H.H. Pope Kyrillos VI – On The Divine Liturgy
In a letter to a monk ordained a priest, H.H Pope Kyrillos wrote, “Grace and peace from our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and...
Articles
The Pursuit of Virtues
Virtues are the fruits that everyone is required to bring forth in his/her spiritual journey towards Christian perfection. “Every tree which does not bear good...
On The Structure and Harmony of the Virtues of the Soul
HOLY SCRIPTURE says of the midwives who kept alive the Israelites’ male children, that through the god-fearing midwives they made themselves houses. What Does it...
Stories From The Sayings Of The Desert Fathers
The Naked Beggar and the Monk One of the Fathers went off to the city to sell his manual work, and seeing a naked beggar...
Monastic Poverty And Real Poverty
We may at times mix between ‘monastic poverty’ and ‘real poverty’ when we read the life of a saint or consider the life of a...
Tears in the Life of Saints
Saint Arsenius is one of the saints who became very famous for his weeping. It is said that his eyelashes fell due to the intensity...
On Poverty
You will be proclaimed charitable, not simply because you have refused to accept something from another person, but rather you will be recognized as a...
Is Monasticism for me?
Monasticism is not like you see it in movies. It is not like you read of it in books. It cannot be described in words....
On The Psalms – St Basil the Great
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful, composed by the Spirit for this reason, namely, that we men, each and all of us,...
Contemplation On Psalm 23
The following is a contemplation on a psalm we all know very well and if you allow me, you may see it from a different...
Introduction to the Psalms
Psalms have a prominent place in our church. In ancient times, one of the Popes of Alexandria refused to ordain one of the bishops because...
Mark The Obedient
They used to say that Abba Sylvanus had in Scete a disciple whose name was Mark, and that he possessed to a great degree the...
St. Macarius The Great
Saint Macarius (which means blessed) the Great was born in the year 295, in a village named Shabsheer, to pious Christian parents; Abraham, who was...
St. Shenouda’s Leadership
St Shenouda was an abbot of the White Monastery of Atribe in the desert of Thebes for more than sixty five years during the fourth-fifth...
The King Asks For A Blessing From Abba Shenoute
In a word, great signs and a multitude of miracles were worked by our father abba Shenoute, truly the true prophet and the bearer of...
Abba Shenouda Taught Me
St. Shenouda the Archimandrite (348-466 A.D.) was the abbot of the White Monastery of Atribe in the desert of Thebes, Egypt, for more than 65...
St Shenouda & Giving Alms
It happened once that a man came to St Shenouda. He was a man from Pemje and he had with him a hundred and twenty...
Holy Fools As Imitators Of Christ
This vocation of folly for Christ’s sake is not limited only to Russia, but is also a characteristic of Greek and Syriac Christianity from the...
Fr Abd el Masih el Makary
“If virtue is revealed it is snatched by the demon of vain glory” In the Orthodox Church we have a number of Category of saints,...
Obstacles To Reading The Bible
“Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” – St. Jerome We all know that the reading of the Bible is as essential to our Spiritual...
A Summary of The Fr Abdel Messieh el Macarii Biography
The blessed father Abdel Messieh el Macarii was born in 1892 in the village of Abu Shehata, district of Mattai in the provience of El...
Experience Of Abandonment
Isaac describes the ascetic life as a constant variation between periods of ‘assistance’ and ‘feebleness’, presence and abandonment, spiritual ups and downs. Periods of abandonment...
Approaching Christ the Physician
In the book by Tito Colliander, The Way of the Ascetics, a brief conversation is recorded between a monk and a layman. The layman asks...
I Sought Him, But I Did Not Find Him
By night on my bed, feeling worn out and exhausted, I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him....
St Basil the Great
One of the great church fathers of the 4th century is St Basil the bishop of Caesarea. He has no comprehensive biography, yet from what...
The Love of God as the Fulfillment of all the Commandments
The love of God is not something that is taught, for we do not learn from another to rejoice in the light or to desire...
Fasting as the Beginning of all Virtues
“In a full belly there is no knowledge of the mysteries of God” By: St Isaac the Syrian Of all forms of ascetic techniques that...
On How the Beauty of Monastic Life Is Preserved
The monk ought to be in his appearance and all his actions an exemplar of profit to those who see him, so that by reason...
The Syrian Orthodox Church. It’s contributions to the ascetic life
The Syrian Church strengthened the Ascetic life and founded from the 4th Century onwards hundreds of monasteries which were occupied by thousands of monks and...
Who Is A Martyr?
“The Martyr is the one who conducts himself according to the commandments of the gospel in the Love of the Lord.” – Clement of Alexandria...
Martyrs For The Sake Of Chastity
Two eminent phenomena distinguished the Christians of the early generations of Christianity, these are the desire for martyrdom and the love of chastity and virginity....
What The Desert Fathers Meant By “Being Saved”
Most of the Apophthegmata Patrum are in the form of question and answer, a clear indication of their didactic purpose: a junior “brother” approaches a...
Why Monasticism?
“Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved.” Saint Seraphim of Sarov Visitors to our monastery, usually from non-orthodox background, sometimes have...
Concerning Those Who Imagine That They Are Justified By Works
The Lord, wishing to show that every commandment is obligatory but that sonship is a gift bestowed on human beings by means of his own...
Create A Pure Heart In Me O God
Among the many themes that St John Cassian discusses with the desert fathers in his conference, is the theme of the attaining the purity of...
I Sleep But My Heart Is Awake
“I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My...
The Life of St John Cassian
St John Cassian was a monk and an ascetical writer who was the first to introduce Eastern monasticism into the West. Born in present day...
Daytime Prayer and Psalms in the Egyptian Desert
I think that, by God’s help and to the extent that our limited skill was capable, I have explained the method of night-time prayer and...
On The Psalms
“Singing Psalms is medicine for healing the soul” St. Athanasius If you open the Bible right in the middle you will find the book of...
A Letter of St Athanasius, to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms
I marvel at your conduct in Christ, dear Marcellinus. Indeed you are successfully enduring the present trial, although you have suffered many tribulations in it,...
