Below the reader will find a very spiritually edifying letter from St. Nikon of Optina. St. Nikon was one of the last Elders of the Monastery of Optina. He served in Optina until it was totally shut down by the Soviets in the early 1920s. St Nikon, like hundreds of thousands of other Orthodox Christians, …
Tag: Faith
Courage in the Face of Deceitful Compromise
“Be of good courage and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God; for the Lord will do what is good in His sight” (2 Kingdom/Samuel 10:12). The Lord calls His people to be strong and courageous in Him. St. Paul commands, “Keep on watching, standing fast in the …
Continue reading Courage in the Face of Deceitful Compromise
Fear Not
Below the reader will find my translation of a sermon given by Archbishop Longin of Bukovina (Ukraine). He is well known for his extensive work with orphans. The sermon was delivered on the 28th of November, 2021. It was given in, I believe Romanian. The area of Bukovina in Ukraine has many people of Romanian …
Without Suffering there is no Faith
The only way to life is by holding fast to our Lord Jesus Christ, to Truth. I offer below words from St. John of Kronstadt on the vital topic of holding fast the faith. It is imperative that we as Orthodox Christians are striving to uphold the clear standard of faith as revealed and guarded …
The Medicine of Knowledge
“Apart from Me, you are not able to do anything,” John 15:5. Is true knowledge able to be separated from God? Is there some earthly knowledge that is outside the sphere of Faith? At current, even Christians can be heard making claims regarding current events, such as, “this is a medical/scientific question, not a spiritual …
The Temple of Pharmakon
“By seeking to sever the connection of the sciences with any higher principle, under the pretext of assuring their independence, the modern conception robs them of all deeper meaning and even of all real interest from the point of view of knowledge; it can only lead them down a blind alley,” Rene Guenon. A Christian …
In God We No Longer Trust
“A crisis, being a terrible thing to waste” Paul Romer. Our English word crisis comes from the Greek krisis. Etymologically it means a “turning point in a disease, that change which indicates recovery or death.” It is further derived from krinein, “to separate, judge, decide.” In the Christian understanding a crisis is a judgment. It …
The Democracy of Hell
“Hell is a democracy but Heaven is a Kingdom” St. John of Kronstadt. There is no area of human life which is outside of the governing principles of Truth revealed by God. Humanity may reject Truth but this does not nullify its potency. Truth remains, believed in or not. When men attempt to construct a …
The Inverted Commandments
“Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). The …
Remember Your Death
I'm pleased to share some more of my translation from Russian into English of St. Dimitry of Rostov's works. The following is his teaching on the remembrance of death and the fleeting nature of this earthly existence. Well worth remembering in current situations. Begin translation - Always remember your death, O man, and the ephemeral …
The Inkless Pen 