They’re not worth crying over
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi When we speak to people today, about mourning, it seems strange to them, because they think it shameful to cry. Of course, when we’re dealing with passing, vain matters, it is indeed not worth crying. But that mourning’s just on the level of social convention....
It feels its betrayal
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Transgression against the commandment brought the fall, which is our estrangement from God and everything that has to do with Him. God accepted our repentance and return to our obedience to His divine will after He’d restored our relationship with His love and sanctity. The...
There’s no end
Elder Iosif the Hesychast It’s not the case that God’s been described and that’s it, or that His attributes are able to be so described. When, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we enter into the bosom of Glorification, we’re aware of all these endless, intangible, undiscernible, boundless...
God’s precognition
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia Here’s a mystery: in His omnipotence and His omniscience, He knows everything, including what’s going to happen in the future, but He’s not the cause of any evil. God has precognition, but doesn’t preordain. Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK Orthodox Christian...
Do you pray with faith?
Elder Yermanos Stavrovouniotis Do you pray with faith? You’re heard! Do you repent with faith? You’re granted mercy! Do you confess with faith? You’re forgiven. Are you patient with faith? You’re sanctified! Source: pemptousia.com ABOUT THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN NETWORK Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is a 501(c)3 and an...
They can be passed on
Saint John of Kronstadt The passions are transmittable to our spiritual organism. Wickedness, for example. Even if it’s not expressed in words or deeds, it’s still hidden away in the heart and can just be discerned, maybe in the eyes and the face, and then it’s transmitted to the...
A downward slope
Saint Maximos the Confessor Unawareness of lack of the virtues is a downward slide into impiety. Because those who are accustomed to the pleasures of the flesh and disobedience to God will end up denying Him when the opportunity arises and will prefer the life of the flesh to...
We’re swallowed up
Elder Tadej Vitovničk Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we cultivate. If our thoughts are peaceful and calm, if they’re meek and kind, then our life will be, too. If our attention is on our living conditions, then we’re consumed by a whirlwind of thoughts and we...
We ask why
Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos Even though the saints sinned, they had the strength to arise, simply and robustly. If they sinned, they repented, from the depth of their heart until the day they died, but weren’t depressed and despondent. We, on the other hand, if we have a sin,...
Without wanting to
Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Lots of people today go chasing after joy, happiness, and go down roads that aren’t clean, but are befouled by the actions of demons. But if ‘the Lord God speaks’ in our heart, then we should be quiet. We should turn to our heart, learn...
