Asceticism is to live with satisfaction on your minimal needs without experiencing delight and getting away from materialism,. St. Paul the Apostle reminded his disciple Timothy in his first epistle, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” ; “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” and “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction – …

1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by ‘accidie’ – lethargy – , and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, ‘Lord, I want to be saved, but these thoughts will not leave me alone. What shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?’ A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his – …

The period of the Fifty Holy Days is a special period in the ecclesiastical cycle. The prominent feature of this period is joy. The Church prays with a festal tune in all Her liturgies and prayers, including the funerals. During this period, the Church lives the life of happiness, which was experienced by the holy disciples after Christ’s resurrection and His appearance to them. The Divine inspiration describes this joy as such, “Then the disciples – …

The following article was published in The Ecumenical Review, vol. 56, No. 3, July 2004. The Ecumenical Review is the quarterly journal of the World Council of Churches. In Porto Alegre, Brazil, thousands of Christians will gather for ten days to pray in one voice and with one spirit: “God, in Your grace, transform the world.” This is the theme of the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches, which will be held in – …

Our relationship with God is a relationship of love. Saint John the Apostle says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). Our perception of God’s love for us leads to loving Him. God’s love for us is an unlimited subject, as it is related to God’s unlimited and incomprehensible love for mankind as a whole. We cannot perceive the depth of God’s love for us because our mind and perception are – …

YOU ARE GOD’S BEAUTIFUL WORLD! From time to time a person feels that his life is empty and meaningless, similar to the rugged land “without form,” void of splendor and beauty, a useless life, surrounded by “darkness” (Gen. 1:2). Or like a debased life which deserves to fall under God’s wrath, such as in the time of the flood, from which no one was saved, except Noah and his family in the ark, and when – …

The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great. There is a certain mixing together in all things, and usefulness in such. Let us take our body. The head without the feet is not anything, neither are the feet without the head. For the most insignificant parts of our body are necessary and useful to the whole of the body. But all work together and employ a single state of submission – …

“He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying – …

Those who command warlike armies, and have won for themselves martial glory, whenever the time for battle has arrived, instruct the troops under their orders in what way, arraying themselves manfully against the phalanxes of the enemy, they will gain a triumphant victory. And the Savior of all, imitating the skillfulness of those here mentioned, very clearly shows unto all who would follow Him, the pathway of spiritual vigor; that advancing with unrestrainable impetuosity unto – …