Periodically in the coming months I will be utilizing a little book translated from Russian titled simply Three-Hundred Sayings of the Ascetics of the Orthodox Church. The purpose of the book is simple: to give short sayings from Orthodox saints on a variety of topics important to all of us. I have found this little collection helpful and I hope you do, too. -Fr John How do We Relate to God? Always have the fear of God in your heart, and remember that God is always with you,

Periodically in the coming months I will be utilizing a little book translated from Russian titled simply Three-Hundred Sayings of the Ascetics of the Orthodox Church. The purpose of the book is simple: to give short sayings from Orthodox saints on a variety of topics important to all of us. I have found this little collection helpful and I hope you do, too. -Fr John I. God and Us Happiness How mistaken are those people who seek happiness outside of themselves, in foreign la

Every year on the feast of All Saints of America we hear in the Gospel reading of Christ calling the disciples to follow Him. Even though this Gospel is technically not the reading for All Saints of America (it is, rather, the lectionary reading for this Sunday) it is, still, rather appropriate. For the American saints, unlike those of other lands, are mostly a group who quite literally left their homelands to “follow Christ” to America. "Following Christ,” in many segments o

by Monk Moses the Athonite Today is the Sunday of All Saints, and who thinks about how the main purpose of our life on this earth is to acquire holiness? Yes, we exist to become saints. The failure of this achievement is the greatest tragedy of human existence. But how is holiness considered today? What is our stance before it? How do we view it? How do we live it? How can we find it and not lose it? How do we use it, perhaps even exploit it? Holiness does not eliminate the h