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Clergy, Monastics and Laity By St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki This Name of Jesus as a prayer should be said always by all the faithful with the mind and with the tongue. When standing or walking or sitting or reclining, always say it; forcing yourself to it. He will find great calm and joy in it, as has been the experience of all who occupy themselves with the prayer. Since this work is above all others in our life, the monks who find … [Read more...]
by Fr. Aris Metrakos This article contains excellent advice for anyone contemplating the priesthood or discerning a vocation in the Orthodox Church (or any 'church' for that matter). Fr. Aris nails it. Aren't we disgusted with the shocking number of high-profile cases of priests engaged in pedophilia, homosexual activity, and adultery? Some excuse this behavior with the platitudes "a sin is a sin" and "we are all sinners." Uh, excuse … [Read more...]
by St. Ambrose of Milan From "On The Duties of Clergy: Book II, Chapter 1 Happiness in life is to be gained by living virtuously, inasmuch as thus a Christian, whilst despising glory and the favour of men, desires to please God alone in what he does. 1. In the first book we spoke of the duties which we thought befitted a virtuous life, whereon no one has ever doubted but that a blessed life, which the Scripture calls eternal life, depends. So … [Read more...]
by Brad A. Greenberg No one can make you feel guilty like a pastor. Or in this case a New York Times story about pastoral burnout that I’ve been meaning to write about for two weeks: The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of … [Read more...]
by Fr. George Morelli This excellent article was first published on Orthodoxytoday.org, where much of Fr. Morelli's writings appear. We offer to our overworked, underpaid, and often exhausted brethren, in the hopes that they may be refreshed who are weary in well-doing. It is placed under 'Sermon Resources' because - and I want to be quite clear about this - the healthy preacher is the greatest sermon resource of all. God bless you, brothers. … [Read more...]
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