Μάρτιος 2016

Source:www.42evolution.org As often as you can, lift up your heart in gratitude to God, to the Holy Spirit, Who gives you life and light. And, at the same time flee far away from the spirit of doubt, of unbelief, and from the passions, which, like the cunning serpent, the thief and destroyer finds the opportunity to slither into us.

‘Athos Ithaca’ is a poem closely related to monasticism and its Christian character is revealed through the importance of monasticism in Orthodoxy. Monasticism is a mystery, in which a person leaves modern society in order to join the monastic community. Although a monk leaves modern world, he loves life and society. Also, he has to be devoted to ascesis. He should seek the real freedom far from any passions. The only way to gain this freedom is through ascesis, which is the fight against human desires, and obedience, which helps monk to fight selfishness. The target of monasticism is love for God and people. By saying to the young monk that he did not reach the end of his journey in ...

Correct teachings are of no value if we ignore them in the way we live our lives.

Source:wikimedia commons The spirit which hasn't been darkened by sin looks up high into the heavens, it doesn't look down at the tomb. But the spirit that's been darkened by sin looks into the grave and doesn't see the heavens at all. Sin and virtue govern our spiritual vision, depending on the aims of each, and each reveals its own world.

Source:wikimedia commons When we're grouchy, the whole atmosphere around us is poisoned and we start being nasty to one another. Irrespective of what others do or say to us, we have to stay calm and forgive any discourtesy aimed at us.

The media coverage was surely pleasing to the ROC with commentators often describing it as the "most powerful" Orthodox Church and other such misleading claims. This includes the impression that the meeting followed a 1,000-year separation despite the ROC only becoming independent from its Mother, Constantinople, in 1448 - but why let facts get in the way of a good headline. Needless to say, ROC officials did not correct the record; the Joint Declaration even referenced "the shared heritage of the Church of the first millennium" in spite of the fact that the ROC has minimal actual connection to it. Such statements may elevate the ROC in the minds of some, but they are disconnected from reality in the minds ...

Theosis is a distinctive feature that characterizes Orthodoxy and assumes central importance in its overall theological framework. It is the ultimate goal toward which all people should strive and the blessed end for which all things were made. Theosis of man constitutes central subject, prominent aim and purpose and, finally, religious ideal of Orthodoxy. In Orthodoxy, theosis is the very substance of Christianity, because it describes the descent of God to the limit of our fallen human condition and presupposes the union of the created beings with the Divinity. There is richness of forms of the spiritual life in Orthodoxy, but monasticism remains the most classical of all. The goal of the monastic life is union with God in renunciation of ...