Rating: 6,2|Votes: 33

Elder Paisios on Spiritual Study

An Excerpt from Spiritual Awakening

St. Paisios the Athonite

First, they should read the New Testament to learn the meaning of Christ, to be shaken up a little; later they can read the Old Testament. Do you know how hard it is when they have read nothing and yet they come to ask for help? It is like an elementary school child going to a university professor and saying, “Help me.”

On the 10th Anniversary of Sretensky Theological Seminary. Priest Vadim Leonov: “At Seminary, you receive the leaven which will enliven the rest of your life.”

Seminary prepares people for service in God’s Church and cultivates the corresponding set of qualities. It seems to me that seminary, first of all, gives a person a clear understanding of what service in the Church is, with all its positive sides, and also a proper understanding of all the difficulties. Often people entering a theological school still aren’t aware of a lot of things. Being immersed in a seminary environment, they come to understand that here one finds not only magnificent church-services and fellowship in love and oneness of mind, but also a particular set of inner trials and temptations.

Rating: 10|Votes: 5

Notes on the Jesus Prayer

Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov

We very much pity those Orthodox Christians who think that the best rest for their exhausted soul is to watch television news. This isn’t a bad thing, perhaps, but it’s a dead thing. You may spend all of the earthly time you have been allotted with such distractions, but you will never be at peace. If you want to calm your mind and ease your heart, try calling instead on the most holy name of Jesus Christ, without haste and with only one intent: to attract His attention and repent of your sins.

Rating: 8,4|Votes: 15

Confession — not a novel but a battle

Archpriest Valerian Krechetov

“How should I tell the priest about my sins? Is a feeling of repentance indispensable during confession? After confession, should one expect a feeling of spiritual relief, or lightness of soul? These beginners’ questions often remain troublesome even for very experienced parishioners.

Rating: 10|Votes: 1

May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. Letters to Laypeople. Part 19

Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

Our illnesses are the result of a sinful life, and healing has to begin with repentance and Unction—this is for the soul. After Unction you need to go to the doctors, so that with God’s help they would also help your ailing body.