At times, people come to our monastery with concerns about close friends and relatives who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disease, or some other such disorder. Often they ask, “Is this really mental illness or is it demonic possession?” So, from the practical need to give a helpful response to such heart-breaking questions, we
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Types Of Depression – How Suffering Heals – The Orthodox View
Depression (from the Latin word depressio, which means to press, oppress) is a subnormal, depressed mood, accompanied by lethargy, fatigue, and a dull and pessimistic assessment of the situation. Mankind has known this suffering since time immemorial—since the time when the Fall of a man occurred. Yet Hippocrates described a similar mental state, which was referred
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COMING INTO A MYSTICAL WAY OF SEEING
Father Karl Rahner (1904-1984), a well-known German Jesuit Roman Catholic priest and theologian, claimed: “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.” When we look at the continuing decline in organized Christianity and its churches and its seeming irrelevance in the lives of many people, I believe this
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Faith, Resolve, and Deliverance from the Bondage of Sin
The following sermon was delivered in 1978, when the fourth Sunday after Pentecost fell shortly after the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul. Fr. Vsevolod’s comments regarding the Apostles’ Fast nonetheless remain valuable to those still observing the fast. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
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Why And How To Control Your Tongue – St Nicodemos
The greatest necessity of all is to control and curb our tongue. The mover of the tongue is the heart: what fills the heart is poured out through the tongue. And conversely, when feeling is poured out of the heart by the tongue, it becomes strengthened and firmly rooted in the heart. Therefore the tongue
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CAN YOU REPENT AFTER YOU DIE?
CAN THE DEAD REPENT? Fr. John Whiteford If someone dies without repentance, is it possible for such a person to repent after death? Fr. John Whiteford answers this question through the writings of the holy fathers of the Church. Scripture, as explained by the Fathers of the Church, states that this is not possible. Psalm
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The Eight Deadly Sins ( St. John Cassian )
Our venerable and God-bearing Father John Cassian was a 4th/5th century monastic saint known for his writings on the monastic life and for his correctives of the anti-Pelagian writings of St. Augustine of Hippo. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is February 29th (celebrated on February 28th in non leap years), and it
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VIDEO: THE NATURE OF DEPRESSION
In this video. Fr. Dmitrius Basalygo speaks about depression, which the holy fathers considered one of the most severe passions of the soul, which hinders us from taking up our Cross and becoming that which Christ created us to be. Fr. Dmitrius Basalygo St. Elisabeth Convent Orthodox Church Stillwater OK
Sunday of the Prodigal Son – Involuntary Fasting
By now you know that we are firmly in the Pre-Lenten period. We are only two short weeks away from the start of the awesome and wondrous struggle that we call Great and Holy Lent. Here during this time before the great fast, the Church gives us of her milk in order to prepare us
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MIRACLE ON ATHOS: INCORRUPT BODY OF ASCETIC FOUND
A miracle has occurred on Mt. Athos—the body of a deceased monk has been found to be without any signs of corruption and not emitting any foul smell, a month and a half after his repose. The deceased monk Fr. Stephen labored in the skete of Kavsokalyvia for forty years. Fr. Stephen led an
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