Saint Poemen the Great Teaches a Monk About Evil Thoughts

A brother came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, “Abba, I have many thoughts and they put me in danger.” The old man led him outside and said to him, “Expand your chest and do not breathe in.” He said, “I cannot do that.” Then the old man said to him, “If you [...]

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Fr. John Meyendorff on God’s Love for His Creation

The God of the New Testament is not simply a celestial Creator and Judge, but in His love for creation, personally makes the “flesh” His own in its fallen state and in death itself, in order to bring it back to communion with Himself.
* This excerpt was taken from the book “Imperial Unity and Christian [...]

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“This is Not a Religion of Fear” says Nun Vassa Larin

Interviewer’s Question: After Archimandrite Robert Taft’s presentation at the ROCOR Women’s conference last summer, I was told by one of our clergymen that non-Orthodox people should not offer instruction to the Orthodox on matters of faith. Would you please comment on this idea?
Nun Vassa’s Response: This is a very important issue, and since [...]

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Saint Maximus the Confessor on Being Perfect in Love

The one who is perfect in love and has reached the summit of detachment knows no distinction between one’s own and another’s, between faithful and unfaithful, between slave and freeman, or indeed between male and female. But having risen above the tyranny of the passions and looking to the one nature of men he regards [...]

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Elder Ephraim of Katounakia on Prayer

The best prayer is the one you say with your own words. Reading a prayer is not enough. For example, before receiving Holy Communion we read the Service of Preparation for Holy Communion, ‘From lips tainted and defiled, from heart unclean and loathsome…’, sometimes without even understanding the words. You yourself should pray with your [...]

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Saint John Chrysostom on Honouring Christ Through the Poor

If you wish to honor the Eucharistic Victim, offer your own soul for which the Victim was immolated. Make your own soul all of gold. If your soul remains viler than lead or clay, what good does it do to have a golden chalice? Do you wish to honor the Body of Christ? Then do [...]

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Metropolitan Jonah of Washington on Forgiveness and Repentance

Only by confronting our bitterness and resentment, and finding forgiveness for those who have hurt us, can we be free from the rage that binds us in despair. Repentance is not about beating ourselves up for our errors and feeling guilty; that is a sin in and of itself! Guilt keeps us entombed in self-pity. [...]

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Jaroslav Pelikan on the Difference Between Tradition and Traditionalism

Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all [...]

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Saint Macarius the Great is Asked About the Way in Which One Should Pray

Abba Macarius was asked, ‘How should one pray?’ The old man said, ‘There is no need at all to make long discourses; it is enough to stretch out one’s hands and say, “Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.” And if the conflict grows fiercer say “Lord, help!” He knows very well [...]

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Saint Isaac the Syrian on Doing At Least the Little Things

If you cannot be merciful, at least speak as though you are a sinner. If you are not a peacemaker, at least do not be a troublemaker. If you cannot be assiduous, at least in your thought be unlike like a sluggard. If you are not victorious, do not exalt yourself over the vanquished. If [...]

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