What is discernment – How one acquires it – Where it is applied – What its results are Introduction Among all the paths of the spiritual life, none is as delicate, as refined, and as difficult as the path of discernment. All the Fathers without exception teach that discernment is: the barometer of spiritual health, the instrument by which a Christian distinguishes God’s will from deception, the mother of the virtues, the crown of spiritual maturity, the eye of the soul, the g

What Is Ecumenism? Traps, Methods, and Orthodox Positions Is Ecumenism a Heresy? What Do the Fathers and Saints Say? INTRODUCTION The 20th and 21st centuries are marked by great changes in the Christian world: dialogues between confessions, movements for “unity,” the development of interreligious relations, and a general perception that theological differences are “secondary.” These tendencies have taken institutional form through the movement of Ecumenism. The problem, howev

Introduction In the life of the Orthodox Church, no action, no prayer, no feast, and no celebration surpasses the Divine Liturgy. It is the “sacrament of sacraments,” the “holy work,” the very revelation of the Kingdom of God breaking into the world. When we speak about thanksgiving—whether in the American civil sense of “Thanksgiving Day” or in the Christian theological sense—we must begin and end with the Eucharist. The word Eucharist (εὐχαριστία) itself means “thanksgiving