Category Archives: Theophan the Recluse

Test the Rule

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Administrator

We should test the straightness or crookedness of the rules and the ascetic feats which we may have in mind and undertake. This necessity of being turned inwardly towards God must be fully recognized, because all the errors in the … Continue reading →

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The Leaven

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Administrator

It reveals itself, as we saw earlier, by the involuntary longing to withdraw within and stand before God. Here the soul has no power of its own… Continue reading →

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The inward temple

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Administrator

it is not enough for you to appear before the face of the Lord in the temple, which is outside of you. You must also erect a temple of the Lord within yourselves … Continue reading →

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Have a spiritual father

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Administrator

Know that true success is achieved within, unconsciously, and happens as imperceptibly as the growth of the human body. Continue reading →

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Be Still and Silent

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Administrator

unless you work and sweat to impress on your heart and mind this awe-inspiring Name, you keep silence in vain, you sing in vain, you fast in vain, you watch in vain. Continue reading →

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Prayerful Surrender

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Administrator

and instead we begin to thirst and to search only for what is spiritual, pure, and divine….the heart comes to be filled with a sense of being but a pilgrim on earth, whose whole longing is for his heavenly home. Continue reading →

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The Hermitage of the Heart

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Administrator

The habit of walking before God and keeping Him in remembrance—such is the air we breathe in the spiritual life. Continue reading →

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Hidden Treasure

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Administrator

Every effort that you make in prayer must be directed towards this… Continue reading →

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Falsely Accused

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Administrator

‘Be pious, and thou shalt comprehend the providence of God. Ponder in thy thoughts what thou hast thought and what thou hast done… Continue reading →

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The Purpose

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Administrator

And it is this second kind that constitutes real work. It consists primarily in the unceasing remembrance of God,… Continue reading →

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