"It is shameful to be proud of the adornments that are not your own, but utter madness to fancy one deserves God's gifts. Be exalted only by such achievements as you had before your birth. But what … [Read more...]
Humility is Speed
August 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The more we humble ourselves in painful repentance, the more rapidly our prayer reaches God. When, though, we lose humility, no ascetic striving will help us. The action in us of pride, criticism of … [Read more...]
scarcely escaping the Judgment
April 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Abba Orsisius said, "If an unbaked brick is put in the foundations near the river, it does not last for a single day, but baked, it lasts like stone. the man with a carnal disposition of soul, who … [Read more...]
Humility
February 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
“I prefer a sinful person, who knows his faults and is humbled, over a self-complacent person of virtue.” - Abba Sarmatias … [Read more...]
Knowledge proceeds, properly, to Apophasis
February 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
All I know is that I don't know anything - Elder Gabriel of Kazaa … [Read more...]
Because I have walked in great pride
January 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
"And he answered me, saying, The most High has made this world for many, but the world to come for few. . . . For as the husbandman sows much seed upon the ground, and plants many trees, and yet the … [Read more...]
Our Life is Astonishment and Fear
January 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
"How should thy vessel then be able to comprehend the way of the Highest and, the world being now outwardly corrupted, to understand the corruption that is evident in my sight? . . . And we pass away … [Read more...]
Intentional Inferiority Complex
January 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
"The way of humility is this: self-control, prayer, and thinking yourself inferior to all creatures." - Abba Tithoes … [Read more...]
Being a Goat
January 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
"I am one of the goats, but as for the sheep, God alone knows who they are." -- Sayings of the Desert Fathers … [Read more...]