How do I Respond to Humiliation? Abba Isaiah answers this question as follows: If a person hurled a harsh word at you do not be disgusted or become haughty but hasten and make a metanaya. Do not blame him in your heart for in this way you will give rise to anger. If someone accused …
For the monks, cultivating a spirit of humility meant moving in two opposite directions at once: fostering both a sense of one's sinfulness and a sense of one's utter dependence upon the mercy of God. The self-abnegation which the monks so often expressed should not be mistaken for self-hatred. It reflected rather an honest assessment …
There are people who are humble by nature and there are those who obtained humility through spiritual struggle and much spiritual training. We do not deny that it is a difficult road but it is the same narrow road leading to the City of Joy. It is a long road and needs continuous training, subduing …
It is impossible to determine theoretically how long one should exercise oneself in a virtue before becoming established in it. Everyone must determine this for himself, considering his state, circumstances and achievements in spiritual life, and especially according to the judgment of his staretz or the spiritual father who directs him. Still, if a man's …
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 fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 3:10) That is what the Lord tells us about the importance of these fruits. However, before we proceed any further, …
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 mean they made visible houses? How can they say they acquired houses through the fear of God when we do the opposite, and learn in time, through fear of God …
The books of the holy Fathers on the monastic life must be, read with great caution. It has been noticed that novices can never adapt books to their condition, but are invariably drawn by the tendency of the book. If a book gives counsels on silence and shows the abundance of spiritual fruits that are …
Is Celibacy something you have to work hard to attain or is it a Gift from God? Those who think that being celibate is merely a struggle on the part of the individual are wrong, no matter how holy that struggle is. Otherwise our Lord would not have said: "but only to whom it has …
