HOLY SILENCE

How can you complain about life if you don't pray? How can you be angry with God when you don't speak to Him, or, more importantly, listen to Him? The time has come to elevate your life. The only way to do this is by communicating with God, which is prayer. The great saint tells us: "Prayer is the exaltation of the nous* and the heart to God, so they can give glory and thanks to Him." - St. Theophan the Recluse * For the Orthodox Christian, the nous is often called the eye of

God knows everything about us. But do we know everything about ourselves? We must commit to uncovering the things we have done to harm ourselves and others. When we're honest about these sins and transgressions, we participate in the catharsis necessary for theoria (illumination). "Do not try to conceal yourself, covering your nakedness with a fig leaf and hiding in the bushes from the Lord, who comes to you in the conscience and exposes you. Blame yourself completely, and as

"The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). To be born from above means we must let down our barriers and allow the Father to continue the creating that He began in us long before our parents knew each other. To be born from above means we must let go our of our sins and allow the Son to continue the redeeming and recapitulating in us tha

"Do not overlook the fact that health does not depend on food alone, but above all on inner peace. Life in God, cutting us off from worldly turmoil, brings peace to the heart and, through this, keeps the body also in good health. "Activities are not the main thing in life. The most important thing is to have the heart directed and attuned to God." - St. Theophan the Recluse. "Work, Inner and External." The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, Timothy Ware, ed., Faber and Fab

"By Your Nativity, O Most Pure Virgin, Joachim and Anna are freed from barrenness; Adam and Eve, from the corruption of death. And we, your people, freed from the guilt of sin, celebrate and sing to you: The barren woman gives birth to the Theotokos, the nourisher of our life!" - Kontakion (a hymn) from the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos taken from “Nativity of the Theotokos.” Orthodox Wiki, https://orthodoxwiki.org/Nativity_of_the_Theotokos. #Theotokos #Virgin #Adama

"The most important work that a spiritual wrestler can do, is to enter within the heart, there to fight Satan; to hate and repel the thoughts that he inspires and to wage war upon him." - St. Makarios of Egypt. "Fighting Satan in the Heart." The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, Timothy Ware, Editor, Faber & Faber, 1966, p. 201. #Satan #Evil #PrayerAgainstEvil #PrayeroftheHeart #Sin #Sinner #Renewal #Repentance

This is a vocal prayer, which is added in after the reading of the Third Kneeling Prayer on Pentecost. It, too, gives us some passages on which to meditate (the bold type is added to assist you in choosing a meditation), though fewer than the other Kneeling Prayers. As such, it is possible to say that this prayer is more catechetical and confessional than theological, meaning there is a basic education within it, which seeks to keep us on track, so to speak, not allowing us t

This is a vocal prayer, which is added in after the reading of the Second Kneeling Prayer on Pentecost. It, too, gives us much to meditate on (the bold type is added to assist you in choosing a meditation), particularly in the nexus of Catharsis and Theoria. Notice that this prayer is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Understand, too, that it functions as a prayer of deliverance, meaning that it is a pleading to God to release us from sin,

Below is a vocal prayer that offers much to meditate upon (the bold type is added to assist you in starting a meditation). Before you read it, though, understand some its background. Pentecost is both a particular Feast Day and a time period in the Church calendar that spiritually, theologically, and psychologically affirms the role of the Holy Spirit within the Most Holy Trinity, as well as in our lives. During Vespers, on the evening of the same day we have celebrated the D

"...there is something which has originated directly from Satan. From him comes a vague timidity and fear that troubles the soul of a sinner at all times, and especially whenever he conceives of something good... Such a revelation of the intrigues of the evil one brings a sinner to understand that he is in wicked and hostile hands, that he has been fooled and duped to spite himself... As a consequence, there arise prudence, suspicion, and disgust towards both the cunning one