struggle Archives - Saint Sophia

The Struggle for Holiness

08/23/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, May 15, 2017 Fr. Tryphon, Abbot of All-Merciful Savior Monastery We are powerless to change those bad habits that dominate our lives without help from God. However, we may attempt to change behavior, we cannot do battle with the passions unless we surrender ourselves in humility to God, for such change can only come about by God’s grace. Struggle as we may, our flesh will resist until that moment we seek

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent. Our Struggle for Repentance. Ask for Repentance

04/20/2021

Our Struggle for Repentance Ask for repentance in your prayer and nothing else By Abbot Tryphon, September 5, 2020 The first step in becoming truly repentant is found in a heartfelt contrition before God for our sins. Saint Paul tells us that we must “Pray without ceasing (Thessalonians 5:17)”, and the Church Fathers saw this as the basis for the use of the Jesus Prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on

The Fourth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Lenten Struggle. Putting Off the Old Self.

04/06/2021

The Lenten Struggle Lent is the perfect time to struggle with the ego By Abbot Tryphon, March 26, 2019 Modern psychology has told us we must feel good about ourselves and instructed us to reject the idea of guilt and sin. Sin is seen as religion’s instrument for keeping people in line, making them dependent on an institution that should be relegated to the Dark Ages. In an age where man is elevated to being

Struggling with Prayer. Standing in Worship.

01/14/2021

Struggling with Prayer: When prayer becomes a struggle By Abbot Tryphon, November 10, 2019 When we find ourselves struggling with prayer, and feel that it has become dry and lifeless, we are sometimes tempted to stop praying. When our prayer has become a struggle, it is good to remember that God knows our needs, and even knows what we want to say when we don’t seem to know. This is the time we need to

Monasteries

11/05/2020

By Abbot Tryphon, November 4, 2019 Centers for prayer and spiritual healing Monastics are an integral part of the Church and should not be seen as independent of the Church Universal. Monks are bound by the same Gospel as other Christians and need to avail themselves to the missionary and pastoral needs of the Church, as needed. Although a primary role of monasticism is to be found in worship and contemplative prayer, monks also have

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent. Finding the Deep Heart during Great Lent

03/17/2020

By Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, April 4, 2017 The grace of God has gathered us together today at the heart of Great Lent in order to express to the Lord our longing for His salvation, for the acquisition of the spirit of wisdom and for understanding of His commandments. Holy Scripture, however, warns us: ‘It is impossible for a heartless man to purchase wisdom.’[1] What is the ‘heart’ for us as Christians, and what kind of

The Desert and Temptation (Part IV)

06/26/2019

Without temptation the monks become careless. They let themselves go, and so live any old way. Temptations force them to live consciously, to exercise discipline, and to be wakeful. Thus the monks don’t pray for temptations to stop, but for God to give them enough strength. The story was told of Mother Sarah, that for thirteen years she endured being violently assaulted by demons of impurity. She never prayed for the struggle to cease, but

The Fifth Tuesday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Desert and Temptation (Part I)

05/28/2019

One of the great themes of monasticism is the desert. The monks deliberately went into the desert to be alone and to seek God. The ancients considered the desert the dwelling-place of demons. Anthony went into the desert to fight the demons on their own turf. It was a heroic decision to push his way into the realm of the demons — and a declaration of war on the demons that plagued him and sought

Be Attentive!

06/06/2018

Be very attentive! Do not allow any negative thought to enter your heart. Do not minimize the significance of the negative thoughts which, when you are by yourself, you may have about anyone else. Keep yourselves from every hurtful word. This is very important. Remember also these words of Christ: ‘Do not do to others what you would not wish that they do to you’. In the company of those who have received you [into

The Struggle to be Real

07/21/2017

Very few modern Christians who read English are unfamiliar with the writings of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Lewis’ expositions of Christian thought as well as his popular fiction (The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, etc.) have become modern classics. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings has become something of an industry unto itself and has spawned an entire genre of literature. Many people know that the two writers were friends and colleagues,

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The Struggle for Holiness

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent. Our Struggle for Repentance. Ask for Repentance

The Fourth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Lenten Struggle. Putting Off the Old Self.

Struggling with Prayer. Standing in Worship.

Monasteries

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent. Finding the Deep Heart during Great Lent

The Desert and Temptation (Part IV)

The Fifth Tuesday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Desert and Temptation (Part I)

Be Attentive!

The Struggle to be Real

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