Tag: humility
The cult of pure illusion
One of the most widespread errors of our time is a superficial “personalism” which identifies the “person” with the external self, the empirical ego, and devotes itself solemnly to the cultivation of this ego. But this is the cult of a pure illusion, the illusion of what is popularly imagined to be “personality” or worse… Read More ›
Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.
Peter came to Rome! What else but obedience to the inspiration received from the Lord could have guided him and brought him to this city, the heart of the Empire? Perhaps the fisherman of Galilee did not want to come here. Perhaps he would have preferred to stay there, on the shores of Lake of… Read More ›
Don’t Give in to Discouragement
Psychologists tell us that one of the chief evils of our age, an evil apparently less evident in earlier ages, is that of easy defeat. Be this as it may, most people who are honest with themselves would probably have to admit to indulging in despondency. They are fortunate if they have nothing worse to… Read More ›
True solitude
True solitude is found in humility, which is infinitely rich. False solitude is the refuge of pride, and it is infinitely poor. The poverty of false solitude comes from an illusion which pretends, by adorning itself in things it can never possess, to distinguish one individual self from the mass of other men. True solitude… Read More ›
Walk with humility and purity
One day, less than six months after (St. Theodore’s) entry among the brothers, he came to our abba Pachomius shedding copious tears. Abba Pachomius said to him, ‘Why are you weeping?’ For he had often been astonished at seeing this propensity to tears in him, although he was so new. He answered, ‘I would like you,… Read More ›
Our Inner Self
There is and can be no special planned technique for discovering and awakening one’s inner self, because the inner self is first of all a spontaneity that is nothing if not free. Therefore there is no use in trying to start with a definition of the inner self, and then deducing from its essential properties… Read More ›
Divine humility alone can lift you up
With what words shall we bless the love of God and how can we express our thanks? He has loved us so much that for our sake He, who is eternal and older than the universe itself, has become younger than most of his servants in the world! Like an infant, he cried speechlessly, even… Read More ›
About choice
People have different understandings about faith, what it is, why some have it and others don’t and also as one matures, the above understandings change, it seems to be a life long process. A slow maturing that never ends, an ever deepening adventure for those who are on the path….. pilgrims who learn to deal… Read More ›
St. Gregory the Great
We encountered Abba John the Persian at the Lavra of Monidia and he told us this about Gregory the Great, the most blessed Bishop of Rome: “I went to Rome to pray at the tombs of the most blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. One day as I was standing in the city-centre I saw that… Read More ›
The deadly weight of pride
But how shall we, casting off the deadly weight of pride, descend to saving humility? lf such an aim governed our conduct under all circumstances, we should not overlook the least detail on the ground that we would suffer no harm therefrom. The soul comes to take on a resemblance to its preoccupations and it… Read More ›