SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“The word Adam in Hebrew comes from “adamah” which means earth. The word Christ, in Hebrew, Messiah, means the “anointed” of God. As Christ is the new Adam, so His mother Mary is the new Eve, for she is the true “mother of all living,” which is the meaning of the name given to the original “helper” of man (Gen 3.20).” (Fr. Thomas Hopko) “Readers of the New Testament are familiar with St. Paul’s description of Christ as the “Second Adam.” It is an example of the frequent Apost

“In order not to humble yourself before the evil world you must humble yourself before Christ. Otherwise, your pride will tear your heart into pieces. Humility is the path to mental and physical normality and health…Humility (no matter before what) makes a person able to believe in something that is above him and thus allows him to find a point of support and of reference, meaning, purpose and the coordinates of life. Those who humble themselves before “this world” acquire fa

“Throw out of your head the idea that you can, through a comfortable life, become what you must be in Christ!...We think as humans, and God thinks differently—there is a deep meaning in His actions, aimed above all at the salvation of our souls. For example, we often think, “This is my place, I feel comfortable here, and it is here that I can attain salvation.” But the Lord sees everything differently and puts us in circumstances that seem very unpleasant to us, but it is thi

“The way to a pure heart and the way to see God are actually the same thing. We have to have the eyes to see purity and beauty…We are to look for that which is pure, beautiful, lovely, godly, holy and readily visible in the world. Then we’ll begin to see purity, beauty, love, holiness, and even God Himself.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh) “In the Biblical and Patristic understanding, the “heart” (Hebrew: leb; Greek: kardia) is the deep center of the human personality, where the spirit, the

“Our life consists of decisions and their implementation. Man is a decision-making being, and he acts or does not act in accordance with his decisions. Indecision is also a decision, just as inaction is also an action. There are no fruitless decisions and actions. After all, everything has its own result: a barren fig tree has one, and a ripe vine has another. All decisions and actions—both active and passive, whether we want it or not—have a direct effect on the course of ou

“Trials should be distinguished from temptations. Trials come directly from the God of Providence, while temptations come directly from the evil spirits, although they are allowed by God. Trials are neither saving nor leading to spiritual death in themselves; they are only reasons for the manifestation of human will in relation to what the Lord gives us. The purpose of temptations is spiritual death, although they disguise themselves as something harmless and even good. Tempt

“In eternity, we will find what we sent there.” (Monk Pimen Vlad) “Thy will, not mine, be done” (Luke 22:42 ). This prayer releases us...

“One who determines to serve the Lord will be tested and face temptation (see 1Co 10:13). Thus, we prepare our soul for this challenge to...

“God is consuming fire. When an object touches fire, it is changed: either it is burned up, or it is tempered. So too, a man, in touching...

“The pride of the mind is much more disastrous than the pride of the will, because the pride of the will can be observed by the mind,...