2017

Education is a widely discussed issue in our days. The problem is that we have very much distorted views on this important subject. We hear various things that are at least unorthodox. By this we do not mean humanists, that is, those who have a humanist education based mostly on the intellect and rationality, but rather we mean those Christians who identify man-centered education with Christian education. The identification and equality of these two wisdoms, these two types of knowledge is a heretical position and has been denounced by all holy Fathers. The subject is very serious. In this speech we intend to elaborate on the great subject of education in God. Before proceeding to a precise analysis of education in ...

We shall now say something about the present feast. Many people celebrate feast days and know what they’re called, but don’t know why they were established. So everyone knows that the feast today is called Theophany, but don’t know what Theophany is, and whether it is one thing or another. And this is shameful- celebrating an annual feast day and not knowing the reason for its existence. First of all, therefore, it’s necessary to say that there’s not one Theophany, but two: the actual one, which has already occurred; and the second, in the future, which will happen with glory at the end of the world. You’ll hear about both today from Paul, who, in his letter to Titus, speaks thus ...

I once met a “born again Christian” on a plane. He had never heard of the Orthodox Church and was curious. “What is an Orthodox Christian? Are you born again?” he asked. While many Christians inAmericahave never heard of Orthodox Christians, we hear a lot about “born again Christians.” If you, my fellow Orthodox Christians, were asked these questions, how would you answer? My reply to his inquiry was, “Yes, we Orthodox are born again Christians. But in the “true believing way!” Was my answer presumptuous? What is the “true believing way?” To find the answer, we need only to turn to the Gospel according toSt. John(Chap. 3) and look at the conversation between our Lord and Nicodimus. Nicodimus was “a Pharisee ...

 PROLOGUE Silence for the monks is a rule of life. It protects them from uncontrollable and unrestrained talk as well as from impugnation and slander, which result in the death of the soul. It delivers them from wrangle and strife and preserves in them internal peace which is necessary for inwardness. Silence is the fruit of quietude, an internal state which gives birth to spiritual discourse. -When does the monk ought to keep quiet and when does he ought to talk? Abbot Pimen offers a solution to the issue with great discernment: “A brother asked Abbot Pimen saying: ‘which is best: to talk or to keep quiet?’And the Elder tells him: ‘Whoever talks for the sake of God, does well. Whoever keeps quiet ...

Crisis! Crisis of many natures—political, social, family, youth, environmental, economic! Crisis of institutions and values. Wars, refugees, famine, poverty, unemployment, terrorism, and the ongoing ecological destruction of our planet: This is the image of humanity in a global scale. How will we exit this deep crisis that torments our era? In Chinese, the word “crisis” is written with the same ideogram that is used for the word “opportunity.” And in the Greek, the word “crisis” also includes in its meaning, “energy,” which derives from the verb “to judge” and refers to the noetic energy that decides or chooses. Therefore the crisis that we endure could carry a positive effect if we use it as an opportunity for repentance, an opportunity for ...