Apr 25, 2012

In his De Vita Contemplativa the Alexandrian Philo makes an extremely remarkable description of an ascetic community with which he was familiar and which was settled not far from Alexandria...

Feb 2, 2012

Neither all those in the desert were saved nor all those in the world were lost...

Jan 12, 2012

Good news! Holy Transfiguraton Monastery has published a new edition of The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. I’d like to describe the differences between the two editions...

Jan 12, 2012

...And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)

Oct 16, 2011

Cynicism was a school of ethical philosophy that provoked extremes of admiration but also hostility. It is interesting that the revival of interest in Cynicism coincided with the emergence of Christianity.

Apr 24, 2011

We met Father Gabriel in Moscow. In August, he converted to Orthodoxy from Catholicism. He told us about the motives for his decision, about the main differences between Valaam and Switzerland, and more.

Mar 17, 2011

If the rich history of the Celtic churches is a fairly recent discovery, their spirituality may be an even more surprising resource for a life-affirming, holistic, and faithful way of life for Christians in this "postmodern" world and, more importantly, the world of the future...

Jan 23, 2010

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, St. Kosmas Aitolos foretold that a time would come when a person would have to travel for days to meet another person whom he could embrace as a brother. We are living in an age where this is already happening. Contemporary man, in his loneliness, experiences pathological anxiety, anguish and suffering. He is tormented and, in turn, torments others.

Nov 15, 2009

The monk departs far from the world not because he hates it, but because he loves it. In this way he will, through his prayer, help the world more in those matters that are, being humanly impossible, only possible by God’s intervention. This is how God saves the world...

Sep 3, 2009

Be alone in a separate place near a chief city, if your conscience is not prepared to be in common with the crowd. Be always unadorned in imitation of Christ and the Evangelists...