Holy Nativity Orthodox Church

One of the difficult transitions or junctures of the spiritual life is the movement between what St. Isaac the Syrian calls the second and t...

In my last blog post , I spoke about the middle way, the way of spiritual discipline that does not err to the left (too lax) or to the right...

The Spiritual Life is Not a Race The Fathers and Mothers of the Church often speak of two ways we err in our pursuit of godliness: to t...

I just received the newsletter from St. Barbara’s Monastery , in Santa Paula, CA.   I consider the Abbess there, Abbess Victoria, my first s...

Berries in my back yard “Until we find love, our labour is in the land of thorns.” Last week I drove from Langley, British Columbi...

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!  That the mountains might shake at your presence.  (Isa. 64:1) A common question p...

What do we confess in confession? The most important thing that we say in confession has little to do with what we say.  The most imp...

“I find myself traveling toward my destiny in the belly of a paradox.” Thomas Merton I am reading Jim Forest’s biography of Thomas Me...

Homily 70 One of the realities of created life in this fallen world is variableness, according to St. Isaac the Syrian.  Variableness is...

In homily 67, St. Isaac gives some signs or markers to help the monk discern whether or not he or she is actually progressing in their sp...