The Tattoo on our Being

Fr. Andreas Agathokleous   A certain monk confessed to Abba Pimen: ‘My body’s grown weak but my passions haven’t’. The wise elder replied: ‘The passions are thorn-pricks’ [i.e. ‘tattoos’ in today’s parlance] (Sayings of the Elders) The Sayings of the Elders is a product of the monastic state which also applies to Read more

Don’t worry

Saint Makarij of Optina   You’re suffering from sadness? It doesn’t matter. A heart that’s full of gratitude, humility and wisdom- a heart that’s been filled with gratitude, humility and wisdom by its struggles and labors- will be richly comforted and blessed with the acquisition of serenity and joy. Source: Read more

The Modernization of Magic

Archimandrite Gregorios Κonstantinou   Magician, witch or priest of the religion of Zoroastrianism for the people of Media: in classical antiquity this role referred to the priestly art of divination of Mazdaism (Zoroastrianism), who’s practitioners were also known as magicians or “magi.” During the Hellenistic period the magicians of Persia Read more

What we should pass on

Saint Porfyrios Kavsokalyvitis   We should have goodness and love in our soul. That’s what we should transmit. We should be careful not to become disgruntled when others do us harm, but should just pray for them with love. Whatever other people do to us, we should never think badly Read more

The Spirit of Lust

Saint Cassian the Roman   The second struggle we have to engage in is against the spirit of lust and bodily desire, which begins to bother people at an early age. This is a great and difficult struggle, that’s fought on two fronts. Because, whereas the other failings battle away Read more

Love without a Compass

Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos   Are the recent crimes [in Greece] simply a matter of violence and oppression against women, or do they have to do with the fact that love* has lost its bearings? We live in a time when love is treated as enjoyment, as enthusiasm, and, if it Read more