Spiritual Warfare
“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
Heart (Thought)
“Often when we stand or sit to pray, it is not a coldness of heart that defeats us, nor a lack of will, nor a feebleness of character. It is, rather, the constant flood of thoughts that conquers the mind, which we realize we have little ability to control…As we have seen, it is futile to try to struggle against thoughts by our own willpower; rather, our struggle should be to raise our minds and hearts to the help of the Most High. This we can do simply and instantaneously thr
Life and Death
“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p
Kingdom of God/Heaven
“Seeking the Kingdom of God isn’t a retreat into the wilderness or a complete renunciation of the world; withdrawing from the world for...
Prayer (and Focus)
“The Gospel is very simple, and yet we don’t understand it. I’m not impressed with overactivity in the Church, and I’m not impressed with...
Thoughts (Battling Them)
“I once confessed to an experienced priest that sinful thoughts were torturing me, and this is what he advised me: “Think of the thoughts...
Self and Self-Will
“But Nietzsche, madman and destroyer of faith, fascinated me. His work was twisted and imaginative, truthful and awful and compelling; he...
Crosses to Bear
“ “Take up your cross,” says Jesus Christ. He didn’t say to create or construct yourself a cross. Christ also didn’t choose or build...
Prayer (Being Prayer and Living Prayer)
“Prayer is an encounter with God. It’s not just a question of sacred duty, not some kind of religious obligation, and even less is it...
Heart (Good and Bad)
“Real life is lived in the depths of our heart, as is our hell and our paradise. That is where the battle is fought between our good and...