Archive

The Eighteenth Day of Great Lent. A Lenten Meditation, by Saint Leo the Great

Dear friends, at every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God, and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude. But with the return

The Thirty-Fifth Day of Christmas Advent. Would Have Been!

I LOVE THESE LINES IN ISAIAH; the sweetness of their assurance is absolute: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.   And my heart is broken by the verses that follow. O that you had hearkened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; Your offspring would have been

Big Love

We can’t seem to know the good news that we are God’s beloveds on our own. It has to be mirrored to us. We’re essentially social beings. Another has to tell us we are beloved and good. Within contemplative prayer, we present ourselves for the ultimate gaze, the ultimate mirroring. Before this gaze of Love, we gradually disrobe and allow ourselves to be seen, to be known in every nook and cranny, nothing hidden, nothing

This Great Vision

“Fire burst forth from the burning bush, yet the bush was not destroyed. Draw near to the Burning Bush, my child. Reflect on this great vision, and why the bush burned and still was not consumed. “The fire that burns the bush without destroying it is a fire nourished by nothing apart from itself. It subsists alone, by itself. And of itself it spreads abroad in infinite growth. This fire does not destroy the wood

Memorial Day Eulogy: On the Death of a Young Soldier in Battle

By Father Leonidas Contos, New York, December 8, 1965 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. Psalm 103:15-16 If we were to take this single verse from the familiar Psalm, and consider it in isolation from the rest of what is a glorious hymn of praise, no doubt it

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent. The Greatest Example of Forgiveness!

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:33-34 (From the Eighth Gospel of Holy Thursday Evening) In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus tells us a parable about an unforgiving servant. A man owed his king more money than he could ever pay.

Voices of Wisdom (II)

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope that I

The Podvig (Ascetic Struggle) of Living in the World

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

30 Days and 38 Sayings of Saint Anthony (Days 13-17, Sayings 16-20)

DAY THIRTEEN 16. A brother said to Father Anthony, Pray for me,” The elder said to him, “I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.” DAY FOURTEEN 17.  One day some elders came to see Father Anthony.  In the midst of them was Father Joseph.  Wanting to test them, the elder suggested a text from

The Lord’s Prayer (Part II)

As the Jews were called by Moses to escape from the country of Egypt, to follow him in the dark night, to cross the Red Sea, so also is each individual brought into the wilderness, where a new period begins. He is free, but not yet enjoying the glory of the Promised Land, because he has taken with him, out of the land of Egypt, the soul of a slave, the habits of a slave,