I have noticed, repeatedly, in biographies, that the saints who were renowned for their apology for the orthodox faith, were characterized by their chastity and their love for the poor. The commandment left by Paul in a farewell speech to the elders of the Church at Ephesus (Acts 20:18-36), lives on in the saints. It ...

The active Word is an icon. Be, yourself, what you wish the others to be. This is the essence of testimony.

My love for you is no joke, these words which Saint Angela Di Foligno (+1309) testified that Jesus has said to her, have been generalized by Stan Rougier in his book "Aime et tu vivras" (Love and you shall live). Rougier said: "let God convince you that His love for you is no joke". What ...

A part of us has gone with Mathieu, your son and our brother in the Living Christ. On this day, I am writing to you, from an aching distance, to offer my condolences with this familiar expression we read in papers conveying your heartbreaking news: "Christ is Risen!". This expression we utter in the Paschal ...

A week ago, my grandson James fell ill and the effects of his illness linger on. What happened is that he passed the infection to his pregnant mother and to me too. At home, we got worried. Most of the symptoms resemble the Coronavirus symptoms (that had prevailed over the boy and his parents at ...

My friend Nour Massouh sent me a screenshot of a dialogue that took place between two deacons from a sister Church. "Where do you want to spend your life, in Canada, Australia or France..., or do you want to remain in your country, Lebanon, to die in it a death that most probably will be ...

Days ago, I have been told, by close friends, that the administration of St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology, at Balamand, had decided to enjoin those who live on its campus to take the vaccine against COVID-19, in order to spend the forthcoming year in a normal manner. What did this piece of news ...

The apostle's words about the gifts of the Holy Spirit are words about the living Church in her journey to her wholeness (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), they are enduring words to the brethren in the Church, both clergy and laity. There is no perfection in anything other than in receiving the gifts of the Holy ...

If you see anyone neglecting to obey the commandment to love, do not let him out of your sight for one single moment. Give him your faces, and try, with your friendship and your wisdom, to summon him to obedience. If he does not respond to you, do not be in a hurry to judge ...

Saint Theophanes the Recluse (+1894), who had abandoned the archiepiscopate for a monastery in order to fully dedicate himself to the ministry of the Word and to prayer, said in one of his pastoral letters: "What the Russian Church most needed, was "a band of firebrands," which would set the world on fire". How wonderful ...