Today the January 7th, we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. A feast day is about to arrive, and it is the most holy and awesome of all feasts. It would be no mistake to call it the chief and mother of all holy days. What feast is that? It is the day… Continue reading Nativity of Our Lord!
Three Stages of combating Passions
A man who gives way to his passions and suffers for it is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, catches the arrow in his hands, and then plunges it into his own heart. A man who is resisting his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy,… Continue reading Three Stages of combating Passions
St.Stephen The First Marytr
St. Stephen, the Apostle, Archdeacon and Protomartyr. This holy man, as the Book of the Acts of the Apostles testifieth, was full of grace, and of the Holy Spirit, and of power, and he used to perform signs and miracles among the people. And the Jews were envious of him, and they seized him. Setting… Continue reading St.Stephen The First Marytr
Since You Want to be The Judge
For an angel brought [Isaac the Theban] the soul of someone who had fallen into sin, and said to him, ‘Here is the person you have judged. He has just died. Where do you order him to be put, into the Kingdom or into eternal punishment?’ Can you imagine a more terrible situation to be… Continue reading Since You Want to be The Judge
Bury Not Your Conscience
When our conscience says to us, ‘do this!” and we despise it and it speaks again and we do not do it but continue to despise it, at last we bury it and it is no longer able to speak clearly to us from the depths where we have laid it. St. Dorotheos of Gaza
The Nearer to God The Lower
I remember once we were speaking about humiliation and one of the great lights of Gaza, hearing us say, ‘The nearer a man is to God the more he sees himself to be a sinner’, was astonished, and said, ‘How is this possible?’ He did not know, and wanted to know the answer. I said… Continue reading The Nearer to God The Lower
The Fruits of Humility—St.Basil
The story is told of Blessed Basil that, making a visitation of his monasteries, he said to one of the Heads, ‘Have you any saints here?’ The Abba said, ‘Through your prayers, my Lord, we all desire to be saints.’ And again Blessed Basil said to him, ‘No! I mean have you got any saints… Continue reading The Fruits of Humility—St.Basil
Little One in Malice
As the Apostle says, ‘Do not be little ones in understanding, be little ones in malice.’What is being a little one in malice? A baby has no malice. If he is not treated with honor he is not angry; if he is honored, he is not subject to vainglory. If what he has is taken… Continue reading Little One in Malice
True Fasting
Do no fast with bread and salt whilst you eat the flesh of your brethren through judgment and slander. Abba Yousaab El Abah
Let Our Enemies Grow Weak
Abba John the Dwarf said, 'If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy's city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh: if a man goes about fasting and… Continue reading Let Our Enemies Grow Weak
Fathers in Iconography 