SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Words of Encouragement for Orthodox Christians Saint Thaddeus the New Hieromartyr expressed during his persecution and imprisonment how it is a great time to be a Christian: “For us, it is now the Christian era. Not sorrow but joy should fill our souls. Now our souls should open for the exploit and sacrifice. Do not be discouraged. Christ is with us after

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The True Real Life and the False Imaginary Life “We only call the Lord, God, but in reality we have our own gods, because we do not do the Will of God, but the will and thoughts of our flesh, the will of our heart, of our passions; our gods are – our flesh, pleasures, money, dress, etc. What vanities, what foolish

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Christian’s Holidays “…Christ wants us to enjoy our lives. I’m honestly saying this to you. It’s in our Holy Scriptures. Do you know what it says? “My delights were with the sons of men.” ‘Delights’ equals ‘celebrations’ (having fun). This is the Holy Spirit talking here. God says that He has fun. (He has a feast) when He is with

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Secret of Happiness “…I do not experience misfortune because misfortune happens when a person seeks his own desires…. I always strive to conform my will to the will of God, and by doing so, I count myself always happy…. more than anything I take care for this, that I would be in union with God and accord with His will.” Excerpted from Instructions

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – How to Deal with Crisis in a Spiritual Manner “…God does not wish to make people suffer, neither does He cooperate with the tribulation which is afflicting us. Hardship, anxiety and suffering never originate from God but are either caused by the devil or by our own actions. Nevertheless, no matter where these come from, the main task is to try to

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Without Christ We Are Nothing “…We want to be Christians without Christ, without spiritual sorrow, without lifting the difficult cross, and would rather walk along the wide road. Such false Christians, when you speak to them about a hard and impoverished life, about sacrifice, about asceticism, reply that Christ does not want such things, and that such things are antics….. Whoever loves Christ and His Gospel, loves

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Passions “…if we would force ourselves from the start, then with continual labor we would advance little by little and perfect the virtues with ease; because seeing that we are forcing ourselves, God gives us help. And so let us force ourselves, let us make a good beginning, let us fervently desire the good; for although we have not yet attained perfection,

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Saint Paisios, +July 12, 1994 “In every generation God raises up saints, holy men and women whose work especially in this worldly age is to remind us, to show us that there is more to life than the material world around us. Some saints do it by living ordinary lives for God, while others live very extraordinary lives for God. Saint Paisios of

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: How to Start and End Each Day “The 4th-century monk [Saint Anthony of Egypt] taught his disciples to keep eternity always in their minds, reflecting on it in the morning and at night.” How to start and end each day, according to St. Anthony of Egypt Adult/Family: “One day, time will run out. Our eyes will not be able to look

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Topic of the Week – On Difficulties in Christian Life: A Mountain Ahead. Hurray? “As a rule, when running up against difficulties in our ordinary, daily life, we try to get around them however we can. This is perfectly natural—after all, if we, let’s say, are walking home and on our path is an icy hill, it would be more reasonable to