We tried to get his old shoes and coat ta’ throw ‘em in the trash. Carol said not even the rummage sale at Front and Girard would take his worn-down shoes and screen-thin overcoat. He stuffed ‘em in his paper shopping-bag suitcase he carted all his bishop stuff around in and said he knew somebody who needed ‘em. He never varied from living the life of a … [Read more...] about The Bishop — A Short Story by Fr. Stephen Siniari
Spirituality
An American Experience of Romanian Hesychasm [VIDEO]
In this insightful short video Dr. John Farina, Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University, opens to us the rich spirituality of Orthodox Romania through the simple but profoundly authentic lives of ordinary people. Farina speaks of Hesychasm, the practice of acquiring inner stillness primarily through the practice of the Jesus Prayer. "Be still and know that … [Read more...] about An American Experience of Romanian Hesychasm [VIDEO]
How To Love Christ: Learning From the Beloved Disciple
As Christ has taught us, nothing is more important for us than learning how to love (Matt. 22: 36-40). But how can we truly love others until we have learned to love Christ Himself who has loved us first, before any other, and far more greatly than any other? St Theophan shows us how St John, the Beloved Disciple, can help us learn to love Christ our God, with all our heart and … [Read more...] about How To Love Christ: Learning From the Beloved Disciple
On Salvation — From the Elders of Optina Monastery
Beginning in the nineteenth century, a remarkable succession of illumined elders residing in Optina Pustyn Monastery helped bring about a spiritual renewal in Russia. Figures from Dostoevsky and Soloviev to Khomiakov and Kireyevsky to Gogol, Tchaikovsky, Turgenev, and even Tolstoy sought their advice. This collection of sayings from the Optina Elders, focuses upon the path … [Read more...] about On Salvation — From the Elders of Optina Monastery
The Problem with Self-Justification: Or, How to Keep Rowing Upstream
If our salvation requires repentance, and if we desire salvation, why do we find it so difficult to repent? St Basil the Hesychast, spiritual father of St Paisius Velichkovsky, explains that the difficulty lies not simply in our commission of sins, for there is no man without sin (John14:4-5), but in our chronic justification of these sins, and hence our blaming others for … [Read more...] about The Problem with Self-Justification: Or, How to Keep Rowing Upstream
