SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“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

“In our everyday speech, the words “to listen” and “to hear” are often used as synonyms. But in a spiritual sense, there is a vast difference between them—one that brings either salvation or condemnation. Listening is a process. You can stand in church, listening to the reading of the Epistle or the Gospel, and even understand the meaning of the words with your mind—yet remain deaf in your heart. External listening without inner acceptance is like looking in a mirror, walking

“Our fragmentation and disintegration into our private worlds is a contradiction of God’s intention for human well-being. Just as the Trinity is One God in Three Persons, so we are One humanity in a multiplicity of persons. The fullness of our existence is never found within ourselves, but within the mutual indwelling of each in all and all in each.that spiritual things can be understood only by spiritual people, not by the “natural” man, the unspiritual person. Spiritual thi

“He [man] is the only being that is distinguished from all else in creation, because he is the only one which can become a god. The phrase “in His image” describes the gifts which God gave only to man in order to complete him as an icon of God, and not to any of His other creatures. These gifts are: a logos related nous, conscience, and individual sovereignty, i.e. freedom, creativity, eros, and the yearning for the absolute and for God, personal self-awareness, and anything

“…the Lord calls people to Himself in many different ways. Even a path of protest, mistakes, and wandering, if it is sincere, can lead to Christ…the Church does not reject anyone who sincerely seeks salvation. There is no sin or spiritual blindness that the Lord cannot lead a person out of, if they truly want to come to Him. But it is also a warning: a “comfortable God” is not God, “freedom without obedience” is not freedom, and “love without the cross” is not love. Only thos

“If the Kingdom of Heaven is the knowledge of God, it follows that the greatest sin is ignorance of God…Ignorance of God is always a sign that relations with God have broken down, have been terminated, whereas the knowledge of God leads one to union with Him.” (Archimandrite Aimilianos) “…knowledge about God, like any other knowledge, is absorbed only by the mind and memory, studying the Law of God in school usually becomes an abstract, external assimilation of religious trut

“Before speaking of the sinfulness of consumerism, it is important to understand: consumption in itself is not evil. Consumption is a natural element of our human life. Man is a dependent and needy being; therefore it is natural for him to take and consume, especially in childhood. But as he matures, man increasingly begins to give to others—to create, to help, to care. A mature person is a responsible, creative personality who loves God and his neighbor and is guided by the

“Today… we often take theology out of the theanthropic mystery of the Church in which it was sung by the Fathers. We transfer it to the field of mere academic discussions, where each person, remaining an individual, an isolated authority, states his opinion and goes his way. The resultant “theology,” however, is not the very theology of the Church…The divine Spirt breathes in the organism of human speech. Thus it becomes possible for man to utter words of God, to speak of God

“While very detailed instructions are given for other elements of sacrificial rituals, none are given for the means of killing the animals involved. To sacrifice something is not to kill it, but to eat it as a sacred meal. This required its death, whether the sacrifice was of animals or plants (such as first fruits from the harvest and grain offerings).” (Fr. Stephen De Young) “…the empty formalism of ritual sacrifices will not make up for sin. Perfunctory religious practices