Mount Athos Archives - Page 4 of 5

Third Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 2)

05/07/2020

By Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaias and Lavreotikis Here space and time acquire another dimension and perspective. One’s relationship with earthly, ephemeral and perishable things is an entirely perfunctory one. Concepts like ‘money’, ‘property’, ‘wealth’, ‘investment’, ‘entertainment’, ‘competition’ and ‘interest’ completely lose their importance. Here only the most essential worldly concerns are allowed to occupy one’s thoughts. The soul opens itself up to heavenly things. Here the main focus of interest is eternity and God’s kingdom.

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 Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent. The Banishment of Hell. Repentance.

04/01/2020

One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the fact that they all hate one other and cannot get away from each other and from themselves.” This very much fits with the Orthodox view of hell as being in the presence of

Dormition or Assumption?

08/09/2019

In our Orthodox tradition we are usually very careful to distinguish between the “Dormition” of the Mother of God and her “Assumption” into heaven. The former, we feel, is properly Orthodox, while the latter strikes us as a purely Western designation, derived from a Roman Catholic “misunderstanding” of the meaning of this feast, celebrated universally on August 15. It is true that some very genuine yet misguided interpretations of Mary’s death and exaltation can be

Become Like Christ!

06/13/2018

Life in the world is based on force, on violence. The Christian has the opposite aim. Force does not belong to eternal life. No act imposed by force can save us. In community life, obedience allows us little by little to understand the psychology of other people. In learning to live with one person, we learn to live with the millions of people who are like him. In this way we enter progressively into deep

Take Up Thy Cross and Follow Me

05/23/2018

It is very difficult to express what is meant by ‘Take up thy cross and follow me’. When we choose Christ, we must bear in mind that it means choosing the love of the Father, the love of Christ, the love of the Holy Spirit in this suffering world. It is because ‘God is love’ that one becomes a Christian, and not because it facilitates an earthly career. In Christian life we are only happy

NOUS: “VIGILANT GATE-KEEPER.” (Part IV)

08/18/2016

Once at the Holy Monastery of Iviron, when the priest officiating began to cense the brothers at their seats, he passed by one of them without censing him. After the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy the priest was asked to give an explanation. He said that when he reached the seat of that certain brother he saw it empty! They then called aside the brother and said to him: – We beg you to keep

Mary the Contemplative (Part I)

08/01/2016

Mary the Contemplative Some years ago I met Father Chrysostom, a Greek Orthodox monk, on Mount Athos. He lived in a hermitage with his disciple at the foot of Karoulia, the bleak rocky desert at the southernmost tip of this peninsula as it juts defiantly out into the blue waters of the Aegean Sea. On top, 250 feet above the waters, individual hermits rooted their one-room cells and sat like fearless eagles peering into eternity.

REAL PEACE (Part VIII)

07/28/2016

“The joy of God is not a joy like the joy we experience in this world, and if we start comparing them it is like light and darkness. It is the contrast between something imperishable and that which is perishable. When one has a taste of God’s joy, then all the joys of the world are transcended, annihilated. They cannot dazzle you. How could the moon dazzle you when you have seen the light of

The Quarrelsome Brother

03/03/2016

The Quarrelsome Brother I once told him, “Elder, I can’t work together with this brother … he is a complainer.” “You fool, you are an egotist. Do you know that? Because of this you suffer in many ways.” “I know it Elder. I have been like this from my youth. Pray that God will give me a humble heart.” “When the heart has God-given humility it sees everything clearly. It already lives in the earthly

Archive

Third Thursday of Pascha. Holy Mountain: A Universal Presence and a Heavenward Orientation (Part 2)

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

The Fifth Wednesday of Great Lent. The Banishment of Hell. Repentance.

Dormition or Assumption?

Become Like Christ!

Take Up Thy Cross and Follow Me

NOUS: “VIGILANT GATE-KEEPER.” (Part IV)

Mary the Contemplative (Part I)

REAL PEACE (Part VIII)

The Quarrelsome Brother

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