Orthodox Wisdom

A story of the power of prayer, of the noetic energy of the heart, that can overcome otherwise very disrupting noise. St. Porphyrios says, “As I was leafing through it I lighted on a page showing the following experiment: If you throw a small stone into a calm lake you see the water making ripples over a small area. If you then throw in a larger stone, the ripples become larger and extend over a larger area so that they outflank the first ripples. At that moment I received the answer to my dilemma. It was divine illumination. I reasoned as follows: the small ripples from the singing outside the church can be outflanked by the prayers of great spiritual intensity that are being said inside the church. And at the same time there came at once into my mind forcefully, very forcefully: 'And if you celebrate here and have your mind on God, who can cause you any harm?'” From ”Wounded by Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios”, p. 56-58   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

If after listening to this Introduction to the Philokalia you are inspired to read the Philokalia and learn to pray in a more God-pleasing way, we strongly advise you to do so with the blessing and guidance of your spiritual father. If you do not have a spiritual father, finding one is much more important than reading the Philokalia.  Fr. Maximos Constas writes: "Before reading any of the works in the Philokalia, it will be helpful to read the following two items. The first is St. Nikodemos’ outstanding summary of all the principle doctrines and practices that the reader will encounter on the traditional path of entry into the Philokalia. The second is his Introduction to the Philokalia, which was omitted by the English translators."   Listen to the entire Philokalia at Patristic Nectar: https://patristicnectar.org/philokalia Buy the 4 volume set of the Philokalia: https://www.holycross.org/products/the-philokalia-the-complete-text-4-volume-set   Read the Introduction by St. Nikodemos: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gl2cnU6FIooOKmJEaDQA4PIfwxf3FgpF/view?usp=sharing   This is the second recording from our new contributor, Timothy D. Please say a prayer for him and his family.   St. Nikodemos writes:   "The Spirit enlightens those Fathers wise in divine things, oriented toward uninterrupted watchfulness and attentiveness in all things and guarding of the nous, and He reveals to them a method to again find grace, a method truly wondrous and most scientific. The method was the ceaseless prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God."   "From this spiritual and scientific work, accompanied also by the practical execution of the commandments and of the remaining moral virtues, because of the warmth which is created in the heart and the spiritual energy from the calling on the all-holy Name, the passions are burned up; because our God is fire, fire which consumes evil (Deut. 4:24). Continuing on, the nous and the heart, little by little, are purified and are unified together. And when they are purified and united, one with the other, from that point the fruits of the Spirit rise up once again in the soul and all the fullness of good things are lavished upon man. And that I may speak briefly, from here it is possible to return to the perfect grace of the Spirit which was granted to us from the beginning in Baptism, and which certainly exists in us, but the passions have buried it, just like the ashes bury the spark."    "Come all, as many as are members in the Orthodox calling, lay people and monks together, as many as aspire to find the kingdom of God which is within you and the hidden treasure in the field of your heart (Lk. 17:21; Matt. 13:44), which is sweet Jesus Christ. Thusly, free from the captivity of this world and from the wandering of your nous and with a heart purified of the passions, by the ceaseless and awesome calling upon our Lord Jesus Christ and with the other co-operative virtues, which this book teaches, you shall be united together among yourselves and being united together in this way you shall all together be united to God, according to the supplication of our Lord to the Father where he said: 'That they may be one, as we are one' (Jn. 17:11)"    This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Silouan the Athonite (+1938) has reached the hearts of many around the world, first through his prayer in his cell, and now through his writings and his heavenly intercession. A towering figure full of love, a great ascetic who by God’s grace mastered the passions, his witness is essential for the Orthodox Christian today. He is the spiritual father of St. Sophrony the Athonite. We commemorate St. Silouan on September 24.    St. Silouan writes:  We do not require wealth or learning in order to know the Lord - we must simply be obedient and sober, have a humble spirit and love our fellow-men. The Lord will love such a soul as this, of His own accord make Himself manifest to her and instruct her in love and humility, and give her all things needful for her to fund rest in God.  We may study as much as we will but we shall still not come to know the Lord unless we live according to His commandments, for the Lord is not made known through learning but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and scholars have arrived at a belief in the existence of God but they have not come to know God. And we monks apply ourselves day and night to the study of the Lord's command but not all of us by a long way have come to know the Lord, although we believe in Him. To believe that God exists is one thing, to know God another.   With the mere mind we can only come to know the things of this earth, and then only in part, while God and all that is of heaven are known through the Holy Spirit.  But if we take pains to explore the human heart, this is what we shall see: the Kingdom of Heaven in the soul of the saint but in the soul of the sinner - darkness and torment. And it is good to know this because we shall dwell eternally either in the Kingdom or in torment.   But the man who cries out against evil men but does not pray for them will never know the grace of God.   If you would know of the Lord's love for us, hate sin and evil thoughts, and day and night pray fervently. The Lord will then give you His grace, and you will know Him through the Holy Spirit, and after death, when you enter into paradise, there, too, you will know the Lord through the Holy Spirit, as you knew Him on earth.  O ye peoples of the earth, fashioned by God, know your Creator and His love for us! Know the love of Christ, and live in peace and thereby rejoice the Lord, Who in His mercy waits for all men to come to Him.  O Lord, do Thou grant them to know Thee by Thy Holy Spirit. As Thou didst give the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and they knew Thee, so grant all peoples to know Thee, by the Holy Spirit.    This text comes from “St. Silouan the Athonite” by St. Sophrony the Athonite: https://www.holycross.org/products/sa... This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Excerpt from Elder Athanasios homilies on Revelation, Lesson 13. Read the text of this recording here: https://orthodoxethos.com/post/elements-of-idolatry-sexual-pleasure  Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios, a dynamic and beloved preacher, abbot of the Monastery of Komnineiou and Saint John the Theologian in Stomion, Larisa, Greece, gave 104 consecutive lessons of Revelation to thousands of faithful. This beloved elder, venerated by many in Greece and around the world, reposed in the Lord in the year 2006.  The fantastic and edifying lecture series by Fr. Peter Heers on the Revelation of Jesus Christ can be viewed here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCFiE3qfVkDhKNfZnuLfsyW-xwVicvogB  Purchase Volume 1 of the homilies on Revelation, as well as Volume II to V here: https://www.zoepress.us   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

This foundational text comes from “A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel” by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite. This particular chapter is a summary of the principles and practices found in the Philokalia. According to Fr. Maximos Constas, this should be read before beginning the Philokalia. St. Nikodemos, the great man of prayer and illumined teacher of Athos, guides the faithful in the method of spiritual healing and noetic progress. Especially key in seeking to apply the teaching of St. Nikodemos is to be under the guidance of a true spiritual father. He can help you take the next steps based on who you are and your current stage of spiritual progress. If you do not have a spiritual father, ask God for the grace to find the one meant for you.    This is the first recording of the newest contributer to Orthodox Wisdom: Timothy D. He cam into the Church in 2018 and lives in Alabama. Please pray for Timothy and give thanks to God for another co-laborer with Orthodox Wisdom! A word about the nous:   The English word that best conveys the meaning of the Greek word "νοῦς" is the word "mind." The Fathers use this term with several other meanings, too. They mainly refer to the nous as the soul (the "spiritual nature" of a man—St. Isaac the Syrian) and the heart (or "the essence of the soul"—vid. Philokalia, Vol. I, p. 109, 73). More specifically, it constitutes the innermost aspect of the heart (St. Diadochos §§79, 88). However, they also refer to it as the "eye of the soul" (St. John of Damascus, The Orthodox Faith, FC Vol. 37, p. 236) or "the organ of theoria" (Makarian Homilies) which "is engaged in pure prayer" (St. Isaac the Syrian). They call the energy of the nous "a power of the soul" (St. Gregory Palamas, On the Holy Spirit, 2, 9) "consisting of thoughts and conceptual images" (St. Gregory Palamas, On the Hesychasts, p. 410, 3). However, the nous is more commonly known as the energy of the soul, whereas the heart is known as the essence of the soul. (From the glossary of “Counsels from the Holy Mountain” by Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona) From “On Guarding the Mind of the Heart”:  "In guarding the heart and keeping it pure, one can also keep all the divine commandments of Christ. For in truth this is how it is. The guarding of the mind and the heart and the spiritual prayer of the heart that is thus made possible has as its subject matter the commandment to love God. But by virtue of the power of this one commandment all of the other commandments are also included and fulfilled. This is why the Lord said: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15)."   “The memory of God is a pain to the heart [that is done] for the sake of piety; everyone who forgets God experiences sweetness by remains unhealed.” -St. Mark the Ascetic Download “A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel” here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_zym...   Orthodox Wisdom is now on your favorite podcast platform! Go to the “About” tab at the top of the this channel to find links to:  -Apple Podcasts  -Spotify  -Stitcher  -and more…   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Today we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the falling asleep of one of the most blessed and saintly Americans: Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina. Memory eternal! Holy Father Seraphim, pray to God for us!   From chapter 86 of the biography by Hieromonk Damascene, “Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works”:   He never changed his basic, original philosophy; he was no closer to becoming an ecumenist, modernist, or a New Calendarist at the end of his life than he had been when he had first started printing The Orthodox Word. It was just that now, especially after witnessing the bitter fruits of “correctness disease” in the Church, he saw that there was something much more essential that he should be preaching in these last times, when “the love of many grows cold.” Above all, Fr. Seraphim became a preacher of Orthodoxy of the heart. Besides the resurrection of Holy Russia (of which more will be said later), this was his main theme during the last part of his life. “St. Tikhon, therefore, gives us a start in understanding what Orthodoxy is: it is something first of all of the heart, not just the mind, something living and warm, not abstract and cold, something that is learned and practiced in life, not just in school.”   In preaching inward Orthodoxy of the heart, Fr. Seraphim warned against being calculating and critical. He identified this as the temptation of following “external wisdom.” “Sometimes,” he said, “one’s zeal for ‘Orthodoxy’ (in quotes) can be so excessive that it produces a situation similar to that which caused an old Russian woman** to remark about an enthusiastic American convert: ‘Well, he’s certainly Orthodox, all right—but is he a Christian?’ To be ‘Orthodox but not Christian’ is a state that has a particular name in Christian language: it means to be a pharisee, to be so bogged down in the letter of the Church’s laws that one loses the spirit that gives them life, the spirit of true Christianity.” Fr. Herman recalls how, when he and Fr. Seraphim were first honoring the memory of Fr. Gerasim in The Orthodox Word in the early 1970s, he had expressed his reservations to his co-laborer. “How can we present Fr. Gerasim as a modern giant of traditional Orthodoxy,” Fr. Herman asked, “when he had those nineteenth-century Western-style icons in his church?” “Those very icons,” Fr. Seraphim replied, ”prove that he was in the tradition, because he accepted simply and lovingly what was handed down to him from his righteous fathers in the Faith.”   Fr. Seraphim also observed how we can be following “external wisdom” when we get caught up in exalted ideas: “It is the fashion now to learn about the Jesus Prayer, to read the Philokalia, to go ‘back to the Fathers.’ These kinds of things also will not save us—they are external. They may be helpful if they are used rightly, but if they become your passion, the first thing you are after, then they become externals which lead not to Christ, but to Antichrist.” For more quotes from this reading and access to Fr. Seraphim's full biography, please go to the YouTube upload of this podcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05xUvmYAAZM. This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Dorotheos of Gaza (+565), disciple of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, is one of the most revered teachers on spiritual life, speaking from his direct experience with Christ through his ascetic struggle. Many basic questions we have about the fear of God and how to have it are answered here.   St. Dorotheos writes, “If, now, even the Saints, who so love the Lord, fear Him, why does St. John say that ‘love casteth out fear?’ The Saint wishes to indicate to us that there are two kinds of fear, one initial and the other perfect, and that, while one is characteristic of neophytes, as we say, in the spiritual life, the other is characteristic of the holy, of those who have been made perfect spiritually and have attained to a measure of holy love. Heed what I am saying. One does the Will of God out of fear of punishment. He, as we have said, is a total neophyte. He does not strive on account of goodness itself, but because he fears chastisements. The other does the Will of God because he loves God and since he especially rejoices when his life is pleasing to God. He knows the essence of goodness; he has tasted of what it means for one to be united to God. This is the one who has the true love that St. John calls ‘perfect.’ And this love leads him to perfect fear. For he fears and does the Will of God, not out of fear of chastisements, not out of fear of perhaps going to Hell, but, just as we have said, because he has tasted of the sweetness experienced by those who are united to God and fears that he might be deprived of it. Thus, this perfect fear, which comes forth from love, distances us from initial fear. And for this reason, it is said that: ‘Perfect love casteth out fear.’ Nonetheless, it is impossible for one to arrive otherwise at perfect fear, save by initial fear.”   “As St. Anthony the Great says, ‘I do not fear God, because I love Him,’ and as the Lord said to Abraham, after the latter offered to sacrifice his son, ‘for now I know that thou fearest God." It is this sort of fear that is meant: fear that comes into the soul from love.’” “I do not know if I have ever done anything good; but if the Grace of God has always covered me, I know that I have been protected by that fact that I never favored myself over my brother, but always put my brother first.”   “Of course, indifference is a bad thing. But neither is it, once more, a good thing for one to become so preoccupied with something that happens that he loses his irenic disposition, such that the soul is harmed. Because, in whatever obedience you may undertake, and even if it is urgent and important, I do not wish you to do anything that occasions squabbling and upset, but to be convinced that every task that you fulfill, great or small, as I earlier said, is but an eighth of what is asked of us. Indeed, to maintain your peace, even if thereby you should fail at your obedience, is four eighths, or half, of what has been asked of you. Do you see the difference?”    For more quotes from the text, please look at the description for our YouTube upload of this podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CHHNtUv2YQ Text from "Our Holy Father Dorotheos of Gaza: Various Soul-Profiting Instructions to His Disciples" by Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies. Buy the text here: https://www.ctosonline.org/patristic/...  This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Fr. Daniel Sysoev (+2009) was a priest, husband, confessor, and martyr. His great love for God and his fellow man led him to write many texts and convert many to the Orthodox Faith, including personally baptizing over 80 Muslims. Because of this great missionary fruit, he was murdered by an enraged enemy of Christ in his own mission church. Fr. Daniel is not yet canonized as a Saint but his witness, both before and after his repose, has given the faithful confidence in his holy prayers. Full Text:   Why should we dress modestly?   Some people tell me that new converts for some reason come to church every week dressed in long skirts, and they ask me why this is necessary. Zeal in the beginning of a person's entry into the Church is something that is absolutely essential. If a person does not begin his spiritual life zealously, he will never end it well. It is simply indispensable, even when it comes to those details that seem unimportant, such as wearing a skirt. But actually it is not an altogether trivial thing: at times it can be very beneficial for young ladies, if they are habitually flirtatious, to dress in some worn-out skirt; I am sure you will agree that this produces an entirely different feeling. Some find it useful to dress in loose, unfitted jackets for this very same reason: a person has been accustomed to wearing fine clothes. This in and of itself is not virtue: it is a method for overcoming one's passions. If we see it this way then, naturally, everything will be fine.   That being said, when we go to church we should try to dress nicely but not provocatively, because we must go to the house of God as if to a feast. But nevertheless, the outward, ritualistic side of the Church, which people ridicule today, has a real, spiritual significance. It is not about the clothes themselves, but about the heart of the person who dresses up for these reasons. When a person dresses like a peacock, that is one state of soul; and it is another state of soul when a person dresses simply. Eventually a person should arrive at a normal state of soul, when he will be indifferent to what he is wearing: if the clothes are clean--glory to God. Being a new convert has its advantages, but it must grow into wisdom; not lukewarmness, as many think, but into wisdom. One should not wear pants to church, but we are lenient with women in that regard. In Deuteronomy it forbids women to dress in men's clothing and men to dress in women's clothing: The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God (Deut. 22:5). If a man came to church dressed as a woman he would be thrown out, and rightly so. Clothing must convey the difference in gender. I think that for our climate--and this is my personal opinion--we should have Orthodox fashion designers. For the winter there should be an outfit made from pants and a skirt--both at once--so that no one freezes. This would be a marvelous solution. It would be very beautiful and remarkable. It would convey femininity, and on the other hand it would keep women from freezing in their pantyhose. For the rest of the text, please check the YouTube upload of this recording at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BliiHVYngc, or purchase the book, "Questions to Priest Daniel Sysoev" at https://mission-shop.com/product/questions-to-priest-daniel-sysoev/. This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

This excerpt is from “A Call From the Holy Mountain” by Elder Ephraim, written in 1974 (based on the text) and published in English in 1991. Elder Ephraim covers many aspects of the life of the Church, speaking to both monks and laymen. These words may be difficult to hear; they are written by the greatest missionary to America of our times. Let us take heed to stand firm on the teachings of our holy Elder Ephraim lest we fall away from the narrow path.   ---PLEASE SUPPORT the fundraiser and purchase you copy of “Sent by God: The Life of Geronda Ephraim”: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/se...   “Christ's Church is Catholic in the sense that it possesses the entire fullness of the truth and the grace to illuminate and redeem the world; it is, moreover, Catholic in the sense that it tends not to conquer but to sanctify the world. The Head of the Church is Christ and we are members of it connected by the common faith in conjunction with love.”   “The history of the Church is the story of its struggle to sanctify its faithful.”   “…mere knowledge of things divine cannot save us; it is the taste, indeed, the experience of a life in Christ that will do so. And this is so because Christian truth is not an intellectual affair but a living experience of the dogmatic and moral doctrines of the faith and a mysterious and mystic communication between the faithful and its Founder.”   “In cases of deliberate or undeliberate deviation from tradition, judgement has always been, is and shall be pronounced by the sound public opinion of the Church which by right intervenes and restores peace in the Church; peace not truth, for the grace and the truth never abandon the Divine Body of the Church. It abandons those who in wavering ‘concerning faith have made shipwreck, and betray the birthright of the common heritage of those ‘taxed’ in the heavens.”   “Satan did his best to snatch away countless men from the bosom of the Church and to present it before the world as being divided and weak. Now he is again doing his best to unite it into a peculiar union of his own inspiration, using as leaven the formula of ‘love.’ Such has been the plethoric use and abuse of this ‘love’ by so many that others neither wish to hear nor talk about love.” For more quotes from Elder Ephraim, please click the description on the YouTube upload of this podcast. Read the full text here: https://www.scribd.com/document/16671...   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

The first Orthodox priest born in America, St. Sebastian of San Francisco and Jackson is an Apostle to America for having served across its vast land in countless parishes amongst Orthodox and non-Orthodox people of all ethnic backgrounds. Born in San Francisco in 1863, he helped establish the first Serbian Orthodox parish in the Western Hemisphere in Jackson, CA in 1894. He served tirelessly in America and Serbia where he reposed in 1940 at the Zhicha Monastery. In 2007 his holy relics were transferred back to Jackson, CA and in 2015 he was formally canonized a Saint by the Orthodox Church, confirming what the faithful had known for some time--that St. Sebastian's last wish had been granted him: “the Kingdom of Heaven without end.“   This is part five of five of the Life of Saint Sebastian and has been generously offered by our brother Sergius. In part four we read the end of his earthly life and here were read the events surrounding the translation of his relics and his then possible canonization that later happened in 2015.   1. Read the Life of St. Sebastian here (link to PDF at top of page): http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/archi... 2. Read his Catechism "The Holy Orthodox Church" here: https://books.google.com/books?id=5jJ... 3. On the canonization of St. Sebastian and St. Mardarije, including Troparion and Kontakion: https://westsrbdio.org/canonication/ 4. Akathist: https://www.stsavajackson.org/akathis...  This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!