Go show yourselves to the priests Luke 17:14 The holy sacrament of confession can rightly be called “the Forgotten Medicine.” The whole world is lying in evil. Every one of us is infected with the deadly disease of sin, and one can be cured from this disease! The medicine is provided, and it is miraculous …
"The true fast is that in which sins, anger, tongue, and instincts are under control" - St Basil the Great During these most holy days of Lent, one of the most common questions asked when deciding what to purchase from the supermarket is: "Is it syami (is it fasting)"? You quickly turn the item around …
In His forty days experience of absolute fasting, Christ laid down for us the basis of our dealings with our enemy—along with all his allurements and vain illusions. ''This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting'' (Mk. 9:29). For when a person enters into prayerful fasting, Satan departs from the flesh. As …
We consider fasting a period of love. It is a period to test our love for God, and the love of God for us. We fast plenty in our church. Our church is an ascetic church and that’s how we have come to know Christianity. Fasting in actual fact is a very old commandment. When …
The cell was regarded in the apophthegms as a specific space where one lived and followed a particular praxis that suited the monastic. The cell was set aside from other spaces because it was the place for serious spiritual work, which often included battles against thoughts and demons. A brother went to Abba Moses to …
Matanias, agpia prayers, the Jesus prayer, and contemplations on psalms...these are prayers and supplications made to God by all monks, who, living in isolation, devote themselves entirely to our Lord, pleasing him by perfecting themselves in love, through His grace. But these prayers, while they hold a prominent part amongst monks, clergy and devout laymen …
Reading, in general, gathers the mind from its wandering and leads it to concentrate on the subject of the reading. When the topic of reading changes, the kind of thoughts will change also. St. Mar Isaac said, "Remembering virtuous people renews in us the desire of virtue. Therefore, spiritual reading does not gather the mind …
“The brethren asked Abba Agathon: “Amongst all of our different activities, father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?” He answered: “Forgive me, but I think there is no labour greater than praying to God. For every time a man wants to pray, his enemies the demons try to prevent him; for they …
It seems that every year there is news of a Christian group somewhere around the world is being persecuted for their Christian faith. We hear of what’s happening to the Christians in Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, etc. In Egypt we can say with St Paul “if I must boast, I will boast in the things …
“Martha and Mary are very beautifully portrayed in the Gospel as examples of this attitude and manner of behavior. For although Martha was indeed devoting herself to a holy service, ministering as she was to the Lord Himself and to His disciples, while Mary was intent only on spiritual teaching and was clinging to Jesus’ …
