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New Publications

At the Doors of Holy Lent

During the period before the Triodion and the Sundays which marks its beginning, the Church sets forth before our eyes various lessons through the Gospel readings: the grateful Leper, the Blind Man of Jericho, Zacchaeus, the good and faithful Servant of the ‘talents’, the Canaanite woman, the Publican, the Prodical Son and the Righteous on Judgement Day. Through some word, or deed, or attitude, these people all attracted God’s gaze upon them. They became the target of His visitation and traversed centuries in an instant. These suffering souls, who had withered away either because of sin or because of not knowing the true God, came into the presence of the Lord and ‘a spiritual sun, the name of which is persona’, began to rise in them.

Thirst for Life Eternal

Sayings on the Sundays of the Pentecostarion

The meaning of Pentecost is precisely to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which will fill every molecule of our being with the incorruptible love of Christ. It will make our heart vibrate with His life-giving word that testifies with power that ‘though we were dead, yet we shall live’ eternally. The Holy Comforter will render us ‘taught of God’. He will continually initiate us into His mystery, revealing His benefits known and unknown, which make our heart melt with the warmth of His love and be overwhelmed by the only legitimate sorrow, provoked by the awareness that we are unable to thank Him as He deserves and as is befitting unto Him.

Monasticism

The All-embracing Gift
of the Holy Spirit

The paradoxical phenomenon of monasticism is not easily understood, not even by all monks. A true monk puts himself below every creature, verifying Christ’s words: ‘If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all,’ and ‘He that serves is greater than he that sits at meat.’ Who of the children of this age would be so foolish as to desire to put himself lower than all and become ‘a nothing’? But the children of light, who have tasted of immortal life and are led by the Holy Spirit, gladly accept to follow Christ in His descent, which is more wondrous even than His ascent above the heavens. Only those who have tried out this ‘foolishness of Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God’ and were confirmed therein through grace, can muster enough courage to pursue this supernatural exploit.

Theology as a Spiritual State

The word conceived in the silence of prayer is imbued with the uncreated energy of Divinity and brings healing, informing men’s hearts with grace. This path could perhaps be the solution to the problem of the colossal fragmentation of the word observed today. The word that is born in the heart unites man with the current of holy tradition and gives him simplicity Which in the language of theology, is the same as divine fullness. Just as the human body is holy because it is the temple of the Holy Spirt, so also the human word, when it integrates with the perspective of the Divine words becomes channel of grace.

Hearken, my Beloved Brethren

Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov founded in 1959 a monastic community in Essex. He was already 62 years old and in poor health. Unexpectedly, God preserved his life until 1993, and he was able to depart leaving the monastery established on solid foundations. Part of his legacy to his community is a series of talks he gave during the last decade of his life. These talks were destined primarily for those new to monastic life. With considerable reluctance he acceded to our wish to record and transcribe some of his words for posterity.

Ἡ Προσευχή
Ὡς ἀτελεύτητη δημιουργία

Ὅσο περισσότερο τρίβεται κάποιος μὲ τὴ θεία ἐνέργεια στὴν πράξη τῆς προσευχῆς, τόσο ἐξαλείφεται τὸ κάλυμμα τῆς καρδιᾶς. Ὅταν συσσωρευθεῖ αὐτὴ ἡ ἐνέργεια, τὸ κάλυμμα αἴρεται τελείως, ἡ βαθειὰ καρδιὰ ἀνοίγει καὶ τότε ὁ νοῦς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου βρίσκει τὸν τόπο της, ὅπου τελεσιουργεῖται τὸ φοβερὸν τῆς παραστάσεως. Ὁ ὁρατὸς κόσμος ὑποχωρεῖ καὶ ὁ ἀνώτερος, ὁ πνευματικός, γίνεται ψαυστὴ πραγματικότητα. Ὁ νοῦς παύει νὰ διαλογίζεται καὶ σιγᾶ μὲ ἄκρα προσοχή. Ἡ καρδιὰ πληροῦται ἀπὸ ἕνα ζωοποιὸ φόβο εὐλαβείας. Ἡ ἀναπνοὴ συστέλλεται καὶ ὁ Θεὸς γίνεται «τὰ πᾶντα ἐν πᾶσι».

Ὑποστατικὴ προσευχὴ μέτρον τελειώσεως

Ὁ πιστὸς μὲ τὴν ὑπακοή του στὶς θεῖες ἐντολὲς γίνεται «δέσμιος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ»· ἐξαρτᾶται ἀπὸ τὸν Θεὸ καὶ σταδιακὰ καθίσταται τέκνο Θεοῦ, ἀπελευθερωμένο ἀπὸ τὸν νόμο τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ φορέας τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Ἁγίου. Μὲ τὴν πτώση ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἀπώλεσε τὴ μακαριότητα τῆς ἀδιάκοπης παραμονῆς στὴν παρουσία τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μὲ τὴν προσευχὴ οἱ ἀπόγονοι τοῦ Ἀδὰμ γεύονται ἐκ νέου τὴν εὐδαιμονία τῆς θείας παρουσίας καὶ τῆς διαλογῆς μὲ τὸν Κύριο, ποὺ γεννᾶ ἐντὸς τους τὸν πόθο νὰ ἀδολεσχήσουν σὲ αὐτὴν.

Le Visage de Lumière

Les icônes du Christ de Saint Sophrony

Ce livre se propose de présenter les icônes créées par Saint Sophrony dans sa quête pour représenter le Visage du Christ. Mon espoir était de permettre aux icônes et aux peintures murales de parler d’elles-mêmes. Mais nos mentalités modernes sont habituées à une imagerie visuelle qui change rapidement et sans cesse, c’est pourquoi j’ai inséré des citations venant des écrits de Saint Sophrony, afin que le lecteur, ainsi incité à s’arrêter un peu, fasse une expérience plus plénière en regardant la Présence des images. Le linceul de Turin, qui était sa source d’inspiration constante, est la seule image de ce livre qui ne soit pas peinte par Saint Sophrony. Il la considérait comme faite par Dieu Lui-même.

Soif de Dieu

Ce livre présente les fresques qui se trouvent dans un petit réfectoire de la Communauté de Saint Jean Baptiste en Essex, R.U. Elles illustrent la vie de Saint Silouane l’Athonite, père spirituel de Saint Sophrony de l’Athos, fondateur de la communauté. Après la mort de son père spirituel, Saint Sophrony écrivit un livre, Saint Silouane l’Athonite, retraçant la vie du saint et incluant ses écrits. Les fresques, qui suivent le sens des aiguilles d’une montre, se conforment à l’ordre du livre et présentent les moments significatifs de la vie du Saint. Les inscriptions sur les fresques, avec quelques compléments explicatifs, reproduisent le texte de ce livre.

Thank you for continuing to release Fr. Zacharias’s writings. They are incredibly encouraging personally and very helpful for pastoring. As a mission-planting priest, these books have enabled me to connect the hard work we are doing here with God’s desire for our salvation. I hope Fr. Zacharias is able to continue publishing for a long time.

Fr. Joel Wilson @Annunciation Orthodox Christian Church

Our New Calendar for 2023 https://essexmonastery.com/bookshop/2023-calendar/ #calendar #2023 #orthodox #orthodoxchurch #orthodoxchristian #sophrony #srgabriela

Νέο βιβλίο - Ὑποστατικὴ προσευχὴ μέτρον τελειώσεως https://bit.ly/3CqcIBC #sophrony #essexmonastery #clothbound #newbook #prayer #προσευχή #infinitecreation #archimandritezacharias

[...] My timorous soul remained perplexed. I could not see the path ahead. I did not know how to set out on this way of life, where to begin. I...

God becomes tangible through the icon. In this book is shared the lifelong journey of Saint Sophrony in his striving to depict the Face of our Lord and Creator, Jesus...

Following a successful career as a painter, and after a brief period of study at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, Archimandrite Sophrony went to Mt. Athos, there to spend...