Κατηγορία

In English

You can easily catch evil, like a contagious disease (Starets Parfenij of the Lavra of the Caves in Kiev)

Κατηγορίες: In English

Evil is passed on so quickly, like a contagious disease. If you mix with people who gossip, who slander, who love worldly things, then, without realizing, you’ll fall into the same passions. On the other hand, if you spend your time with people who are spiritual and prayerful, then their virtues will be passed on to you.

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On these Difficult Times (Priest of the Greek Orthodox Church)

Κατηγορίες: In English

Whatever has to do with the spiritual life, whatever we experience within the Church, can be dealt with in two ways: one is not to engage your heart with any of it at all. Everything is formal, theoretical and logical. The heart’s never touched, the heart’ s never concerned with all that’s happening in your spiritual life. In other words, people deliberately distance their heart from what’s going on and in this way are able to feel that, essentially, they’re even in control of things. This is a great trap, because whenever we discover that our heart’s on the outside of things, we realize that we, too, are on the outside, that we’re not taking part in the life of ...

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‘Lord, be lenient towards us in this holy season’

Κατηγορίες: In English

‘Lord, be lenient towards us in this holy season. May tears flow to You from the heart, to wash away our spiritual stains and to cultivate Your holy commandments. Fasting worthily in this way, may we please You and may You grant all of us to see Your all-hallowed Passion. Through the prayers of Your Apostles who save the world. Glory to You’. (Kathisma, Matins).

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The virtue of virtues (Saint John of Damascus)

Κατηγορίες: In English

As the God-bearing Fathers say, when the intellect forgets the purpose of piety, then even an action which is demonstrably virtuous becomes useless. And those that are performed without discernment not only are of no benefit but are actually harmful. The opposite is true of those which are thought to be bad, but which are performed with a pious intent. Like the man who went into a brothel and dragged a harlot out. From this it’s clear that those people are not generous who’ve occasionally given charity, nor are they chaste who restrained themselves a little, but rather those who worked away their whole life at virtue, with sound discernment. Because discernment is the greatest of all the virtue, since ...

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Saint Symeon the New Theologian (Saint Symeon the New Theologian)

Κατηγορίες: In English

On the 12th day of this month our Blessed and God-bearing Father Symeon the New Theologian departed in peace (Synaxari, March). Discourse XI: On Fasting That we should not embrace and zealously observe the benefit of the fast only in the first week of Lent, but that the zealous should continue in the same zeal for all the weeks of Lent. Brethren and Fathers, What we are about to say ought to have been addressed to your goodness last Sunday. I was aware, however, that all Christian people, be they monastics or laity, fervently and willingly welcome the blessing of the fast in the holy first week of Lent and that each of us willingly puts the yoke on their own neck. Even among ...

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