SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“…it’s important to learn to see the small wonders of everyday life. In a drop of rain, in a breath of wind, in a stranger’s smile—in places where we previously didn’t look for meaning—a new discovery of life can begin. In simple things, in the ordinary, may lie the answer to the most complex questions of the soul.” (Viktor Luzhkov) “The physical world is astounding and amazing. It is filled with wonder and beauty. We can often find resonance between the magnificence of natur

“Man has the great blessing of worshiping God. Everyone worships someone or something. Some worship themselves, with their passions and egotism. Others worship their knowledge, their mind, since they received a higher education, know a lot, write wonderful books, and have interesting conversations. Others worship money, land, bank deposits, investments. And others worship sins and pleasures. Absolutely everyone worships something. But we’re called to worship the true living G

“For those who have become inextricably attached to earthly things, an encounter with God becomes a veritable catastrophe. Why? Because the wrath of God is not a desire on His part to inflict suffering upon us, but the inherent incompatibility of light and darkness. When the sun rises, the dampness of the night disappears. If a person has willingly allowed the “dampness” and “mold” of sin to take root within him, the Sun of Righteousness will scorch him. But if he has purifie

“…let’s take a look into the mysterious depths of human existence. The whole tragedy of our fallen world is rooted in one source—our “I,” in which we have since childhood habitually locked up everything, turning our soul into an impenetrable fortress. But authentic Christianity begins at the place where a person makes a great existential breakthrough; where he overcomes the pull of his egocentrism and turns to meet God. At this crosspoint of the vertical of the soul reaching

“When we come to realize the numerous mistakes that we have made and our shortcomings, we should start reforming the way we untangle tangled threads, for instance. It is useless to fiddle about with a bundle of tangled threads—nothing will come of it. We should take one thread, find the tip, start pulling it out, and so the whole ball will gradually unravel. That is why prudence, graduality, and patience are required in spiritual life.” (Priest Anthony Borisov) “Maturation in

“Why does adherence to traditions—even the most ancient and beautiful ones—not automatically make a person a believer? And where is the very line that marks the point at which a ritual ceases to be a bridge to God and turns into a façade concealing emptiness, or, even worse, a complete mismatch between life and the ideals that are professed? To begin with, any religion—and Christianity is no exception—has two components: form and content. The form consists precisely of tradit

“The fear of God brings peace and tranquility to the heart. Fear as a phobia is demonic fear. Who is the most neurotic? The devil. And the fear instilled by him gives rise to precisely this state in the heart…I compare and contrast repentant lamentation over sins and neurotic self‑criticism. Repentant lamentation over sins gives rise to peace, tranquility, and joy in the heart. But neurotic self‑criticism is like grinding water in a mortar, like running in circles, sorrow for

“The enemy of mankind tries in every way to trouble our consciousness and our lives, ultimately to suffocate our souls with pride and malice. We, as Christians, must understand this and wage spiritual warfare, armed with sobriety, prayer, fasting, humility, meekness, and love for Christ.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets) “We have to learn, figuratively speaking, to rise above the clouds. When a plane rises above the clouds, it enters a field of sunlight, where everything is so bea

“…salvation is not merely an escape from sin and death. It is that, to be sure. But it is also so much more than that — which is why some of the Holy Fathers teach that Christ would still have become incarnate even if the Fall of Man had never occurred. It is one thing (and an indisputably needful thing!) to put our passions to death…even some of the pagan philosophers put us Christians to shame by their virtue and asceticism — yet these things by no means acquired for them t

“Time is both the most familiar and the most mysterious gift that we receive at birth. We cannot see it, hold it in our hands, stop it, or turn it back. Yet it is time that measures our lives: through childhood and old age, waiting and meeting, work and rest, prayer and distraction, hope and memory. Every one of us has money, health, energy, knowledge, and… time. Yet this strange resource is the only one that cannot be stored up for later, saved for a rainy day, borrowed from