Above all, the Teacher of peace and Master of unity did not want prayer to be made singly and privately, so that whoever prayed would pray for himself alone. We do not say My Father, who art in heaven or Give me this day my daily bread; nor does each one ask that only his own debt should be forgiven him; nor does …
A person who is not aware of the seriousness of his own sins, will lose the fear of God, but who is meticulous in examining himself will be aware of his own sins and their seriousness, and the fear of God will never quit his heart. We can attain the fear of God if we …
The acronym YOLO (You Only Live Once) is often used with negative connotations by young people today. So when someone is doing something that is of high risk to their life or outrageous they make sure they share #yolo with friends on instagram, tweeter. Somehow by sharing #yolo the person who did this outrageous act …
Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, becomes useless because of the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body, which is to take it, the weather conditions and the …
A leader of a community asked Abba Poemen: “How can I gain the fear of God?” Abba Poemen replied: “How indeed can we gain the fear of God when we have bellies full of cheese and jars of salted fish?” Abba Poemen thus teaches us that the ultimate goal of fasting is to help lead …
THE GREAT FAST (LENT) This fasting period has many names. For instance we call it the Holy Fast because all its days are precious or we call it the Great Fast due to it being the longest fast of the year, extending 55 days. It’s also known as the Forty Day Fast, remembering that Christ …
We all know Lent to be a period of asceticism, whereby we limit what we desire to eat for spiritual revival and growth, as quoted by St Isaac the Syrian: “There can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach.” So knowing this, acknowledging that the period of lent is meant …
The Life of St John the Baptist has some very interesting aspects that can apply to every Christian today. From The Angels announcement to his father Zachariah we know that he was specially chosen by God: “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord... He will also be filled with the Holy …
Our Lord made a covenant with us through baptism in order to give us eternal life. There is in baptism an image both of death and of life, the water being the symbol of death, the Spirit giving the pledge of life. The association of water and the Spirit is explained by the twofold purpose, …
In the sacrament of Baptism we die with Christ and rise with Christ. Many people confuse the sacrament of Baptism with the sacrament of Chrismation where we receive the Holy Spirit by the anointing of the Holy Oil (Mayron) 36 times allover our body. So at baptism day we receive two sacraments Baptism and Chrismation …
