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Monday (Clean) of the First Week of Great Lent: The Attainment of Perfect Freedom. Let us Glory in Temptation.

The Attainment of Perfect Freedom What are the external objects which rouse the passions in us? Chiefly the opposite sex, material possessions and fame. To avoid being overwhelmed by these passions, there are certain steps we can take. As far as the opposite sex is concerned, it is enough to gain control of our own bodies by mortification. With respect to material possessions we must make a resolution to be content with the bare necessities.

The Hidden Life of Jesus

The Hidden Life of Jesus The largest part of Jesus’ life was hidden. Jesus lived with his parents in Nazareth, “under their authority” (Luke 2:51), and there “increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with people” (Luke 2:52). When we think about Jesus we mostly think about his words and miracles, his passion, death, and resurrection, but we should never forget that before all of that Jesus lived a simple, hidden

Analyzing Our Thoughts and Feelings (IV)

The third logismos of the instinctual desires, according to Evagrius, is greed. The striving for possessions is an essential part of human life, and it contains a longing for rest. Possessions lead us to expect that we will have no more cares and will be able to calmly spend our time living. But experience shows that possessions can possess us, that we are possessed by our striving for more and more things. Evagrius portrays the

The Second Friday of Great Lent

Tears, not Sorrows When you hear me speak of tears, you need not think of sorrow. The tears of which I am speaking bring more joy than all the laughter of the world can gain for you. Do you doubt my words? Then listen to St Luke who tells us how the apostles, after being beaten with rods by order of the Sanhedrin, were filled with joy. [Acts 5:41] Clearly that joy was not the

The Lord’s Prayer (Part II)

So the first situation with which Exodus begins, and we begin, is the discovery of slavery and that it cannot be resolved by an act of rebellion or flight, because whether we flee or whether we rebel we remain slaves, unless we re-establish ourselves, with regard to God and to all the situations of life, in the way taught by the first beatitude: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of

Destiny and Eros: Monasticism, the Fulfillment of Eros, Obedience, Chastity, Poverty

Like John lying on his Master’s breast at the Last Supper, and later, in old age, seeing the dazzling face of the Lord of the universe, the monk is fascinated by the incomparable beauty of the Risen Christ. In him eros is altogether robed in the beauty of love and light, all the more beautiful because it shines through the disfigurement of the Passion and the Cross. There is no more room here for another

Poverty, Life, Stillness, Solitude

Coming Together in Poverty There are many forms of poverty: economic poverty, physical poverty, emotional poverty, mental poverty, and spiritual poverty. As long as we relate primarily to one another’s wealth, health, stability, intelligence, and strength, we cannot develop true community. Community is not a talent show in which we dazzle the world with our combined gifts. Community is the place where our poverty is acknowledged and accepted, not as something we have to learn