Saint Isaac the Syrian on the Incarnation

Humility is the raiment of the Godhead. The Word who became human clothed Himself in it, and He spoke to us in our body. Everyone who has been clothed with humility has truly been made like unto Him who came down from His own exaltedness and hid the splendor of His majesty and concealed His [...]

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Saint Maximus the Confessor on True Charity for One’s Offenders

To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for him. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil—such belongs to a perfect spiritual love.
* This excerpt was taken from the book “The Way of the [...]

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Fr. John Meyendorff on Life in the Risen Christ

If death is the ultimate, cosmic enemy, Christ is the Savior because he conquers death. His death on the cross is a historical fact, sealed by the resurrection. Having identified himself with fallen humanity down to death on the cross, he rose again and manifested the risen, transfigured, and deified humanity which was from the [...]

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Elder Amphilochius Makris of Patmos on How He Views Each Person

I was born to love people. It doesn’t concern me if he is a Turk, black, or white. I see in the face of each person the image of God. And for this image of God I am willing to sacrifice everything.
* This excerpt was taken from the book “Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit” [...]

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Fr. Alexander Schmemann on Repentance

Repentance is often simply identified as a cool and “objective” enumeration of sins and transgressions, as the act of “pleading guilty” to a legal indictment. Confession and absolution are seen as being of a juridical nature. But something very essential is overlooked—without which neither confession nor absolution have any real meaning or power. This “something” [...]

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Saint Augustine of Hippo on Reckless Christians Embarrassing Christianity

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, [...]

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Saint Silvanus the Athonite Teaches an Archimandrite How to Benefit Non-Orthodox

Elder Sophronius Sakharov relates the following story: I remember a conversation [Staretz Silvanus] had with a certain Archimandrite who was engaged in missionary work. This Archimandrite thought highly of the Staretz [Silvanus] and many a time went to see him during his visits to the Holy Mountain. The Staretz [Silvanus] asked him what sort of [...]

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