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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 ser- vant of all,’7 and ‘He that serves is greater than he that sits at meat.’8 Who of the children of this age would be so foolish as to desire to put himself lower than all and become ‘a noth- ing’? 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’9 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».

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

[...] 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 felt I was floundering in darkness and asked, What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And the answer came. 'Pray! Pray like St Gregory Palamas who year after year cried out "Lord, enlighten my darkness" and was heard. 'Pray in the words of the hymn, "Make Thine everlasting Light shine forth even on me, a sinner, O Giver of Light" and arm yourself with faith, remembering that the Church does not pray for what is impossible.' *Text from the chapter 'The Light of Tabor' from Saint Sophrony's book 'Truth and Life'. #tabor #mounttabor #mountsinai #sophrony #athonite #essexmonastery #clothbound #dustjacket #transfiguration #moses #elijah #orthodoxiconography #iconography #byzantineiconography

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 Christ. #essexmonastery #faceofchrist #faceoflight #sophrony #iconography #byzantineart #newbooks #orthodoxart #srgabriela

New Publications

At the Doors of Holy Lent

Thirst for Life Eternal

Sayings on the Sundays of the Pentecostarion

Monasticism

The All-embracing Gift of the Holy Spirit

Theology as a Spiritual State

Hearken, my Beloved Brethren

Ἡ Προσευχή Ὡς ἀτελεύτητη δημιουργία

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The All-embracing Gift
of the Holy Spirit

Ἡ Προσευχή
Ὡς ἀτελεύτητη δημιουργία