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The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. St. Savas the Sanctified, A Father of Desert Monasticism

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”.  St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

Persons in Communion: From Individual to Person (Part II)

The power of love has perhaps been best described by Gregory of Nyssa. He was undoubtedly forced to it by the Origenists, whose Christian belief, though profound, was still permeated with the cyclical outlook of the ancient world. According to the Origenists, souls were in the beginning filled with God and with one another, but were surfeited by the experience. Desiring a change, they then chose a state of separation, cold isolation and opposition. A

What the Fathers Sought

What the Fathers sought most of all was their own true self, in Christ.  And in order to do this, they had to reject completely the false, formal self, fabricated under social compulsion in “the world.”  They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand.  They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was “given” in a set,

The Seventh Wednesday after Pascha. Persons in Communion: From Individual to Person (Part II)

The power of love has perhaps been best described by Gregory of Nyssa. He was undoubtedly forced to it by the Origenists, whose Christian belief, though profound, was still permeated with the cyclical outlook of the ancient world. According to the Origenists, souls were in the beginning filled with God and with one another, but were surfeited by the experience. Desiring a change, they then chose a state of separation, cold isolation and opposition. A

What the Fathers Sought

What the Fathers sought most of all was their own true self, in Christ.  And in order to do this, they had to reject completely the false, formal self, fabricated under social compulsion in “the world.”  They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand.  They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was “given” in a set,

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. St. Savas the Sanctified, A Father of Desert Monasticism

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”.  St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Savas the Sanctified

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”.  St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Savas the Sanctified

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”.  St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

Persons in Communion: From Individual to Person (Part II)

The power of love has perhaps been best described by Gregory of Nyssa. He was undoubtedly forced to it by the Origenists, whose Christian belief, though profound, was still permeated with the cyclical outlook of the ancient world. According to the Origenists, souls were in the beginning filled with God and with one another, but were surfeited by the experience. Desiring a change, they then chose a state of separation, cold isolation and opposition. A