In this lucid and accessible talk, Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) takes us to the heart of Orthodox spirituality. His approach here is emphatically practical, rather than theoretical or technical. In the first part, he lays down three basic spiritual principles that serve to sum up the Orthodox hesychast tradition as articulated in the "Philokalia". In the second part, … [Read more...] about The Three Principles of Orthodox Spirituality: The Path to Prayer
Articles
Why Beauty Matters
The world lost one of its finest, most original, and most independent thinkers with the repose of Sir Roger Scruton last weekend. Sir Roger was also a friend of "Another City;" we featured several of his articles, and we were proud to have him as an early subscriber to this journal. In his memory, we offer a video presentation in which he discusses what was perhaps his most … [Read more...] about Why Beauty Matters
The Death of the Lion and the Dream of the Jersey Shore: Maturity Seasoned In Time
In this enchanting tale, Fr Stephen takes us back to his Fishtown neighborhood in Philadelphia, where Kusheri’s and Fr Naum’s fantasy of soaring in the summer sky over the Jersey Shore is interrupted by a young couple in love and the recollection of childhood questions about the relation of God, man, and animals — about the relation of the childlike and the … [Read more...] about The Death of the Lion and the Dream of the Jersey Shore: Maturity Seasoned In Time
Theophany and River Gods: What Are the Strange Figures on the Theophany Icon?
Pagan antiquity, writes Fr. Stephen De Young, often portrayed a world in chaos. Ancient gods were viewed as fighting monstrous creatures of chaos, a kind of primordial being represented by natural forces — the "elemental spirits of the world" as St. Paul put it — against which the battle for order had to be won. Contrast this with the writings of the Old … [Read more...] about Theophany and River Gods: What Are the Strange Figures on the Theophany Icon?
Mother and Child
Sometimes what seem like simple, everyday reflections can run deep. That is, they can be radical in the original sense or returning us to the radix or root of the matter, taking us not to exotic locales but bringing us back to a home we had almost forgotten. It seems to us that this short contemplative reflection by Another City Contributing Editor Frederica Mathewes-Green … [Read more...] about Mother and Child