Fathers Archives - Page 9 of 11

Orthodox Psychotherapy (Part II)

01/24/2017

Many contemporary Christians regard priests as ministers of the Most High and as church officials who are helpful in various bureaucratic dealings, who perform the different Sacraments when they are needed or celebrate the Divine Liturgy, and in this way can satisfy the need of their souls or fulfil a traditional duty. They are regarded as magicians who work magic! We know, however, that the grace of God is not transmitted magically or mechanically, but

Orthodox Psychotherapy (Part I)

01/23/2017

Here again I want to emphasise the indispensability of the Church. I am very grateful to the priest and professor John Romanides for laying stress on this in his writings. I am convinced that he is very well read in the neptic Fathers–especially in the writings contained in the Philokalia–and has therefore grasped the real meaning of Christianity. I believe that this is his great contribution. For in this era when Christianity is being presented

Longing for God

10/10/2016

To many people today the sayings of the fathers and the writings of the early monks may look like a strange and distant world. It is not always simple to feel our way into this language, so different from ours. But once we have discovered the wisdom that inhabits the words of the monastic fathers, we will not easily let them go. They are a treasure trove not just for the spiritual life, but also

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Second Tuesday of Pascha: What Christ Accomplished on the Cross (The Consequences of the Fall, Part I)

05/10/2016

By Hieromonk Damascene The Consequences of the Fall, Part I Such was the lofty original state of man and the creation, and such was man’s lofty original calling. But as we all know and experience every day, the first man, Adam, fell from this state and brought himself and all of creation into a state of corruption and death. The whole story of the Fall and why it occurred lies outside the scope of this

Meditation and Worship (Part IV)

02/29/2016

Meditation is an activity of thought, while prayer is the rejection of every thought. According to the teaching of the eastern Fathers, even pious thoughts and the deepest and loftiest theological considerations, if they occur during prayer, must be considered as a temptation and suppressed; because, as the Fathers say, it is foolish to think about God and forget that you are in his presence. All the spiritual guides of Orthodoxy warn us against replacing

The Results of Judging our Fellows (Part I)

01/22/2016

The sin of judgmentalism, even if we believe that it is committed in order to correct our brother, has grievous consequences for our spiritual life. l. St. Isaak considers malicious gossip to be the admittance of the passions into the soul. He says: “He who guards his mouth from speech guards his heart from the passions. The man who cleanses his heart from the passions beholds the Lord at every moment”. “If you love purity,

ON FASTING

10/08/2015

Fasting, neither above nor below your ability, will help you in your vigil. One should not ponder divine matters on a full stomach, say the ascetics. For the well-fed, even the most superficial secrets of the Trinity lie hidden. Christ Himself set the example with His long fast; when He drove out the devil He had fasted for forty days. Are we better than He? Behold, angels came and ministered unto him (Matthew 4:11). They

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part IV): The Fall as a Cosmic Catastrophe

06/23/2015

The Fathers, by detailed study of the Bible, have demonstrated that the Fall was a truly cosmic catastrophe, eclipsing the paradisal state with a new state of universal existence. Man, the son of God, wished to kill the divine Father and take possession of Mother Earth. ‘Man,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘wished to lay hold on the things of God without God, before God and not according to God’s will.’ And so ‘he delivered the

The Fifth Friday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! How Do We Pray the Psalms?

05/15/2015

By Jim Wellington How do we pray the Psalms? We should surely take our lead from the Holy Fathers of the Early Church and learn from their wisdom. Whilst researching the origins of the Jesus Prayer, I came across some fascinating insights in psalm-commentaries accredited to Fathers of the third, fourth and fifth centuries. These insights and the understanding of the Psalms which they promote, would have been available to the earliest monks and nuns

Five Powerful Sayings of the Fathers

01/08/2015

By Seraphim Danckaert Meaningful spiritual guidance is not always easy to find, especially nowadays. St. Paul reminds us: “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers,” (1 Corinthians 4:15). Yet, within the Church, God has called forth true spiritual fathers in all epochs and places. These fathers, like St. Paul before them, beget us anew through the Gospel, and call us to salvation in Christ Jesus.

Tags

Orthodox Psychotherapy (Part II)

Orthodox Psychotherapy (Part I)

Longing for God

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! The Second Tuesday of Pascha: What Christ Accomplished on the Cross (The Consequences of the Fall, Part I)

Meditation and Worship (Part IV)

The Results of Judging our Fellows (Part I)

ON FASTING

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part IV): The Fall as a Cosmic Catastrophe

The Fifth Friday after Pascha, Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! How Do We Pray the Psalms?

Five Powerful Sayings of the Fathers

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