Spiritual Growth and Maturity
“…this is how the path of religious life begins. As the holy fathers write, the soul passes through three stages: slave, hireling, and son. The stage of the slave—a person does not yet love God, but fears hell. He keeps the commandments because he has been horrified by the description of fiery gehenna. This is faith expressing the religious instinct of self-preservation. The stage of the hireling—a person already hopes for reward. He fasts in order to receive the Kingdom of H
Theology
“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
Ambition
“Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people—which is what I think it does...
Sorrow
“Even among those of us who call ourselves Christians, the concept of godly sorrow (2 Cor 7:10) is not well understood. How easy it is to...
Mission
“Happiness is not at all in having a lot of money, honors or power, but in finding your calling. Whoever finds his mission is...
Thoughts, Words, Actions, Deeds
“For in every condition of human life, there are souls that please God and have their hidden deeds wherein He takes delight. Whence it is...