Death to the World.
No wonder then that it is hard to be a Christian. It is not hard, it is impossible. No one can knowingly accept a way of life which,...
Serviam
- Sep 2
- 3 min
Illness and the Work of Perfection.
Even if we are bedridden, we are to continue the struggle against the passions, producing fruits worthy of repentance. This work of...
10 views
Serviam
- Aug 31
- 4 min
God is Not Vindictive.
Another reason why human suffering is a mystery to an unbeliever is because his very idea of God is false. Father Seraphim (Rose) Modern...
7 views
Serviam
- Aug 19
- 2 min
Candles Disperse Darkness.
One such candle was Romanian priest Fr. George Calciu. He and his family lived quietly until the communist government renewed its...
5 views
Serviam
- Aug 10
- 4 min
"Lord, where are You?"
Is God absent or present? Is He near at hand, or remote and withdrawn? It’s a matter of how you look at it. Elder Aimilianos of...
17 views
Serviam
- Aug 8
- 5 min
Yes, Lord.
God never gives you a Cross without first weighing and measuring it very carefully to make sure that the Cross will result in your...
17 views
Serviam
- Aug 5
- 3 min
Suffering as Gift.
But suffering, as the crowning of a man bearing his cross, gives birth in his heart to great Divine joy. As a mother grieves during the...
12 views
Serviam
- Aug 3
- 3 min
Have You Seen Incense?
No one knows about it while it’s lying in the drawer. No one cares. But if you purposely place it on a red hot glowing coal, it fills the...
9 views
Serviam
- Aug 1
- 3 min
Salvation through Suffering.
Not in flowers and gold, not in silver and precious stones is found the value of the Cross, but in the wounds of the Lord and His Most...
20 views
Serviam
- Jul 27
- 3 min
Grace and Medicines are Necessary.
I am just a poor ascetic, who has grown old in the wilderness, and I wanted to heal only through faith. But I, too, am learning that...
7 views
Serviam
- Jul 18
- 2 min
God is Good and Loves Mankind.
Bear your cross, and I shall bear mine, as we follow the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ, Who for us ungrateful sinners bore a Cross of...
7 views
Serviam
- Jul 15
- 6 min
Personhood and the Value of Suffering (part two)
Jesus did not come to eliminate suffering. Rather, He transformed it. He endured His Cross so that we can endure ours. By the power of...
9 views
Serviam
- Jul 13
- 5 min
Personhood and the Value of Suffering. (part one)
Man is a great mystery. The human being is crowned with the glory and honor of being the very image of God. Every human being is an icon...
7 views
Serviam
- Jul 11
- 4 min
Paradise Present.
The Lord gave us the Holy Spirit, and the man in whom the Holy Spirit lives feels that he has paradise within him. Saint Silouan the...
6 views
Serviam
- Jul 5
- 3 min
Orthodox Prayers in Time of Sickness
O Lord, visit me in my suffering, and grant me grace and strength to bear this sickness with which I am afflicted, with Christian...
10 views
Serviam
- Jul 1
- 2 min
On The Will of God
It is a great good to give oneself up to the will of God. Then the Lord alone is in the soul. No other thought can enter in, and the soul...
12 views
Serviam
- Jun 20
- 2 min
Kill Your Will.
Set aside your wish to find peace on this earth pre-maturely in order to receive it in time. That is, upon our death. Put to death your...
9 views
Serviam
- Jun 17
- 1 min
The Finish Line.
Do not forget your goal, my child. Look into the heavens and see the beauty that awaits us. Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona What...
5 views
Serviam
- Jun 13
- 1 min
In Brevity is Beauty.
Within our culture of noise 24/7 - a paradox occurs. Counterintuitively what garners the most impact is not who is the loudest, or talks...
9 views