From the Little Mountain

Filmed and edited by the monks themselves, From 
the Little Mountain takes you through a year at the
hermitage of the Holy Cross in West Virginia. Herein
is portrayed some of the beauty and struggle of 
monastic life using quotes from the Scriptures and 
the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. 

Insights about monastic life from one of the senior 
monks at the monastery are given as you are
visually taken through the Church liturgical year
and the changing seasons in the mountains. This is
a unique documentary of an Orthodox monastery
in the 21st century, but the imagery and principles
set forth are as ancient (and relevant) as those
written by the 6th century instructor of monks,
Abba Dorotheos. For more info, please visit:
Holy Cross Hermitage

Please consider making a donation to 
Holy Cross Hermitage here.

"Everyday Saints" Revealing Secret Lives of Saints in Russia's Orthodox Literature

One of the most popular books among Russian readers right now could be considered a modern version of the lives of the saints, 'Everyday Saints' (by Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov), a book about the lives of monks and priests written by a monk is sitting on the Russian bestseller lists and selling out its print runs. Please continue reading from the Pravoslavie website.

Which is more pleasing to God: a life of mortification in the wilderness or works of mercy?

Christ heals the Blind and the Lame

A Reflection from the Prologue of Ochrid by
St Nikolai Velimirovich
July 18


Men of prayer in the wilderness think that man among men, no matter
how many good works he performs, will find it difficult to safeguard the
purity of the heart and to direct the mind toward God. Benefactors of
men say: that the man in the wilderness is totally occupied with his
own salvation and does not help in the salvation of others.

Two Egyptian brothers, Paisius and Isaiah, inherited a great estate from
their parents, sold the estate and each took their share of the money.
One of them immediately distributed his money to the poor, became a
monk and withdrew into the wilderness to lead a strict life of asceticism
that through patience, fasting, prayer and purifying the mind from all
evil thoughts in order to save his soul.

The other brother likewise became a monk, but did not want to enter
the wilderness rather he built a small monastery near the town, a
hospital for the sick, a public refectory [dining room] for the needy and
a resting place for the sorrowful. He dedicated himself completely to
the service of his fellow men.

When both brothers died, a dispute ensued among the monks of Egypt:
which of the two fulfilled the law of Christ? Unable to agree among
themselves they came to St. Pambo and questioned him about this.
St. Pambo replied: "Both are perfect before God; the hospitable one is
 similar to the hospitable Abraham and the ascetical one is similar to
Elijah the Prophet, both of whom equally pleased God."

But not all the monks were satisfied with this response. Then St. Pambo
prayed to God to reveal the truth to him. After praying for several days,
St. Pambo said to the monks: "Before God I tell you that I saw both
brothers Paisius and Isaiah together in Paradise." With this, the dispute
was settled and all were satisfied.

Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet

What Orthodox Iconography Is, by Photios Kontoglou

Christ at the Well Icon by Manuel Panselinos 14th c.
Source

The religion of Christ is the revelation, by Him, of the truth.
And this truth is the knowledge of the true God and of the
spiritual world. But the spiritual world is not what men used
to—and still do—call "spiritual."Christ calls His religion "new
wine" and "bread that cometh down from Heaven." The
Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. The old things have passed away: behold,
all things have become new."

In a religion like this, one that makes the believer into a "new
man," everything is "new." So, too, the art that gradually took
form out of the spirit of this religion, and which it invented to
express its Mystery, is a "new" art, one not like any other, just
as the religion of Christ is not like any other, in spite of what
some may say who have eyes only for certain meaningless
externals.

The architecture of this religion, its music, its painting, its
sacred poetry, insofar as they make use of material media,
nourish the souls of the faithful with spirit. The works
produced in these media are like steps that lead them from
earth up to heaven, from this earthly and temporary state to
that which is heavenly and eternal: This takes place so far as
is possible with human nature.

For this reason, the arts of the Church are anagogical, that is,
they elevate natural phenomena and submit them to "the
beautiful transformation." They are also called "liturgical"
arts, because through them man tastes the essence of the
liturgy by which God is worshipped and through which man
becomes like unto the Heavenly Hosts and perceives immortal
life.

Ecclesiastical liturgical painting, the painting of worship, took
its form above all from Byzantium, where it remained the
mystical Ark of Christ’s religion and was called hagiographia
or sacred painting. As with the other arts of the Church, the
purpose of hagiographia is not to give pleasure to our carnal
sense of sight, but to transform it into a spiritual sense, so
that in the visible things of this world we may see what
surpasses this world.

Please continue reading this article here, the wonderful
Orthodox blog, 'Full of Grace and Truth'.

Self Portrait of Photios Kontogou

Humility by Elder Sergei of Vanves

This book is available from St John's Monastery Bookstore

"Humility is both the foundation of the spiritual life, and along with

love, its peak. 

God resists the proud, but He gives His Grace to the humble. The

Elder repeated the teaching of St Isaac the Syrian, who said that

no one can approach God except through humility. Without

humility we cannot do anything at all. Without humility, our

entire spiritual life becomes utterly meaningless and all of  our 

other virtues become totally worthless. Therefore we must

seek humility above all. Humility along with love is one

of the higher, more direct paths to salvation.

We must seek humility rather than holiness, because any 

holiness we might acquire without humility is nothing but

vain pretension. After all, the demons are nothing but fallen

angels who were perfect by virtue of being angels, but who became

demons by forgetting humility. This very same fate shall

be ours if we look for holiness without first acquiring

humility.

We should test our level of humility not just before

God but before our neighbor. We do this by not

concerning ourselves with our neighbor's reactions

to our humility, meaning that we shouldn't be upset

by our neighbor's sense of superiority when he 

encounters our humility nor should we fear that we

will be abused because of our humility. The Elder

remarked that there were many men in the past who

profited from the humility of the saints. The only thing

that matters to the humble man is what God thinks

of our attitude."

Elder Sergei of Vanves, Life & Teachings p.76-77 , by

Jean-Claude Larchet, Divine Ascent Press,

Manton, CA 2012

"Knowing God, Suffering for Him and Loving His People: The Personal Experience of the Parish Priest"

Dr Harry Boosalis - Professor of Dogmatic Theology
St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary

South Canaan, PA 18459

Dr Boosalis delivered a series of lectures for the Antiochian
Diocese of the West earlier this year. The lectures are

concerned with the spiritual life as it pertains to the priesthood

but there is much in these lectures that can be of benefit for

us all. The professor is an excellent speaker and the subject

of the lectures is of utmost importance for both the clergy

and the laity alike.

To listen to these lectures please go here.
Or click on the individual links below;


Opening Remarks by his Eminence Archbishop Joseph
This must be one of the best speeches I have ever had the blessing to 
listen to, by his Eminence. "He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches." Rev. 2:7 NKJV 

Introductory Presentation by Dr. Harry Boosalis

Basic Themes on the Orthodox Spiritual Life

Basic Themes Q&A

On Suffering

On Suffering Q&A

Love, the Pastor's Path Towards Holiness

Love Q&A

The Practice of Prayer

Knowledge of God, the Personal Experience of the Local Parish Priest

Knowledge of God Q&A

Closing Remarks by his Eminence Archbishop Joseph

Mount Athos; the Monastery of Vatopaidi and Karoulia

The Russian crew of 'Channel One" films the Russian
monks and hermits in Mount Athos for the film
"Athos - to Reach the Heavens."

"The way (of life of) the characters of this film is not
by chance called heroic. The monks are different
from other people; Greek and Russian, Serbian and
English, even the Brazilians. They live outside the
world, but their prayer keeps the world. Athanasius
from Russia, Sergey from Ukraine, Feodoh from
Georgia. The three fates, three roads came together
to God in the Holy Mount." From the YouTube site

This video is amazing, especially the part where it
shows the hermits in Karoulia. You  can see a monk
walking on the steep side of a mountain while
holding onto a chain until he reaches his cave. 

Here one can also see how much love the monks
have for their departed brethren and how they
preserve their relics.

The video is in Russian with no subtitles, sorry,
but very much worth seeing.