“To eat and drink with thanksgiving to God all that is served up or prepared for one is not in any way opposed to the rule of knowledge. For everything is very good (Genesis 1.31). But voluntarily to abstain from what is agreeable and abundant is a sign of great discernment and higher knowledge. We... Continue Reading →
Consecrating An Illustrious Life, Dear to God
"For they did not at all accept the Savior of all; they never stopped insulting him, practicing every kind of wickedness in their cruelty. Their insanity reached such a degree that they nailed to a cross the Author of life, and thought they could conquer by death the one who is greater than death. For... 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 →
Repentance Must be Joined to Thanksgiving
"Compunction without thanksgiving would be despair, sorrow that was not godly, while repentance without thanksgiving would be a presumptuous illusion". St. Mark the Ascetic Translation from Penthos: The Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East Let us not forget that our repentance is not simply a deep sorrow. Sorrow without thanksgiving does not open us... Continue Reading →
Let us amass the riches of Repentance
"Let all of us who wish to enter the sacred gate of the holy fast erase and banish all earthly thoughts from our hearts; and let us pass the whole of it in holy fashion in good works. We fast by abstaining not from food only, but also from bitterness and malice; and from every... Continue Reading →
An Exhortation To Repentance
“O Lord, I am a suppliant to You; You [The] Good! I am knocking at Your door; Break not, O Lord, Your promise, "Knock, and I will open to you. " Thy door is not closely fastened When the sinner comes and knocks at it; Thy door is always opened To the righteous and the wicked.... 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 →
Seeking God with Our Whole Life
"By those means whereby you have lost goods, by the same will you gain them back again. You owe God a penny, and He will not accept a pearl from you in its place. Having lost chastity, do not allow fornication to remain in its place and give alms because of it: God will not... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 