Elder Ephraim of Arizona on Our Spiritual Struggle
“The salvation of man requires much toil. The tempter—the devil—has activated all his experience and knowledge to annihilate man. Do not depart from us, O God, my God, but...
Elder Joseph+ of Vatopaidi opn Discernment
“Discernment is regarded by the Fathers as “the highest of all virtues”. Therefore, we will not be mistaken if we place this virtue in the highest rank. What else...
Elder Joseph the Hesychast on Starting Early in the Holy Life
“So if you don’t struggle and labor now when you are young, you won’t reap the benefit when you’re old; you won’t have anything in your ‘retirement fund.’ So,...
Elder St Paisios on the Final Moments of Life
“When a soul is well prepared and ascending to Heaven, the demons can’t assault it. If it isn’t prepared, it is tormented by the demons. Sometimes, God may allow...
Elder St. Porphyrios on Laziness
“If you see someone who is indolent, then the person is sick in the soul. Often when we see a quiet, discreet and circumspect person, we say, A very...
Joseph of Vatopaidi+ on the Example of Holy Ones
“These people, as participants in the all illuminating charisma of the Spirit, may repeat along with Paul “We are not unaware of Satan’s schemes” (B Corinthians 2, 11). They...
Elder St Paisios on Preparation for Death
“In other words, they want to let him go without the benefit of Holy Communion, so that he won’t realize he is dying and start to worry? It would...
Elder Ephraim of Arizona on the Burden of Spiritual Leadership
“It is Christ Who helps us; otherwise, who would be able to support such a weight of souls, when we are not even able to support ourselves? The only...
Elder Ephraim of Arizona on Longsuffering in Theosis
“The struggle is not small; it does not last for only one day, but until our last breath. Therefore, let us arm ourselves with the sweetest name of our...
Elder Anthimos+ on Confession
“If we don’t confess our thoughts, they will become snakes and beasts and will eat us up. The farmer who found a frozen snake and put it next to his breast was...