Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "In the Holy Spirit every holy person sees and speaks as a prophet. They do sublime miracles, praising the one God in three persons. For though It shines with three-fold light, yet the Godhead rules as monarch" (Antiphon 2, Matins, 5 October 2025). Ponder : What an audacious and awe-inspiring turn of phrase this is! Could it be true that the wisdom, knowledge, foresight, and speech of prophets, can be ours too? Really? Let's think about it. We know and believe that all things are possible through, with, and in God. So, it seems reasonable to believe that with faith, hope, love, humility, repentance, mercy, joy, and desire - we can grow in our ability to respond to God's call and become witnesses to, and evangelists for, the Most Holy Trinity. That, in and of itself, is a sublime miracle! But there's more. This passage also makes clear that our faith and the divine presence of the Holy Spirit will make it possible not only for us to receive and act according to our spiritual gifts, but also to grow and do great and simple things in the name of God. Ask yourself: what are my spiritual gifts? What should I do with them? How can I do the work of God in my everyday life? Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "From Your holy dwelling place look down upon the people present here in expectation of Your rich mercy; visit us in Your goodness; free us from the oppression of the Evil One; make our lives secure within Your holy and sacred laws. Entrust Your people to a faithful guardian angel; gather us all into Your kingdom; grant forgiveness to those who hope in You; remit them and us our sins; cleanse us through the work of Your Holy Spirit; put an end to the wiles of the enemy" (from the First Kneeling Prayer of the Great Vespers of Pentecost ). Ponder : Evil doesn't just haunt us. Evil hunts us. It wants to oppress us. It wants to devour our souls. This is one reason we partake of the sacraments, for they awaken our souls. This is one reason we pray, for it allows us to communicate with the divine. These are how we reaffirm our desire to fight against the oppression of evil ... we clearly express our desire for God to visit us and forgive us ... we seek the help of the angels ... we plead for the intercession of the saints ... we implore the Holy Spirit to make us holy. Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Intercede for me and pray for my spiritual sons and daughters so that we may have a stable foundation of deep prayer and a ministry of healing the afflicted. Please keep me close so that I may have strength to walk with everyone who comes for confession and spiritual guidance. Portrait of Nilus (+1005), Sanctuary of San Nicodemo in Mammola.

Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "Now the Spirit, the Comforter, is poured out on all flesh. Starting with the circle of the Apostles, from them by participation it spread grace to the faithful; and it attests to its powerful presence, apportioning it to the Disciples in the form of tongues of fire, in praise of God's glory" (in t he Aposticha Idiomela  from Great Vespers of Pentecost). Ponder : Can you imagine how glorious, awe-inspiring, and powerful was the experience of the Apostles in that Upper Room? It is truly hard to conceive sometimes! But this is what the Holy Spirit does for us each and every day of our lives. While the experience can seem more subtle to us because we do not see tongues of fire or feel the rushing of wind, we can feel and know deep down in our heart and soul the stirrings of the Spirit. So, ask yourself: Am I quiet, concentrated, and clear-headed during times of prayer and silence? Do I open myself to the light, warmth, wisdom, and love of the Spirit? Escape the prison you (and others) have created inside of you! Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Tragic circumstances are neither coordinated events nor isolated actions born simply from maniacal factions and figures who seek to harm or destroy those with whom they disagree. These calamities we experience, and witness with ever greater frequency, are symptoms of a deeper crisis within modern civilization itself. The disintegration of human value, the emptiness of modern existence, and the discontinuity, fragmentation, and chaos within each individual have created a vacuum that feeds an increasingly diabolical collective consciousness. It is a disease growing within all of us. And it requires a remedy. To create one, we need to consider how these conditions are produced from the dissolution of spiritual depth and continuity. In other words, the underlying personal and communal misfortune is based in a broad, deep spiritual malady that infects the person and spreads throughout the body politic. It's long past time to embrace a serious, sober, and sacred spiritual renewal. Grayscale Photo of a Person Walking on a Wooden Bridge · Free Stock Photo

Intercede for me and pray for my spiritual sons and daughters so that we may have a stable foundation of deep prayer and a ministry of healing the afflicted. Please keep me close so that I may have strength to walk with everyone who comes for confession and spiritual guidance. An illumination from Hildegard's Scivias (1151) showing her receiving a vision and dictating to her teacher Volmar. She died in 1179.

Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "Spiritually enlightened in heart, and confirmed in faith in the Holy Spirit, we pray that our soul may be saved" (The Aposticha Idiomela from Great Vespers of Pentecost). Ponder : Ask yourself: Do I actually believe that the Holy Spirit can be within me? Do I know with certainty that my heart has been, is now, and/or will be enlightened? The Holy Spirit is enlivened within us every time we participate in the sacraments. But you know what? The Holy Spirit is not bound to the sacraments alone. So, ask yourself this: do I doubt what God can do because I know how weak I can be? The Holy Spirit is present in all places and fills all things! Seek to be enlightened every day! Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "From the Holy Spirit the streams of grace well forth; they water all creation, so that life be engendered" (Matins, Antiphon 1, 8 Sept 2025). Ponder : If water gives life, sustains us, and helps us grow, how much more will the Holy Spirit pour into us that which we need to become more deeply centered on a life that seeks to understand God's will ... to connect to our interior life ... to properly care for ourselves ... to helping others flourish in faith ... to prayer and love and quietude? Bathe in eternal joy! Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Each week I send a short email to help you deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you have a question or a prayer request, please reach out here . Read : "The Holy Spirit, light and life, and living fountain of reason. Spirit of wisdom, Spirit of understanding, of goodness and honesty, intelligence and sovereignty, expiating sins. God who deifies; fire deriving from fire, speaking, acting, meting out gifts; through Whom the prophets all and God's apostles together with the martyrs were crowned. Different sounds, a different sight: fire divided into gifts of grace" (from the idiomela - a hymn - of The Great Vespers of Pentecost). Ponder : Slowly re-read the paragraph above and focus on what the Holy Spirit is and does ... especially in you. Ask yourself: Am I grateful for the Spirit who gave me life? Do I listen to the Spirit who speaks and acts in me? Am I aware of how the Spirit has illumined my mind? Do I love with a Spirit-enlightened heart? Do I act with Spirit-given reason, understanding, goodness, and wisdom? Do I seek forgiveness for my sins and forgive others? Do I know what gifts the Spirit has given me? Do I use them? Do I seek theosis (deification) by following the Holy Spirit who is near? Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox icon of Pentecost.

Evil exists. We hear it Speak it See it Touch it and Choose it All day Everyday. Why? Maybe... It makes us feel powerful It's easier than being good We like being selfish We're corrupt We're angry We feel sad. Maybe the people that are supposed to love us Drive us to it. But God created us. So, shouldn't we want to be... Simpler Kinder Calmer Holier More loving More peaceful More prayerful? This is where it gets tricky. If we use prayer to reinforce what we already... Think Believe and Do ... It's less than nothing. It's evil. But if we enter into prayer with a real openness to God Who creates, redeems, and sanctifies... We will be reassured. We will be changed. We will see everything in a new light. We will be bathed in eternal love. Person on Footbridge over Water Canal · Free Stock Photo

Whether you've been hurt by someone close to you or maybe you had a bad experience in church. Perhaps something has unexpectedly changed for the better in your life or you just want answers that you can't find in the world. Whatever the reason, you've been thinking about praying for a long time, but you don't know where to start. Here are a few simple things you can do to get going. Find a quiet space. It doesn't have to be big, just somewhere you can be alone for a short time. Breathe calmly. Inhale through the nose ... pause ... then exhale through the nose. Do this a few times. Clear your mind. Take a few minutes to let all the images, thoughts, concerns, and cares drain from you. Be grateful. Remember at least one positive thing in your life. Think gently. Remember God is with you in good times and bad. Say something quietly. "God, I need you, please be with me." He listens to you even if you don't realize it. Maybe clouds are forming in your life. Maybe they're just starting to lift. Whatever is going on for you, it's not always easy to start praying again ... or for the first time. But don't worry, you're not alone. Picturesque of sky with clouds in sunrise · Free Stock Photo

Each Monday, I will send a short email to help you focus on and deepen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. It will contain a quote or two about the Holy Spirit and a reminder to pray for the intercession of the Spirit. Read (Matins, 13 July 2025): "By the Holy Spirit every soul is animated, and when purified, it is mystically uplifted and brightened by the triune Godhead." "In the Holy Spirit is the wealth of knowledge of God, contemplation and wisdom. For in Him the Logos discloses all the dogmas of the Father." Ponder : When we seek healing, repentance, and prayer, we are working with God to grow mystically. That is, in contemplation, we seek God's wisdom and help in transfiguring our physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, and spiritual states. Pray : "Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself and sanctify me." A Coptic Orthodox Icon of Pentecost