abstinence Archives - Saint Sophia

The Second Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: An Empirical Journey into the Depths of Our Being

03/13/2025

~ By Elder Patapios Kavsokalyvitis, Superintendent of the Skete of the Holy Trinity, Mount Athos By fasting, we learn to say ‘No’ to our desire for food and also learn to say ‘No’ to our often self-destructive will. We also learn to say ‘Yes’ to God, which is always redemptive. We’ve begun the Triodio, this blessed period of the liturgical year, with repentance, because we’ve felt deeply, existentially, within us the need to return from

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent: God Is Always with You, Part 1

04/12/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, June 16, 2015 Ms. Jessica Precop traveled to the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan to interview Father Roman Braga, who grew up and served in Romania under a communist regime. We are very thankful to Ms. Precop, Father Roman, and the Sisterhood at the Monastery for making this interview possible. The interview was commissioned for the OCA Wonder blog, on which it originally appeared. Father,

The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. It’s About Time.

12/07/2021

Early peoples created Myths, when they could not explain how or why things happened – from their own emotions to Nature. Traditional historians rely on man’s written & drawn records to interpret past progress & myths. Archaeologists’ science & artifacts form the basis of our knowledge of prehistorical civilizations, most of which seem to be in Africa, Europe, & Asia. We don’t know much about ancient cultures here in North America, but we need to.

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent: Keeping the Fast

03/30/2021

Keeping the fast for all the right reasons By Abbot Tryphon, March 6, 2020 The Lord condemned the Pharisee, not because he fasted, but because his motivation was based on pride. The Pharisee wished to be seen by men, and he had no fear of God. He dared to stand before the Lord in pride and arrogance, while the Publican stood afar off, beating his breast, begging for the Lord’s mercy. Whereas the Publican saw

The First Wednesday of Great Lent. Balancing Great Lent

03/17/2021

George Tsongranis Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye, and the feet, and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run

The Third Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: Spiritual Reform School

03/19/2020

By Father John Parker, February 27, 2018 I still hear, from time to time (though less frequently), “What are you giving up for Lent”? I’m glad that it is still ‘out there’—the idea that there is a season during which someone might actually abstain from something. Abstinence of any sort is usually trampled upon in our day. Self-indulgence (because, after all, ‘you deserve it’), generally reigns. One could summarize the 40 Days of the Great Lenten Fast

Fasting

02/26/2020

The Lord condemned the Pharisee, not because he fasted, but because his motivation was based on pride. The Pharisee wished to be seen by men, and he had no fear of God. He dared to stand before the Lord in pride and arrogance, while the Publican stood afar off, beating his breast, begging for the Lord’s mercy. Whereas the Publican saw his sins, and repented, the Pharisee stood before the Lord in arrogance, thinking he

The Podvig (Ascetic Struggle) of Living in the World

03/31/2015

A Lecture Given by His Eminence, Metropolitan Archbishop Laurus We give very little attention to fasting, considering this to be something that the Church has laid down which is of no importance. But it is divinely established. The commandment to fast is as old as the world. It was the first commandment given by God to man. Because we did not fast, we have been banished from Paradise. Therefore we must fast in order to

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part VII)

03/19/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware We can apply this approach also to the question of abstinence from sexual relations. It has long been the Church’s teaching that during seasons of fasting married couples should try to live as brother and sister, but this does not at all signify that sexual relations within marriage are in themselves sinful. On the contrary, the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete – in which, more than

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part VI)

03/18/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware The season of Lent, it should be noted, falls not in midwinter when the countryside is frozen and dead, but in spring when all things are returning to life. The English word ‘Lent’ originally had the meaning ‘springtime’; and in a text of fundamental importance the Triodion likewise describes the Great Fast as ‘springtime’: The springtime of the Fast has dawned, The flower of repentance has begun to

Archive

The Second Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: An Empirical Journey into the Depths of Our Being

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent: God Is Always with You, Part 1

The Twenty-Third Day of Christmas Advent. It’s About Time.

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent: Keeping the Fast

The First Wednesday of Great Lent. Balancing Great Lent

The Third Thursday of Great Lent. Great Lent: Spiritual Reform School

Fasting

The Podvig (Ascetic Struggle) of Living in the World

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part VII)

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part VI)

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