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by St. Ephraim the Syrian Our father among the saints, Ephraim was a prolific Syriac language hymn writer and theologian of the 4th century. He is venerated by Christians throughout the world, but especially among Syriac Christians, as a saint. Here Ephraim presents his "counsel of life", warning against various sins such as greed, pride, fornication, and slander. 1. Not of compulsion is the doctrine; of free-will is the word of life. … [Read more...]
by St. Isaac the Syrian Once you have reached the place of tears then you should understand that the mind has left the prison of this world and set its feet on the road towards the New World. It has begun to breathe the wonderful air which is there. It begins to shed tears.For now the birth-pangs of the spiritual infant grow strong, since grace, the common mother of us all, makes haste to give birth mystically to the soul, the image of God, … [Read more...]
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon Senior Editor of Touchstone Magazine, and archpriest of All Saints Orthodox Church in Chicago, IL, Fr. Patrick is, perhaps, the most erudite writer in the Orthodox Church in North America today. This article, one of his Pastoral Ponderings, was published by Orthodoxtoday.org. Publican and Pharisee The Lord’s account of the two men who “went up to the temple to pray” (Luke 18:9-14) may be said to … [Read more...]
by St. Ephraim the Syrian Our Righteous Father Ephraim the Syrian was a prolific Syriac language hymn writer and theologian of the 4th century. Over four hundred hymns composed by Ephrem still exist. The church historian Sozomen credits St. Ephraim with having written over three million lines. He wrote exclusively in the Syriac language, but translations of his writings exist in Armenian, Coptic, Greek and other languages. He … [Read more...]
This article is an excerpt taken from the book titled "REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION", by Monk Moses of the Holy Mountain, "Orthodoxi Kypseli" Publications, Thessaloniki. I am indebted to Fr. John Stavropoulos for bringing it to my attention. Confession is a God-given commandment, and it is one of the Sacraments of our Church. Confession is not a formal, habitual ("to be on the safe side", or, "in view of upcoming feast-days"), forced and … [Read more...]
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