“Spiritual battles must bear the stamp of honest love and humility. Only he who bears this stamp doesn’t notice the difficulties of this life, nor the villainy of satan, nor the animosity that his minions show.”
– Elder Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos (1889-1970)
Don’t hesitate [to come to confession]. Don’t be ashamed. Whatever you may have done, even the greatest of sins, the spiritual father has power from the Lord Christ Himself and from the Apostles to forgive you with his stole. – Elder Iakovos (Tsalikis) (1920-1991)
Do you know what a great gift it is that God gave us the right to speak to Him every hour and moment, wherever we are? He always listens to us. This is the greatest honor we have. For this reason we must love God. – Elder Porphyrios (1906-1991)
At the beginning of my priestly life in the monastery the celebration of a daily liturgy was added to the typikon of the daily services. In the deep morning we would begin the service, and before the sun had risen completely we would finish the liturgy. Partaking thus daily of the Immaculate Mysteries, I felt…
The monk is helped greatly when the monastery is far from the world, far from archeological areas and worldly noises. Even monasteries that are great sites of pilgrimage lose sight of their true goal, for many times from being a monastery they end up as a business. For this reason some bishops, very rightly, would…
The goal of reading is the application, in our lives, of what we read. Not to learn it by heart, but to take it to heart. Not to practice using our tongues, but to be able to receive the tongues of fire and to live the mysteries of God. If one studies a great deal…
Orthodox Wisdom Newsletter “We are not sanctified by the place in which we live, but by the way we live. We may be on the Holy Mountain but, in our thoughts, be in the world. Or we may be here [in the world] in body, but noetically on the Holy Mountain. If someone is a…
