ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
by Christos Yannaras
1. The historical coordinates
We give the name “pietism” to a phenomenon in church life which certainly has a particular historical and “confessional” starting point, but also has much wider ramifications in the spiritual life of all the Christian Churches. Continue reading “Pietism as an ecclesiological heresy”
by Elder Sophrony of Essex
When one approached the Elder, one felt that he had a very deep humility, a humility which was not a result of ascetic effort per se, effort to seem humble, but was an alteration and transfiguration of his being. Continue reading “On humility and humor”
They Gave Their Hearts
What is holy and beautiful and what gladdens the heart and frees the soul from every evil is the effort to unite yourself to Christ, to love Christ, to crave for Christ and to live in Christ, just as Saint Paul said, It is no longer I who live; Christ lives in me. This should be your aim. Let all other efforts be secret and hidden. What must dominate is love for Christ. Let this be in your head, your thought, your imagination, your heart and your will. Your most intense effort should be how you will encounter Christ, how you will be
united to Him and how you will keep Him in your heart. Continue reading “Saint Porphyrios’ of Kavsokalyvia counsels on Divine Eros – Part 3”
The Easy Path of Love
Our religion is perfectly and profoundly conceived. What is simple is also what is most precious. Accordingly, in your spiritual life engage in your daily contests simply, easily and without force. The soul is sanctified through the study of the words of the Fathers, through the memorization of the psalms and of portions of Scripture, through the singing of hymns and through the repetition of the Jesus Prayer. Continue reading “Saint Porphyrios’ of Kavsokalyvia counsels on Divine Eros – Part 2”
God has His Secrets
We shouldn’t blackmail God with our prayers. We shouldn’t ask God to release us fromsomething, from an illness, for example, or to solve our problems, but we should ask for strength and support from Him to bear what we have to bear. Continue reading “Saint Porphyrios’ of Kavsokalyvia counsels on Divine Eros – Part 1”
by Saint Justin Popovich
In the Orthodox Church, the Resurrection is not merely the ‘feast of feasts’, but the all-embracing feast, which is the soul of all the others and is always present in them. In it we find all the divine and theanthropic powers of the Saviour, which crush every sin, every death, every devil. Unceasing Resurrection, that is continuous Resurrection, is precisely what the life of all Orthodox Christians in the Church of the Saviour is: it is my life, your life and that of each of us. What is the Orthodox Church? Continue reading “The Resurrection in the Orthodox Church”
Novo Scriptorium 