A Monk Who Would Not Despair

There once was a monk who happened to slip and sin by himself continually, yet he would always arise at once and do his prayer rule. The demon that kept throwing him into sin lost his patience seeing the courage and hopefulness of this brother. So he visibly appeared to him, and said to him [...]

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Fr. John Romanides on Conservatives and Liberals

In their mudslinging campaign, the opponents of the hesychast revival have now called the supporters of this tradition conservative. But what does the word conservative mean in the West? In the West, a conservative is someone who still identifies the Bible with Gods revelation to mankind and the world, because in the old days Protestants [...]

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Saint Paul the Simple and the Mercy of God

Blessed Abba Paul the Simple, the disciple of Abba Anthony, told the Fathers that which follows: One day he went to a monastery to visit it and to make himself useful to the brethren. After the customary conference, the brothers entered the holy church of God to perform the synaxis there, as usual. Blessed Paul [...]

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Saint Dorotheus of Gaza on Being Cautious

The evil one hates caution. Not only can he not bear the sound of it, he hates even the very echo of it; the mere mention of caution. For example, if a man proposes to do something, he enquires whether it is profitable before he forms an opinion on whether or not it is the [...]

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Saint Philaret the Merciful of Amina

Commemorated on December 14 (Old Style)
Philaret was from the village of Amnia in Paphlagonia. Early in life, Philaret was a very wealthy man, but by distributing abundant alms to the poor he himself became extremely poor. However, he was not afraid of poverty, and, not heeding the complaints of his wife and children, he [...]

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Orthodoxy and Creationism: by Deacon Andrew Kuraev

Introduction

Numerous new books have recently been published in Russia that criticize the theory of evolution. For the most part these are the translated works of American Protestant “Creationists.” In so far as Darwinism was well established in schools and institutes as a favorite theory of the Soviets, this rush is understandable. However, we must determine [...]

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Saint Gregory of Sinai on Humility

Those who seek humility should bear in mind the three following things: that they are the worst of sinners, that they are the most despicable of all creatures since their state is an unnatural one, and that they are even more pitiable than the demons, since they are slaves to the demons. You will also [...]

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