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 perspective and learn something not obvious from before. The imagery in this psalm has been painted onto the walls of the catacombs in Rome and is repeated several times in …
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 he hadn't memorised all the psalms by heart. It was a condition for the three ranks of priesthood (bishopric, priesthood and deacon) to recite all the psalms before their ordination. …
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 a priest, and Sarah. Before the saint’s birth, his father saw a vision where an angel told him he was going to have a son, whose name will be known …
“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 growth as food is to our physical growth. So why then do we so often neglect the Scriptures going days without opening it and sometimes even weeks? In the quest …
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. The verse, I sought him, but I did not find him, is a painfully moving and disconcerting one. What is the meaning of, I sought him, but I did not …
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 senior "elder" or father, abba and asks him a question. The question is often no more than a simple request for "a word": "Say something to me", meaning: "Give me …
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 blood, says, “When you have done everything that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves, we have done only what we ought to have done”’ (Lk 17.10). …
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 psalms that is observed in Egypt. Now we shall have to discuss the Psalms services of terce (third), sext (Sixth), and none (Ninth), (Which when added to the night-time prayer, …
“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 Psalms. In fact, the middle chapter in the whole Bible is Psalm 118. The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119 and the shortest chapter in the Bible is …
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, and you do not neglect the discipline.' For when I inquired from your letterbearer how you fare in your continuing illness, I learned that you maintain a studious attitude toward …
