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by St. Basil the Great from the blog, Lord I Have Cried Unto Thee. Another patristic witness of the sentiment and wisdom behind the words of Abba Xanthios. "A Dog is better than I because he loves and does not judge." So I just recently referred a friend to St. Basil the Great's Hexaemeron - his fourth-century commentary on the six-day creation of the world found in the book of Genesis - and I started re-reading and came across … [Read more...]
By St. Nikolai Velimirovich "But the saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" Daniel 7:18 Abased and oppressed in the kingdoms of the world, the saints will reign eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven. The last on earth, they will rejoice as the first in heaven. Hungry, thirsty, barefoot and naked in the transitory kingdoms, they will be like king's sons, satisfied and clothed … [Read more...]
The Lord Jesus Christ invented a word. It is in the Bible, but only once. That makes it important! This article explores its true meaning in context (ah, glorious context!). All Christians repeat the Lord’s Prayer, taught to do so by Jesus Himself (Matt 6:5-15). Fittingly, then, Gregory of Nyssa devoted five sermons to a reflection on this fundamental prayer of Christianity. Often, regrettably, we repeat the Lord’s Prayer by thoughtless … [Read more...]
by St. Symeon the New Theologian Our venerable and God-bearing father Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) is one of three saints of the Orthodox church to have been given the title of Theologian (the others are St. John the Apostle and St. Gregory Nazianzen). Born in Galatia and educated at Constantinople, he became abbot of the monastery of St. Mamas. His feast day is celebrated on March 12, the date of his repose. 1. You have asked our … [Read more...]
by St. Augustine of Hippo Our father among the saints, Augustine is one of the great Church Fathers of the fourth century. He was the eldest son of Saint Monica. At the end of his life (426-428) Augustine revisited his previous works in chronological order and suggested what he would have said differently in a work titled the Retractions, which gives us a remarkable picture of the development of a writer and his final thoughts. The … [Read more...]
by St. Leo the Great Our father among the saints, Leo the Great was the bishop of Rome during difficult times. He was an eminent scholar of Scripture and rhetoric. During an invasion by Attila the Hun, St. Leo met him outside the gates of Rome. After some short words, to everyone’s surprise, Attila turned and left. Three years later, during an invasion by Genseric the Vandal, St. Leo’s intercession again saved … [Read more...]
by St. Leo the Great Our father among the saints, Leo the Great was the bishop of Rome during difficult times. He was an eminent scholar of Scripture and rhetoric. During an invasion by Attila the Hun, St. Leo met him outside the gates of Rome. After some short words, to everyone’s surprise, Attila turned and left. Three years later, during an invasion by Genseric the Vandal, St. Leo’s intercession again saved the … [Read more...]
by the Venerable St. Bede of Jarrow Our father among the saints, the Venerable Bede of Jarrow, (c. 672 - May 25, 735) was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Wearmouth (today part of Sunderland), and of its daughter monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow. He is well known as an author and scholar, whose best-known work is Historia ecclesiastica gentis AnglorumThe Ecclesiastical History of the English People), … [Read more...]
John was called to the priesthood and ordained by Flavian, bishop of Antioch, early in the year 386. So this is the date of his first discourse: he had not yet descended into the lists, as he himself puts it. In this essay, his modesty shines no less than his eloquence: he frequently calls himself a little boy; although, as his birth dated back at least to the year 347, he was then about forty years old. This shows that the terms, … [Read more...]
by St. John of Damascus The bread and the wine are not merely figures of the body and blood of Christ (God forbid!) but the deified body of the Lord itself: for the Lord has said, “This is My body,” not, this is a figure of My body: and “My blood,” not, a figure of My blood. And on a previous occasion He had said to the Jews, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. For My flesh … [Read more...]
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