Selected from the saint’s letters; sections on Islam and Muslims. by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov Vainly and erroneously you think and say that virtuous… Muslims will be saved, that is they will join intercourse with God! Vainly you consider the contrary notion a novelty, a brief error! No! Such is the eternal teaching of the true […]
On the Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 17, 2016 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov A reminder about wrapping up Lent. Prayer is good with fasting and alms (Tob. 12:8),[1] said the Archangel Raphael to Tobit. Such a great work is fasting! It is good, it is the only door through which sinners can depart from their fleshly state and enter into the saving pasture of […]
One Place is Appointed for Christians to Offer Their Sacrifices
December 14, 2015 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov As it is natural for the destitute to beg, it is natural for man, who has been reduced to poverty by the fall, to pray. Prayer is fallen and repentant man turning towards God. Prayer is the weeping of fallen and repentant man before God. Prayer is fallen man, slain by […]
On Divine Punishment: A Homily for the Sunday of the Paralytic
May 3, 2015 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee (Jn. 5:14). This is the commandment the Lord gave to the paralytic whom He healed, as we heard today in the Gospels. Beloved brethren! This commandment of the Lord has enormous importance for us. It teaches […]
About Fasting: Part Three
November 12, 2014 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov We repeat — fasting is for man, and not man for fasting. Food given for the support of the body should not be used to destroy it. Very important is the quality of food. The forbidden fruit of Paradise, although it was beautiful in appearance and tasted delicious, had a fatal […]
About Fasting: Part Two
November 11, 2014 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov Immoderate fasting — that is, prolonged excessive abstinence from food — is not approved by the Holy Fathers. Fasting frees a person from fleshly passions, while prayer wrestles with the passions of the soul and, having conquered them, it penetrates and permeates the person’s whole constitution, and purifies it. Into the […]
About Fasting: Part One
November 10, 2014 By
by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov How will you nourish yourself in eternity when you have learnt here only to glut yourself with material foods and material pleasures which do not exist in heaven? What will you feed on in eternity when you have not tasted one of the good things of heaven? How can you eat […]
Watchfulness for Those in the World
November 5, 2014 By
Originally entitled, “A Rule of Self-Attentiveness For Those in the World” by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov The soul of all exercises in the Lord is attention. Without attention, all these exercises are fruitless and dead. He who desires to be saved should arrange things in such a way that he can safeguard self-attentiveness not only in seclusion, […]
