Imitation
“The purpose of reading the Scriptures is to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, to grow in our relationship to God, to commune with...
Repentance
“…repentance does not fundamentally mean to feel guilty about our past sins, nor even merely to cease from sinning in the future....
Obedience
“While the rich man was probably being sincere when he insisted I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws [Mark 10:20], he had confined...
Conscience
“In the original Greek, the word for “conscience” has the root of self-knowledge…The conscience is the witness that compares one’s...
Faith, Trust, and Belief
“When we separate faith from everything else, we make it into belief. It becomes the assent to the truth of something that cannot be...
Dispassion
“Self-control, according to the spiritual tradition of the Church, is the spiritual mastery over the lusts of the mind and the flesh. It...
Stewardship and Serving
“The steward of God actively practices virtue and lives quietly and devoutly as God instructs him through holy tradition. By following...
Shakeable and Unshakeable
“The Lord anoints each of us as ruler over the unruly kingdom within our hearts and souls…Each of us must likewise “renounce all things,...
Prayer
“There are very few people who come to their senses, very few who understand life. We pray with our lips only, and we hurry through our...
Humility, Pride, and Repentance
“…we must guard against thinking that a humble heart is easily acquired. Although we are attracted to humility, we should anticipate a...