About temptations

…Without temptations no one can be saved… Much can be said about someone based on his reaction to temptation. Some murmur quietly, some judge the offender, some make a loud fuss, and some altogether become enraged and seek vengeance; rarely, some quietly, with tears thank God for correction, offer Him a heart that is broken …

On giving of thanks

The holy apostle Paul teaches us to thank the Lord always and in all things. However, the feeling of gratitude, for the most part, is familiar to us only when all things are smooth, when everything is going our way. Alas, in times of temptations our first reaction is grumbling, vexation, irritation. All of this …

About murmuring

Nothing blinds our reason as much as murmuring does. Complaints about life, about people, about circumstances, about all things around, like poison slowly kill the human soul. Probably, we could compare murmuring to cancer, which grows within unnoticeably, yet mercilessly undermines a person’s health, depriving the individual of strength and – being left without treatment …

Transfiguration of the Lord

Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could bear it; so that when they should see Thee crucified, they would know that Thy suffering was voluntary, and would proclaim to the world that Thou art truly the Radiance of the Father.Kondakion of the …