God is the source and summit of everything. Despite that fact that we often choose to live our lives on a dark and tumultuous sea, He is always with us. He strengthens us, too. You see, God gave us a firm foundation of faith. And He calls us to build a tabernacle for Him within ourselves so that we may know Him more intimately every day of our lives. Put simply, we are never alone. Listen to Christ, follow the Holy Spirit, partake of the sacraments, and live the mystical life

Five weeks from today, on August 6, we celebrate the great Feast of the Transfiguration, when Christ ascended Mount Tabor and shone before Peter, James, and John with a light not of this world. I have stood on that mountain. Tabor rises alone from the Jezreel Valley. The road to its summit climbs in tight switchbacks that force you to slow, to turn, to ascend in earnest. At the top, looking out over the green hills of Galilee, I felt my own calling to the contemplative life q

We talk a lot about praying, but why do we do it? Prayer Brings Us Close to the Holy Spirit "Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance, suppresses anger, restrains pride and envy, draws down the Holy Spirit into the soul and raises man to heaven" (St Ephraim the Syrian, in Moore, Orthodox Prayer , p. 22). Prayer Keeps Us Steady "Hold on to the staff of prayer and you will not fall. And even a fall will not be fatal, since prayer is a devout, persistent coercin