TEXTS IN ENGLISH

The Tragic Two-sidedness of Our World
FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD we are constantly confronted by the unpleasant fact that the world in which we live is two-sided and contradictory.

On one hand, it is majestic and beautiful. Nature enchants us with her beauty, her immenseness and her gentleness. Life beckons to us with all its riddles and (so it seems) its boundless possibilities. We sometimes feel within ourselves great energy and ability. We think that everything has been set up for our happiness, our enjoyment and our progress.

The Laws of Nature and Morality

Among the innumerable ethical laws and rules that regulate human behavior the most concise, clear and important are the Ten commandments. Although they were written many thousands of years ago when social conditions were drastically different from ours, their importance and authority has not diminished. To the contrary, the more our lives are entangled with contradictory opinions about what is right and what is wrong, the more we need the clear and unambiguous guidance of our Creator and Law-Giver.

Small Blessing of a Few “Nuts.”

Fr. Paisios - Mount Athos
I once again thank the Good God Who does not loathe me, His detestable child, but as an affectionate Father always provides His blessings for me, even more so on feast days like today, the day of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. All those who devote themselves to God, in imitation of the Panagia (Panagia: one of the names bestowed upon the Most Holy Mother of God by Greek Orthodox Christians. Literally, “All Holy.") keep this day with particular reverence.

The Elder’s Love.

Elder Paisios the New of Mount Athos
In the words of H. Middleton, author of the recently published Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit, Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, “perhaps more than any other contemporary elder, has captured the minds and hearts of Greek people” (H. Middleton, Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece, Thessalonica, Greece: Protecting Veil Press, 2003, p. 129). Although not nearly as well known in the English-speaking world as in his homeland, this holy Elder also has much to say to contemporary spiritual seekers in the West. In his life and teachings, we can find a key by which to go deeper into the heart of the Orthodox Christian Faith.

A Trip to Optina
O Holy Optina! What heart would not tremble, recalling you? O unforgettable days - the days of my stay in that holy monastery! Who will give me the power of creativity, so as to worthily and faithfully reproduce that whole picture, in all its artistic grandeur, which I contemplated there, which enraptured me there?

Introduction
This booklet appears as the first in a series of collections, from which we intend to publish the selected instructions of Orthodox ascetic fathers concerning Christian living. In compiling this first collection, the following books were used: Five tome collection of “Philokalia” (edited by Theophan the Recluse); “The Ladder” of Blessed John, Abbot of the Sinai hills; “Spiritually Beneficial Instructions” of Abba Dorotheos; “Unseen War” of St.Nikodemus of the Holy Mount; thoughts of Sylian of Athos; “Otechnik” of Bishop Ignatius Branchaninov, and other various ascetic collections. From these works, we have selected those instructions that apply to people living secular lives, and disregarded those sections that are essentially relevant to a monastic or reclusive environment.

In 1793 an ecclesiastical mission was composed in Valaam Monastery and sent to preach the Word of God to the natives of Northwestern America, who ten years before had come under Russian rule. Among the members of this mission was the Monk Herman, the future Elder of Spruce Island.

Since Christianity has been in existence for two thousand years, one might expect that the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ would have been studied in depth, understood, and thoroughly explained by this time. However, the presence of so many sects of Christianity proves that this is far from being the case. While in most of the exact sciences knowledge has built upon itself, becoming universalized and communicable to those in its common project, it appears that the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ becomes more and more fragmentary and distorted. The reason for this is not so much the difficulty of understanding the truths of Christianity as an unwillingness to grasp and accept what is most important in Christianity: why the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, and what is the essence of His teaching.

Here, the reader may think that we ourselves are somewhat confused, for even children know that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth in order to save mankind. His very name, Jesus, tells us this, since it means Saviour. The problem is that the meaning of this salvation cannot be understood outside the context of the Bible’s teaching concerning the purpose of the creation of mankind.

It is a great good to give oneself up to the will of God. Then the Lord alone is in the soul. No other thought can enter in, and the soul feels God’s love, even though the body be suffering.

Biografia Archimandrite Gabriel (Vuckovic)

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