asceticism Archives - Saint Sophia

The Radical Nature of Christianity (2)

06/14/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on March 2, 2022 George Mantzarides, Professor Emeritus of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The rejection of Christ, but also his acceptance by many, is an enduring phenomenon which can be seen in our own age, too. He himself said to his disciples: ‘If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also’ (Jn. 15, 20). The world in general

The Fear of God is Reverence for and Love of Him [2 of 2]

11/03/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, November 20, 2017 Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemessos The Church is not opposed to the human body. This is why the Fathers were so careful not to damage their body with their ascetic efforts. They tried to submit it to the Holy Spirit and to God’s commandments, so as not to seek the pleasures and lapses of the flesh, but they never accepted that their bodies should be damaged. In Patristic literature,

The Holy and Great Tuesday: The End of the Fast and the ‘Air’ of Asceticism

04/19/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, April 9, 2017 Having completed the forty days that bring profit to our soul, we beseech You, in Your love for us: May we behold the Holy Week of Your Passion that in it we may glorify Your majestic works and ineffable dispensation for us, singing with one mind, ‘Lord glory to You’. Great Lent has come to an end. It’s an event which cannot but move all consciously-striving Christians, whatever

Thoughts on Asceticism, the Difficulty of Love and Burdens

01/13/2021

Thoughts on Ascetism and the Difficulty of Love Compiled by Michael Haldas, July 1, 2016 “St. Paul notes that “faith works through love” (Gal. 5:6). This describes the very heart of the ascetic life. Only love extends itself in the self-emptying struggle against the passions without becoming lost in the solipsism of asceticism for its own sake. It is love that endures the contradictions of reality without turning away or reducing them. And it is

Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great

01/17/2020

Saint Anthony the Great is known as the Father of monasticism, and the long ascetical sermon in The Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius (Sections 16-34), could be called the first monastic Rule. He was born in Egypt in the village of Coma, near the desert of the Thebaid, in the year 251. His parents were pious Christians of illustrious lineage. Anthony was a serious child and was respectful and obedient to his parents.

Asceticism (Part I)

07/09/2019

The monks are forever talking about the struggle that life with God demands. Life in the wilderness is a continuous combat with the demons, and it demands constant effort from the monks. Mother Synkletika said: “Those who go to God have at first struggles and many hardships. But afterward the joy is unspeakable. Just as those who wish to light a fire are first bothered by the smoke and have to cry, but in this

Desert Fathers, Psychologists of their Day

01/24/2019

Around the year 300 the first signs of the monastic movement began to appear. Monks settled down in various places, first in uninhabited regions, and then in the desert. Scholars are still arguing over the origins of monasticism. Obviously there were some non-Christian sources. The Bible itself issues no call to monastic life. Monasticism is a broadly human movement that can be found in all religions, a primordial longing to live for God alone, to

So-Called “Fathers” of the Modern World

06/28/2018

Just as there are Fathers of the Church, there are also what we might call Fathers of the modern world, revered and studied by the intelligentsia, who hope to combine them in a sort of grand synopsis of atheism. We may never have read Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzche or Freud, but our outlook, the spirit of the age, is formed by their ideas. The Marxist theory of social alienation and the reification of humanity the creator

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent

04/04/2014

Sister Flesh and Brother Wine Many people eat plenty and grow fat on it. Others abstain from some kinds of food in order to practice asceticism, and condemn those who eat. Put shortly, they have only hazy ideas why they should eat or why they should abstain. We, on the other hand, when we fast, give up wine and meat, not because we detest them, as though using them were a crime, but because we

Keeping Silence, Not Passing Judgment

10/25/2013

One sign that asceticism has led a monk to God is the refusal to pass judgment. However severely monks fast and however hard they work, all of that is useless if they nonetheless go on judging others. Asceticism has merely gotten them to the point where they can exalt themselves over others. It has served to satisfy their pride, to heighten their feeling of self-worth. Those who have encountered themselves in their asceticism, those who

Archive

The Radical Nature of Christianity (2)

The Fear of God is Reverence for and Love of Him [2 of 2]

The Holy and Great Tuesday: The End of the Fast and the ‘Air’ of Asceticism

Thoughts on Asceticism, the Difficulty of Love and Burdens

Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great

Asceticism (Part I)

Desert Fathers, Psychologists of their Day

So-Called “Fathers” of the Modern World

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent

Keeping Silence, Not Passing Judgment

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