heart Archives - Saint Sophia

The Sixth Monday of Great Lent: The Healthy Shame at the Heart’s Core

04/11/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 20, 2017 Imagine: A large crowd has assembled and you know that something special has been planned. Unknown to you, however, is the fact that the something special is for and about you. At a given moment, you are called forward. A short speech detailing some extraordinary thing you have done is given. You had not thought anyone would notice, and you did not expect them to. However, you are being

The Third Thursday of Great Lent: Who is Unaware of the Stream? One Heart that Seems Two

03/24/2022

Who is Unaware of the Stream? You would be a blasphemer if you were to say that every believer receives and possesses the Spirit without knowing or recognizing the fact. Yes, you would! You would be accusing Christ of lying when he said: ‘The water that I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ and again: ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ [John

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent: Growing in the Divine Likeness

03/22/2022

Today…more from Tilden Edwards as he emphasizes the importance of lowering the mind into the heart in order to grow in likeness to God. My interpretation of the early Christian desert elders’ over-encouragement of allowing the mind to sink into the heart is that the mind needs to bathe in the contemplative heart’s more naked availability to the gracious Presence, from whence the mind’s fundamental spiritual insights emerge. As our spiritual journey proceeds in grace,

The Change We Should Believe In

09/17/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 25, 2016 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Co 3:18) Among the many losses within modern Christianity has been the place of transformation. Nineteenth-century revival movements and theology emphasized a single experience that was associated with salvation. Those who concerned

Alone. One Person at a Time.

08/31/2021

Alone When God seems absent By Abbot Tryphon, January 26, 2020 We all have those moments in our lives when we feel as though God is absent, even perhaps nonexistent. Those times leave us feeling alone and abandoned, as though we are lost in an empty stadium. We feel as though we are on a boat that has been set adrift without an engine, floating further from shore, and heading to an uncertain future. Such

Fearing Love

08/26/2021

If we fear to love we will remain dead By Abbot Tryphon, December 15, 2019 There are those who fear commitment for fear of loss. They fear the other will either leave them, or be lost in death, so they remain aloof from any possible relationship. Some put on a facade of indifference, for fear of rejection, depriving themselves of any possible happiness. In fear of possible loss, they become the ultimate losers, for the

Bringing Happiness to Others. True Love.

08/19/2021

Bringing Happiness to Others Being happy ourselves we are more likely to bring about happiness in others By Abbot Tryphon, December 11, 2019 Gratitude is an affirmation of goodness, for in our being grateful we affirm that there are good things in the world, and good people that are part of our lives. Our being grateful does not mean that everything in life is perfect, but it does mean that we look at life as

Our Common Enemy. Peace of Heart.

06/24/2021

Our Common Enemy It is not our persecutors and detractors who are our enemies By Abbot Tryphon, November 30, 2019 Sometimes the humiliation we experience at the hands of others can be daunting, to say the least. Those moments when we are confronted with hatred, sometimes based on the jealousy of another, are often the most difficult to bear, for we know the origins of the abuse, and naturally want to strike back at the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! The Fifth Thursday of Pascha. Noetic Memory. Not about Religion.

06/03/2021

Tapping into the noetic memory of the heart By Abbot Tryphon, February 24, 2019 The heart, in the Orthodox tradition, does not only have a natural operation, as a mere pump that circulates blood. In Orthodox patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (+1809) calls the heart a natural and supernatural center, wherein resides “noetic” memory. Tapping into this noetic memory is manifested as the “incessant

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Tuesday of Pascha: Thoughts on Burning Hearts and Illumined Senses

05/25/2021

By Michael Haldas, Quotes of the Day for April 21, 2020 “What is the heart? In biblical and patristic usage, the term “heart” does not correspond to the emotions. Rather, it is synonymous with the “spirit” of a person, and closely related to what the Fathers call the nous. These three terms – heart, spirit, and nous – may be defined as the essence of the soul, the place within each person where God reveals Himself (Mt 5:8).

Tags

The Sixth Monday of Great Lent: The Healthy Shame at the Heart’s Core

The Third Thursday of Great Lent: Who is Unaware of the Stream? One Heart that Seems Two

The Third Tuesday of Great Lent: Growing in the Divine Likeness

The Change We Should Believe In

Alone. One Person at a Time.

Fearing Love

Bringing Happiness to Others. True Love.

Our Common Enemy. Peace of Heart.

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! The Fifth Thursday of Pascha. Noetic Memory. Not about Religion.

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fourth Tuesday of Pascha: Thoughts on Burning Hearts and Illumined Senses

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