The effort of bodily prayer can help those not yet granted real prayer of the heart. I am referring to the stretching out of the hands, the beating on the chest, the sincere raising of the eyes heavenward, deep...
A certain brother came to Abba Arsenius, and said to him, “My thoughts trouble me, and say, you can't fast and you are not able to labor, therefore visit the sick, which is a great commandment.” Then Abba Arsenius,...
“There is a man in the south of Egypt called Shenoute. Whatever he says truly comes to pass.”
- St Wissa
When contemplating on the lives of the saints, we soon come to realise the love of God and His saving...
During my last retreat to the monasteries in Egypt last January and in my numerous spiritual consultations with many of the elders, the topic of the Bible and how to read it frequently came up. In fact the Bible...
“Silence your lips that your heart may speak… Silence your heart that God may speak…”
- The Spiritual Elder
How I miss the silence.
It was pleasant sunny winter’s day in ancient Wadi Natroun, the ancient desert abode of the Christian monks...
According to Saint Mark the Monk (“Mark the Ascetic,” fifth/sixth century), “He who is humble in his thoughts and engaged in spiritual work, when he reads the Holy Scriptures, will apply everything to himself and not to his neighbor.”...
The study of inspired Scripture is the chief way of finding our duty, for in it we find both instruction about conduct and the lives of blessed men, delivered in writing, as some breathing images of godly living, for...
Aaron’s rod, in fact, is Mary.
It is a type of her virginity.
She conceived and bore the Son of the Most High,
the Word, without human seed.
Sunday Theotokia.
The virginity of St. Mary is not a matter...
Perhaps the single most all-encompassing text of Evagrius on abandonment is found in the Gnostikos. Its presence in that particular work shows that understanding the question is the special competence of the gnostic or teacher to whom this work...
Confession is one of the seven sacraments of the church. Despite Confession being a heavenly sacrament, there appears to be a number of people who object to the power of this sacrament and raise objections regarding the practice of...
