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[English Edition / Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days ]

St. John of the Ladder (Climacus)

It is known from St. John's life that he ate what was allowed by the rule of fasting, but within measure. He did not go without sleep at night, although he never slept more than was needed to support his strength for ceaseless vigilance, and so as not to negatively affect his mind. "I did not fast beyond measure," he said of himself, "and I did not conduct intensified night vigil, nor did I sleep on the ground; but I humbled myself…, and the Lord speedily saved me.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Eleventh Instruction. That We Should Strive to Cut Off Passions Before They Become an Evil Habit of the Soul

Thus it happens also with the soul: one person sins a little, but what a great amount of time he later spends shedding his blood to correct himself! However, physical ailments are prolonged for many reasons—either the physician is unskilled and gives one medicine when he should have given another, or the patient does not conduct himself properly and does not follow the prescriptions of the physician. But with regard to the soul it is different. We cannot call the physician unskilled, and say that he does not give the right medicine. For the physician of souls is Christ, Who knows everything and gives a fitting treatment for every passion.

[English Edition / Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days ]

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

The main troparion of Palm Sunday is the same one sung on Lazarus Saturday. It is sung at all of the services, and is used at the Divine Liturgy as the third antiphon which follows the other special psalm verses which are sung as the liturgical antiphons in the place of those normally used.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Tenth Instruction. That We Should Traverse the Godly Path with Understanding and Heedfulness

Abba Dorotheos

Let us take a care for ourselves, O brethren, let us be heedful. Who will give us this time back if we lose it in vain? In truth we will seek these days and not find them. Abba Arsenius always used to say to himself, "Arsenius, why did you leave the world?" And we find ourselves in such ruinous sloth that we are not even conscious of what we then desired, and therefore we not only make no progress, but we constantly grieve. This occurs in us because we do not have heedfulness in our heart.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Ninth Instruction. That One Should Not Lie

Abba Dorotheos

I wish to remind you, O brethren, about lying, for I see that you do not strive very hard to restrain your tongues and from this we are easily drawn into much evil. Make note my brethren that in every matter, as I constantly tell you, one may acquire a habit either for the good or for the evil; and so one needs great heedfulness so that we will not be robbed by lying, for one who lies has no union with God. Lying is foreign to God.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Tree Heals the Tree

Fr. Stephen Freeman

In the feast of the Holy Cross, the hymnography at one point makes the statment, “The Tree heals the Tree.” It is one of the marvelous commentaries on the life of grace and its relationship to the human predicament. It refers to the relationship between the Cross of Christ and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Eighth Instruction. Concerning the Remembrance of Wrongs

Abba Dorotheos

The Fathers have said that it is not characteristic of monks to become angry or to offend anyone, and furthermore, "He who has overcome anger has overcome the demons, but he who is overcome by this passion is a stranger to the monastic life." And what should we say of ourselves when we not only do not leave off irritability and anger, but also surrender ourselves to the remembrance of wrongs? What must we do but weep over such a pitiful and inhuman state of our souls? And so let us pay heed to ourselves O brethren, and let us strive with God's help to be delivered from this ruinous passion.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Sixth Instruction. That We Should Not Judge Our Neighbor

Abba Dorotheos

So what is it we want from our neighbor? Why are we so concerned about the burden of others? We have plenty to be concerned about, brothers! Let each one of us attend to himself and his own sins. God alone has the authority to judge, to justify or to condemn, inasmuch as He knows the state of each one of us and our upbringing and our gifts, our constitution and abilities, and it is for him to judge each of these things according to the knowledge that He alone has. For God judges the affairs of a bishop in one way and those of a secular governor in another.

[English Edition / Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days ]

Homily on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross

Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov)

“The Cross is the guardian of the whole world; the Cross is the beauty of the Church, the Cross is the might of kings; the Cross is the confirmation of the faithful, the Cross is the glory of angels and the wounding of demons.” The Church’s beauty lies in fulfilling the commandments and in being faithful to God.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Fifth Instruction. That We Should Not Trust Our Own Understanding

Abba Dorotheos

The wise Solomon says in the Proverbs (Prov. 11:14), They that have no guidance fall like leaves, but in much counsel there is safety. Do you see O brethren, the power of this expression? Do you see what the Holy Scriptures teaches us? It exhorts us not to trust in ourselves, not to consider ourselves intelligent, not to believe that we are able to govern ourselves; for we have need of help, we have need of those who instruct us according to God. There are no people more unfortunate and closer to perdition than those who do not have an instructor in God's path.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Fourth Instruction. Concerning the Fear of God

Abba Dorotheos

St. John says in his Catholic epistle (I John 4:18) Perfect love casteth out fear. What does the Holy Apostle wish to say to us through this? What kind of love is he talking about, and what kind of fear? The Prophet David says in the Psalms (Ps. 33:10) Fear ye the Lord all ye His saints, and we find many other similar expressions in the Divine Scriptures. Thus, if even saints, who so loved the Lord, feared Him, then how is it, as St. John says, that Perfect love casteth out fear?

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Third Instruction. On the Conscience

Abba Dorotheos

When God created man He sowed in him something divine, a certain thought which has in itself, like a spark, both light and warmth; a thought which enlightens the mind and indicates to it what is good and what is evil—this is called conscience, and it is a natural law. This is that well which, as the Holy Fathers interpret it, Isaac dug and the Philistines covered up (Gen. 26:18). Following this law, that is, conscience, the Patriarchs and all the saints pleased God before the written Law.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Hidden Joy

Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

So, on Saturday at the Vigil Service, during the Polyeleos I was looking at the icon of St. Gregory of Palamas and thought about his amazing life, about the light of Mt. Tabor, the nature of which he so wisely explained and in which he himself abided—being transformed, illumined, “reaching for the heights”. What grace he live in! But then it was as if a spear pierced my heart: How he also suffered!

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Concerning Humility of Wisdom

The Second Instruction

Abba Dorotheos

Thus, let us also be humbled a little, and we shall be saved. If we who are infirm cannot labor, then let us try to be humbled; and I believe in the mercy of God that for the little we do with humility, even we shall be in the place of the saints who have labored much and worked for God. Even if we are infirm and cannot labor—can it be that we cannot become humble? Blessed, O brethren, is he who has humility. Great is humility! One saint who had true humility said it very well: "Humility does not become angry at anyone and angers no one, and it considers anger completely foreign to itself."

[English Edition / Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days ]

Second Sunday of Great Lent. St. Gregory Palamas. God is Light

Archpriest Alexander Shargunov

On the Second Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrate the memory of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica. On this day, the Holy Church speaks to us about the mystery of light, which we must come to know, if we want to behold the Resurrection of Christ. St. Gregory of Thessalonica and the theological arguments of the fourteenth century connected with his name taught that the light of the Transfiguration is uncreated light.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Abba Dorotheos of Gaza. On Renunciation

Abba Dorotheus

Then, no matter how disinclined he is to fulfill his own will, it turns out that it is always fulfilled. For to one who does not have his own will, everything that happens to him is according to his will. In this way he becomes free of attachment, and from non-attachment, as I have said, he comes to dispassion. Do you see to what a state of advancement, little-by-little, the cutting of one's own will leads him?

[English Edition / Saints. Asceties of Piety. Church Holy Days ]

The Fourth Sunday of Lent: Feast of our Righteous Father John (Climacus) of Sinai, Author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Having penetrated into the mystical darkness of contemplation, this new Moses, having been initiated into the secrets of the spiritual Law, and coming back down the mountain impassible, his face transfigured by divine grace, was able to become for all the shepherd, the physician and the spiritual master. Carrying within him the Book written by God, he did not have need of other books to teach his monks the science of the sciences and the art of arts.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

For Great Lent: the Timeless Instructions of Abba Dorotheos

What is one of the first books given to anyone embarking upon the path of Orthodox Christianity? What is one of the books read almost cyclically in the refectories of Orthodox monasteries, so that monks and nuns might assimilate the “ABC’s” of spiritual life with every bite of their daily bread? What is one of the most quoted books of basic wisdom on how to live in peace and harmony with our neighbor? Answer: the book of instructions on spiritual life by Abba Dorotheus of Gaza.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Way to a Happy Life. A homily given at the Vigil Service for the Triumph of Orthodoxy, Sretensky Monastery

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

I am happy to have the opportunity to conclude the first week of Great Lent with the solemn All-Night Vigil in Sretensky Monastery. This was a very special week, particularly for those who were able to attend church. But even for those who were not able, the very remembrance, the very thought that we have entered the arena of the Holy Forty Days Fast has undoubtedly left a beneficial mark upon our thoughts and deeds. It is during the first week of Great Lent that many people make important decisions to change in their lives.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

From a Homily on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

The word anathema means severance, rejection. When the Church anathematizes a teaching, it means that that teaching contains blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and for the sake of salvation it should be rejected and removed, as poison is removed from food.

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