[The powers of darkness] are not fought with sweets and Turkish Delight, but with conduits of tears, with pain of the soul until death, with extreme humility and great patience, with unceasing painful prayer.
– Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1898-1959)
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)
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…
I recently discovered this on a friend’s Facebook page and thought it worth sharing. This took place at Holy Resurrection church in Claremont, NH: “Sometime ago, we invited a local “tree surgeon”, Leo M., to cut down a couple of dead trees in the back of the church property. He came and worked with his…
In the spirit of the Lenten struggle, we offer another quote from Elder Amphilochios of Patmos: “In the hour in which we are tempted we must be patient and pray. Temptation is a clever craftsman. He is able to make small things loom large. Temptation disquiets, saddens and creates external battles. He knows many arts….
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)
