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Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Thursday of the Fourth Week of Pascha. Man is an Idolater of Himself.

From our own experience and from our observation of others we are aware that human nature is damaged. Damaged, first of all, within each one of us; the ‘self is a shadow theatre of neurotic characters, and it is they who are pulling our strings instead of the other way about. Our faculties are disunited and out of order. While the rational intelligence is busy making distinctions, the ‘heart’, in obedience to dark subconscious forces,

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Pascha. When “I” Awakens.

God’s enduring presence places the false self in a blessed insecurity. The false self is like a drop of stagnant water thrown into the raging furnace of the love of God. Even in our sins, in God’s eyes we remain the great pearl for which he has lost all upon the cross in order to possess us as his own. Even in the midst of revolt, we remain his one lost sheep for which he

The Cell, Meeting God and Ourselves (Part II)

During the Roman imperial persecutions of Christianity martyrdom was esteemed as the highest offering of one’s self to God. Martyrdom in blood, red martyrdom, was the most esteemed path toward sainthood. When the persecutions ended a new path to heaven led, for many, to the desert and a life of self-denial, white martyrdom. As we have seen, the first step was withdrawal, anachoresis. This was accompanied by xeniteia, or “indifference toward worldly values,” through non-attachment

Meditation and Worship (Part IX)

We see that we cannot partake deeply of the life of God unless we change profoundly. It is therefore essential that we should go to God in order that he should transform and mange us, and that is why, to begin with we should ask for conversion. Conversion in Latin means a tum, a change in the direction of things. The Greek word metanoia means a change of mind. Conversion means that instead of spending

REAL PEACE (Part VI)

“So when we examine ourselves and discover that our behavior is similar to that of Christ, we can rejoice,” Fr. Maximos continued. “Otherwise we should humble ourselves. Never justify ourselves. Whoever tries to justify himself or herself will never reach metanoia.” “How does one humble oneself?” Maria wondered. “Thank God there are plenty of opportunities in our everyday life to humble ourselves! The more difficulties we have in life, the greater the opportunities for humility.”

Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (Part I)

The first part of Great Week presents us with an array of themes based chiefly on the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. The story of the Passion, as told and recorded by the Evangelists, is preceded by a series of incidents located in Jerusalem and a collection of parables, sayings and discourses centered on Jesus’ divine sonship, the kingdom of God, the Parousia, and Jesus’ castigation of the hypocrisy and dark motives of the

Father Maximos on the Fruits of the Spirit (Part I)

Not wasting any time, I opened the conversation by reminding Fr. Maximos of our unfinished discussion about the nine fruits of the Spirit as listed by Apostle Paul, namely love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. “So far,” I said, “we have covered the last three: self-control, gentleness, and faithfulness. We were about to begin discussing the next two stages, goodness and kindness.” Fr. Maximos nodded. “According to the Gospel, goodness is

Father Maximos on the Cultivation of Faith

“How then can we cultivate faith?” Michael asked again.  “By spiritually exploiting everything that comes our way, positive or negative. If a difficulty our way, or even a tragedy, we should use it for spiritual advance. We should do the same with whatever good fortune comes along. Furthermore, spiritual work takes place within us with prayer and study. At the beginning these two are extremely necessary. We cannot progress spiritually if we do not pray.” 

Father Maximos on How to Live a More Spiritual Life in the World

Fr. Maximos then encouraged the audience to ask further questions. A young seminarian raised his hand. “Fr. Maxime,” he said, “can you give to those of us who are not monks a prescription for how to live a more spiritual life in the world?” Fr. Maximos smiled. “I believe Christ Himself has given us such a prescription. The Gospel is the prescription for our healing, assuming of course that we put it into practice. Remember