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

Sermon on St. Dionysius the Areopagite

Archpriest Andrew Phillips

After the martyrdom of his spiritual father the Apostle Paul, Dionysius conceived of the desire to follow in his footsteps. Thus, he left Athens and travelled to Greek settlements in the West. According to tradition, he ended up, not among the many Greeks in Rome, but elsewhere among Greeks in the Roman Empire, in Gaul, in what is today Paris. It was here at the end of the first century that the elderly Dionysius found martyrdom.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Jesus Raises the Son of the Widow of Nain.

These few words, "Do not weep", encompass the whole purpose of Christ's coming to the world. Today's moving gospel reading from Luke 7:11-17 reminds us that Jesus came to wipe away our tears, to soften our pain, and to lighten the burden of life. One can only imagine how painful must have been the grief of the widow on her way to the cemetery to bury her only child - a son.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Why are Priests Called “Fathers”?

Roman Makhankov

This commandment is remarkable in that it… was never followed by Christians! From the moment that the Church appeared, it was accepted that priests were called "fathers" and "teachers". Outside the churches—for example, in schools—the very same Christians called their instructors "teachers" without giving it a second thought. This applied even more so to their own fathers.

[English Edition / Orthodoxy Today]

We Have Thrown our Souls to the Garbage Dump

An interview with Metropolitan Pavlos of Sisanion and Siatista

It is important to understand that this crisis is primarily a spiritual one, and only secondarily an economic one. If we do not understand this, then it will definitely be problematic for us to get out of it. We have lost the meaning of our lives. We have made it consist in the present, transferred the meaning of life to prosperity and happiness.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Orthodox New Year

Fr. Michael Harper

It can be frustrating to move suddenly from the end, back to the beginning of something. But this is what Orthodox believers do as we move from August 31st — the last day of the old year, to September 1st, the first day of the new year.

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

Writings of Saint Nectarios of Aegina

Translation of the relics of St. Nectarios of Aegina, August 21/September 3

Archimandrite Nektarios (Serfes), St. Nectarios of Aegina

Christianity is a religion of revelation. The Divine reveals its glory only to those who have been perfected through virtue. Christianity teaches perfection through virtue and demands that its followers become holy and perfect. It disapproves of and opposes those who are under the influence of the imagination.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Instructions to Nuns. On Repentance

St. Ignatius Brianchianinov

Repentance, according to the teaching of the Holy Church, is the restoration of Baptism, the second grace, cleansing of the consience, the promise to God of a new life, making peace with God by means of good works that are the opposite of sinful falls. Of him who does not approach the saving Sacrament of [confession] do we hear the terrible words of God: Except ye repent, ye shall all ... perish (Lk. 13:3).

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Instructions to Nuns. Pray Without Ceasing

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Pray without ceasing—and pray without anger or thinking. Know that every thought that distances the mind from God, no matter how good it might seem in and of itself, is from the devil, who constantly sows high-sounding and irrational dreams only in order to distract the mind from God, from His commandments and His good works. The attention must not attach itself to any such thing, but rather it should firmly tear itself away and cleanse the heart in every way from evil suggestions. The devil tries very hard to distance the mind from God and enmesh it in worldly delights.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Instructions to Nuns. Prayer Rule

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

In general, in the church of God one should preserve the utmost reverence and order, for the glory of God, as well as for one's own soul's profit and for the profit of those people present, who are to be instructed in reverence by the monastics. But lack of reverence disturbs them, scandalizes them and harms them.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Poor are Our Gateway to the Kingdom

Metropolitan Saba (Esber)

In the Old Testament, when people did not know the full dimension of faith in Christ and their life was focused on the earth more than on the heavenly kingdom, they looked at wealth as a blessing from God and at poverty as a curse from God. However, in the Old Testament the Bible emphasizes the necessity of helping those in need and of taking care of strangers, especially widows, orphans, and the poor.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Life of Mary is Set Before Virgins as an Example

St. Ambrose of Milan

Why should I detail her spareness of food, her abundance of services—the one abounding beyond nature, the other almost insufficient for nature? And there were no seasons of slackness, but days of fasting, one upon the other. And if ever the desire for refreshment came, her food was generally what came to hand, taken to keep off death, not to minister to comfort. Necessity before inclination caused her to sleep, and yet when her body was sleeping her soul was awake, and often in sleep either went again through what had been read, or went on with what had been interrupted by sleep, or carried out what had been designed, or foresaw what was to be carried out.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

On Martyrdom, and the Maccabees

St. Cyprian of Carthage

That it was predicted before that the world would hate us, and that it would stir up persecutions against us, and that no new thing is happening to the Christians—for from the beginning of the world the good have suffered, and the righteous have been oppressed and slain by the unrighteous.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

The Mother of God's Fifteen Days of August Has Arrived

Monk Moses of the Holy Mountain

The Mother of God's fifteen days of August has arrived. The year so far has given us death in Japan, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, Norway and elsewhere. Everyday we receive calls and letters for us to remember in prayer the critically ill patients and the dead from heart problems, cancer, and from various incurable diseases, and to light a candle to the All-Holy Virgin.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Counsels and Instructions of a Spiritual Father to Nuns

But this whole life, encompassing at times many years and even decades, should consist of an uninterrupted succession of spiritual labors—external ones performed by the body, and internal ones, by the powers of the soul. It is not sufficient for a nun to have only physical prayers, that is, prostrations, long psalmody and so on in this vein; interior work is also necessary—attention to oneself, guarding of the heart.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

God is Where There is Humility. From the spiritual instructions of Elder Arsenie (Papacioc)

Archimandrite Arsenie (Papacioc), Archimandrite Ioannici (Balan)

All passions can, let's say, be excused due to nature and bad life circumstances; but pride cannot be justified by anything! It has an unbearable insolence—it attaches itself to any virtue if it can, and it even hides behind humility, which serves as its shield. We see this very often, and to prove what I am saying, it is as one father said: "That proud one is so humble!"

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

Saint Elias and the Power of Prayer

Fr. Robert J. Teklinski

The prayers of St. Elias were indeed powerful in their effects for several reasons. First, Elias was a holy man who remained faithful to God in defiance of King Ahab who ordered the Israelites to worship Baal. His faith was so great that the prophet never doubted God's ability or willingness to answer his prayers.

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

St. Seraphim's Transfiguration in the Holy Spirit

Conversation with Motovilov

Then, bending his head towards me, he whispered softly in my ear: "Thank the Lord God for His unutterable mercy to us! You saw that I did not even cross myself; and only in my heart I prayed mentally to the Lord God and said within myself: 'Lord, grant him to see clearly with his bodily eyes that descent of Thy Spirit which Thou grantest to Thy servants when Thou art pleased to appear in the light of Thy magnificent glory.'

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

Saint Seraphim of Sarov: On the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit

Conversation with Motovilov

"However prayer, fasting, vigil and all the other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life. Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.

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

St. Ambrose, Elder of Optina

Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov

Why do people experience depression? "Depression, according to Mark the Ascetic, is a spiritual cross sent to us in order to cleanse our former sins. Depression comes also for other reasons: from offended self-love, because we are not getting our own way; also from vainglory, when one sees that his equals enjoy greater privileges; from stressful situations during which our faith in God's Providence and hope in His mercy and omnipotent help is put to test.

[English Edition / Homilies and Spiritual Instruction]

Marriage: The Great Sacrament

A Sermon delivered in the Church of St. Nicholas, Trikala, Greece, 17 January, 1971

Archimandrite Aimilianos

Nobody would dispute that the most important day in a person's life, after his birth and baptism, is that of his marriage. It is no surprise, then, that the aim of contemporary worldly and institutional upheavals is precisely to crush the most honorable and sacred mystery of marriage. For many people, marriage is an opportunity for pleasures and amusements. Life, however, is a serious affair. It is a spiritual struggle, a progression toward a goal—heaven.

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