Kingdom of Heaven Archives - Page 7 of 11

Second Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 1)

04/30/2020

By Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaias and Lavreotikis The spiritual influence of Mount Athos is indisputable and certainly stems from the fact that many men have attained holiness through their secret ascetic struggles there. In recent years many pilgrims have found peace of mind and repose on the Mountain, together with spiritual guidance and support. The higher one rises, scientists tell us, the weaker the force of gravity becomes, the less one feels the pull of

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent. The Ascetic Life (4th Sunday of Great Lent)

03/26/2020

Bishop Agathangelos of Fanari For the secular people of today, focusing on an ascetic saint represents a problem. How can the ascetic figure of Saint John, the author of the Ladder, speak to us, when he acquired and preserved the Grace of God through tears, prayers, and spiritual asceticism? In Orthodox teaching, the ascetic life is nothing other than the transcendence of selfishness, the attempt, in Grace, to apply God’s commandments, to live the life

I’ll Be Small for Christmas

12/17/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 18, 2017 Children today are raised with dreams of greatness. Cultural affirmations of our limitless potential, well-intentioned, have not produced a generation of over-achievers, but have indeed brought forth hordes of great dreams. This is nothing new in American culture. We are the world’s longest sustained pep-talk. Ronald Reagan loved to quote the 1945 Johnny Mercer hit: You’ve got to accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative Latch on to the

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 7

10/24/2019

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) St. Paul says you are the dwelling place of God. Is this how we normally understand ourselves? To be dwelling places inhabited by God? This is a very powerful assertion; do we take it seriously and understand what it means and what our lives mean in the context of such a statement? Do we live consistently with such a statement? It’s a wonderful thing to be able to begin the day

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 2

09/19/2019

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) The sayings of the desert fathers are really remarkable—some of the oldest Christian literature we have and yet it sounds so contemporary, fresh, modern, and relevant, partly because the whole ethos is just stripped down to the essentials and simplicity of the desert. There is a story from Abba Poemen who is one of the more prominent desert fathers. Apparently a layman from a nearby city had heard about his reputation

A HOMILY ON THE DORMITION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

08/13/2019

We have peace when we are with the Lord and His Most Holy Mother; she is always here to help whenever we call upon her. In her we have unshakable support, which remains the same for all ages and which will not change. We cannot find this support anywhere else on earth, not even among our family members, let alone in things like riches, earthly power, and honor. We can be left without all these

Patience (Part V): Patience Provides Space for Daily Repentance and Transformation

07/11/2019

Abba Antony said: Having therefore made a beginning, and set out already on the way to virtue, let us press forward to what lies ahead. And let none turn back as Lot’s wife did, especially since the Lord said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the Kingdom of heaven.” Now “turning back” is nothing except feeling regret and once more thinking about things of the world.

RENEWAL WEDNESDAY. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! HUMAN NATURE IS HEALED

05/01/2019

CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! One has to distinguish most carefully between the healing of nature and the healing of the will. Nature is healed and restored with a certain compulsion, by the mighty power of God’s omnipotent and invincible grace. One may even say, by some “violence of grace.” The wholeness is in a way forced upon human nature. For in Christ all human nature (the “seed of Adam”) is fully and completely cured

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Great Lent. Approach to Holy Week

04/18/2019

Holy Week in the Eastern Orthodox Church institutes the sanctity of the whole calendar year of the Church. Its center of commemorations and inspiration is Easter wherein the glorified Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. Every Sunday is dedicated in the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Resurrection of the Lord. One hundred days also are dedicated to Easter, 50 before it for preparation, and another 50 after it for commemorating the glorification of the Lord.

From the Prayer of Jesus to Prayer of the Heart (Part II)

01/29/2019

Once this prayer [the Prayer of Jesus] has taken root within us, our heart is illumined by a deep confidence, in which we are spared of the former blindness that allowed us to pray only with the lips. Now we welcome prayer as an ineffable treasure. As spiritual guides have so often declared, “the Prayer of Jesus is a joy that elicits a response of thanksgiving.” At this point in the spiritual pilgrimage, the heart

Archive

Second Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 1)

The Fourth Thursday of Great Lent. The Ascetic Life (4th Sunday of Great Lent)

I’ll Be Small for Christmas

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 7

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 2

A HOMILY ON THE DORMITION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

Patience (Part V): Patience Provides Space for Daily Repentance and Transformation

RENEWAL WEDNESDAY. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! HUMAN NATURE IS HEALED

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Great Lent. Approach to Holy Week

From the Prayer of Jesus to Prayer of the Heart (Part II)

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