Holy Scripture tells us that the devil is ‘fallen Lucifer’.  This is why the Lord says: ‘I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven’ (Luke 10, 18). He’s the leader, the general of the order of angels who fell from heaven when they wanted to re...

You’re suffering from sadness? It doesn’t matter. A heart that’s full of gratitude, humility and wisdom- a heart that’s been filled with gratitude, humility and wisdom by its struggles and labors- will be richly comforted and blessed with the acq...

Are the recent crimes [in Greece] simply a matter of violence and oppression against women, or do they have to do with the fact that love* has lost its bearings?

We live in a time when love is treated as enjoyment, as enthusiasm, and, if it doesn’...

He was born in the town of Husi in Romania in 1808, of God-fearing parents. Even as a child he was a wonderful chanter, with his profound knowledge and really sweet voice. As a young man, influenced by his brother, Monk Alexander, he donned the mo...

Given the fallen state in which we find ourselves, we’re unable to judge our brothers and sisters properly. Don’t be too sure that they’re in error. Don’t judge them.

Elder Sophrony, Essex

When the Jews slew St. Stephen by stoning, they left his body for the dogs to consume. However, God’s providence intended otherwise. The martyr’s body lay in an open place at the foothill of the city for one night and two days. The second night G...

The second struggle we have to engage in is against the spirit of lust and bodily desire, which begins to bother people at an early age. This is a great and difficult struggle, that’s fought on two fronts. Because, whereas the other failings battl...

Let’s bind ourselves tightly in order to carry out the Lord’s commandments, so that we’re not bound tightly with the chains of wicked impulses and soul-destroying pleasures. These are difficult to loose and we don’t want to suffer the verdict on ...

We can’t deny God, because, in order to deny something we have to be strong enough to abolish it. In our lack of belief, we can boast that God really doesn’t exist, that we’ve destroyed him. But even if we deny him, as Saint Paul says, he remains...

In one of the most beautiful modern examples of our ecclesiastical education[1], Sister Magdalen of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Baptist at, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, says that we can’t speak drily about this sensitive subject, and not fe...