Orthodox Wisdom

Learn how St. Porphyrios responded to seeing women dressed immodestly and to his spiritual children who were a bit judgmental.

Ever-timely gems of wisdom from St. John of Kronstadt on prayer. He speaks especially to people living in the world with everyday cares and responsibilities. Anyone discouraged in their prayer life will find consolation and inspiration in these words from this great saint of Russia.

St. Leo the Great, Pope of Rome (+461) calls us to embark on the Holy Fast of Nativity with gratitude and active love for God and neighbor. “For by prayer we seek to propitiate God, by fasting we extinguish the lusts of the flesh, by alms we redeem our sins: and at the same time God's image is throughout renewed in us, if we are always ready to praise Him, unfailingly intent on our purification and unceasingly active in cherishing our neighbor.”

How should a man relate to his wife, and a women relate to her husband? St. Paisios presents us the royal path: why love and respect are really the same thing, and how the husband is the head of his wife but also the "lowest laborer", and how the wife is subject to her husband but also the "noble lady of the household".

Practical advice for daily life in the world from St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. His wisdom is summarized when he says, "The essence of any striving toward the Lord is attentiveness."

The great Theologian of the 11th century stirs up the hearts of his readers, calling us to a truly Christian life that daily stands ready for the dread Day of the Lord.

St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia on Mount Athos discusses how to pray the Jesus Prayer and why it is "the key to the spiritual life" for every Orthodox Christian.

What separates the Orthodox Church and the various Non-Chalcedonian churches? Is it merely semantics and misunderstandings, as some today proclaim? The Holy Monastery of Gregoriou on Mount Athos, in this 1994 treatise, gives a detailed examination of the issues and offers much for anyone interested in the truth of Christ, His Church, and the Non-Chalcedonian heresy.

From an historical perspective, it should be said that the Holy Fathers knew well with whom they were conversing, and there is no possibility that they misconstrued and condemned the Non-Chalcedonians on account of a misinterpretation. It is neither theological terminology nor racial and cultural factors that played a decisive role in the separation of the Non-Chalcedonians from the communion of the Catholic [i.e., Orthodox] Church, but chiefly their erroneous conception, and consequently their formulation, of the manner of the union of the two Natures in Christ. The dogmatic differences between the two sides are so great that, if they were forgotten, salvation itself would be put at risk.

A reading of the revelation of Jesus Christ to St. Silouan from _Saint Silouan the Athonite_ by St. Sophrony (p. 429-431)

What is the firmament? What does Scripture mean by “waters above the heavens”? St. Ambrose expounds upon the Scriptural testimony and raises our minds and hearts both to God’s creation and God Himself. As he asks rhetorically, "When you hear this, why do you marvel if, by the operation of such majesty, water can be held suspended above the celestial firmament?"