Category: Mystical Theology
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Holy Humility is Complete Trust in God – Elder Porphyrios
From the Elder Porphyrios, Wounded by Love. Complete trust in God – that’s what holy humility is. Complete obedience to God, without protest, without reaction, even when some things seem difficult and unreasonable. Abandonment to the hands of God. The words we repeat during the Divine Liturgy say it all: ‘Let us commend our whole…
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For the Love of God – the Elder Porphyrios
From the Elder Porphyrios and the book Wounded by Love. There is one thing, O Christ, that I want, one thing I desire, one thing I ask for, and that is to be with You. Let us Love Christ and let our only hope and care be for Him. Let us love Christ for His…
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Love and the True Faith
Reading more on the life and teaching of St. Silouan of Mt. Athos, I found it interesting that what he thought of as “true faith” was the manifestation of the love of God in us towards all the world. It would have been certainly the case that as an Orthodox monk, St. Silouan would have…
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What Is Good for Us?
We live in a culture that has a fairly clear idea of what is good for a human being. We have notions of the “American Dream” and other ideals. Self-help books abound, each with its own understanding of what it means to be healthy, successful, well-balanced, etc. Frequently these cultural norms run counter to the…
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We Should Not Be Distracted By Anything
Reading the Philokalia is, at best, a daunting task. Where to begin? The following is a very useful section, drawn from the writings of St. Peter of Damascus in the Philokalia. It has been edited by Fr. Thomas Hopko. I am indebted to one of his many spiritual children for this copy. We should not be…
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The Mystery of Salvation
Salvation is truly the great mystery of human life. Essentially we are saying that the path from where we are now, in our sins, to where we shall be, conformed to the image of Christ, is as unknown to us as possible. We know the commandments of Christ, and our weakness both in keeping those…
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Love Is Before All Things
Spiritual struggle is frequently counter-intuitive – and is almost always learned from those who have walked its paths successfully before us. The following is a small passage from the teachings of the Elder Porphyrios. Its wisdom speaks for itself. If you would gain the victory in spiritual struggle, then above all things, seek to love.…
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How Can We Give Thanks?
Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation. Fr. Alexander Schmemann I do not believe it is possible to exhaust this topic and that there are many things worth saying in a second article. Most specifically I want to write on what seem to me necessary elements in giving thanks to God. If giving thanks…
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And Thus the Heart
All of these things of late: waiting, patience, the presence of God, our personhood, the Church and the Cross, all come back to the human heart. It is the place of all things of our existence. It is as St. Macarius said: The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and…
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In the Presence of God – Elder Sophrony
Do not let the things of this world disperse your energy. Concentrate all your attention on, devote all your energy to, a life which coresponds to the spirit of the Gospel commandments.Let us keep control over our mind in the face of the distractions of the exterior world. Without ascetic effort, our mind will never…
Salaam, thank you for your thoughts. It doesn’t matter what I think, but I happen to totally agree. Father Stephen,…