with a body from a virgin He entered Sheol, broke into its vaults, and carried off its treasures... When death came confidently, as usual,... Continue Reading →
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“ I was not sent, he says, as the teacher Moses was, to condemn the world with the law or to introduce a command to convict people of sin. Nor do I do the ministry of a servant. Rather, I bring the love for humanity that befits the master. As Son and heir of the... Continue Reading →
And The World Did Not Know Him
“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 →
Get Up Again… And Again
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 →
Hold God Near
"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 →
He Who Loses His Life For My Sake, Shall Find It
"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 →
The Restoration of Humanity
"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 →
The Justice of God
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 →
Our True Physician
"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 →
A Manual of Humility
"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 →
