"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 →
Lent and The Exodus From Egypt
"For when first the soul escapes from the Egyptians, the power of God approaches to help and leads it to the truth. But the spiritual Pharaoh, the king of darkness of sin, when it knows that the soul is in revolt and is fleeing out of his kingdom, pursues the thoughts which he so long... Continue Reading →
A Joyous Lent
"Ascend, my brothers, ascend eagerly. Let your hearts' resolve be to climb. Listen to the voice of the one who says: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of our God (Isa 2.3.), Who makes our feet to be like the feet of the deer, 'Who sets us... 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 →
He shall give His angels charge over you- Our Temptation and Christ
Commenting on Satan's temptation to Christ, "Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their... 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 →
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 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.
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 →
Life as a Journey
All of us have a race to run towards our appointed end. So we are all 'on the way'.
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 