5. Three
stories from The Holy Fathers
The following is an excerpt from a letter of Saint
Basil the Great to a certain noble patrician: "It is good and profitable
to communicate everyday and to partake of the holy Body and Blood of Christ,
for He Himself tells us: 'Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood has eternal
life!' Who, then, doubts that partaking continually of life means nothing other
than having manifold life? We, here, have the custom of communicating four
times a week; namely, Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, or any other day on
which the memory of a Saint falls."…READ
FULL ARTICLE
4. "Understandest
thou what thou readest?" The Role of Spiritual Direction
A very early example of spiritual direction is found in
the Book of Acts. Saint Philip is traveling across the desert, from Jerusalem
to Gaza. He meets an Ethiopian who is sitting in his chariot and reading the
Old Testament Book of Isaiah - a book that contains many of the messianic
prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Saint Philip is inspired to say
to the Ethiopian: Understandest thou what thou readest? (Acts 8:30). To which
the man replies with an important question of his own: How can I, except some
man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with
him... (Acts 8:31)…READ
FULL ARTICLE
3. "Why
Orthodox Christianity should not change with the times?"
It reached my ears that, as it seems, you consider my
sermons very strict and believe that today no one should think this way, no one
should be living this way and therefore, no one should be teaching this way.
“Times have changed!” How glad I was to hear this. This means that you listen
carefully to what I say, and not only do you listen, but you are also willing
to abide by it. What more could we hope for, we who preach as we were ordered
and as much we were ordered?...READ
FULL ARTICLE
2. The
Story and Miracles: The Veneration of the Chains of Saint Peter the Apostle
Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great and
king of the Jews, grew wroth against the Church of Christ, and slew James, the
brother of John the Evangelist. Seeing that this pleased the Jews, he took
Peter also into custody and locked him up in prison, intending to keep him
there until after the feast of the Passover, so that he could win the favor of
the people by presenting him to them as a victim. But the Apostle was saved
when he was miraculously set free by an Angel (Acts 12:1-19)…READ
FULL ARTICLE
1. Excerpts
from "Family Life" by Elder Paisios the Athonite, Part II
In general, the difficulties which exist today in the
world force those who desire to live a little spiritual life to be watchful.
Just as, may God protect us, in a war the people are in a watchful state, I see
the same thing happening now with whomever strives to live spiritually. Look
how tough the poor children have it who are close to the Church! But the war,
which exists because of the terrible environment in which they live, helps them,
in a way, to stay awake…READ
FULL ARTICLE
|
CONVERSATION