Fr. Seraphim Rose on “Existential” Atheism

Atheism, true ‘existential’ atheism, burning with hatred of a seemingly unjust or unmerciful God is a spiritual state; it is a real attempt to grapple with the true God Whose ways are so inexplicable even to the most believing of men, and it has more than once been known to end in a blinding vision [...]

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Saint Basil the Great on Charity

The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The [...]

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Abbot Tryphon of Vashon Island on Keeping the Letter of the Law

If we, as the Church, put so much energy in keeping “the canons”, we miss the point of Christ’s directive, to “go into all the world”, with the Light of Christ. Placing all our energies in doing everything “according to the canons”, and not bringing Christ into the everyday world, is to utterly fail the [...]

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A Brother is Instructed by Saint Macarius the Great to Learn from the Dead

A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, “Abba, give me word, that I may be saved.” So the old man said, “Go to the cemetery and abuse the dead.” The brother went there, abused them and threw stones at them; then he returned and told the old man about [...]

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Saint John Cassian on Sympathizing with Others

Learn from your own experience to sympathize with those in trouble, and never to terrify with destructive despair those who are in danger, nor harden them with severe speeches, but rather restore them with gentle and kindly consolations.
* This excerpt was taken from the book “The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Second Series Vol. XI”

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Patriarch Paul of Serbia on Prayer

Prayer is the pious direction of man’s soul to God, or the communication of the heart with God, through which God is represented before man as man pours the feelings of his soul before Him. It is the lifting of the mind and the heart to God and with it man is carried to the [...]

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Elder Paisius the Athonite on Discernment and Fanaticism

A Christian must not be fanatic; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.
I once met a theologian who was extremely pious, but who had the habit of speaking to the (secular) people around him in a very [...]

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Saint John Chrysostom on Christ’s Invitation to Mankind

Did you see the abundance of His goodness? Did you see the munificence of His invitation? Come to me, He says, all you who labor and are burdened. His invitation is one of kindness, His goodness is beyond description. Come to me all, not only rulers but also their subjects, not only the rich but [...]

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New Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoyev on Ideological Rigor Mortis

I think that one of the most important problems facing the Orthodox Church in Russia, and even beyond its borders, is the ideological rigor mortis of the Church. The Church is considered as a kind of dead body, it is thought to be frozen. According to some, nothing should be changed in it. It is [...]

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Saint Isaac the Syrian on Having False Zeal Against Others

While you presume to stir up your zeal against the sickness of others, you will have banished health from your own soul. You should rather concern yourself with your own healing. But if you wish to heal those that are sick, know that the sick have greater need of loving care than of rebukes.
* This [...]

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