St. Isaac the Syrian is also known as St. Isaac of Nineveh, because he lived in the 7th century in what is today Iraq, and is one of the most renowned of all the ascetic saints of the Orthodox Church. He composed many prayers that are scattered throughout his writings. May his prayer for those …
Prayer Words for Today
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. …
New Beginnings
"I believe, help my unbelief!" Those could be our words every day, especially in this time of daily fear and uncertainty. Is today the day that I will begin showing symptoms of the Covid-19 virus? Every day we ask God to help our unbelief, the attacks of fear and uncertainty in our lives. And every …
Where Distance Disappears
One member of our congregation told me the other day that she saw this time of social distancing as a time of retreat with herself. Isn’t that a wonderful way to see this thing we now call "social distancing"? And isn’t social distancing itself a rather poor label? We are social beings, after all. Haven’t …
As darkness and sorrow grow
We are living in a time of sorrow. Italy and several other countries are being ravaged by the Coronavirus and people are living in fear. Many parts of the United States are only now taking strong measures, and there still persist much denial and irresponsible behavior. I pray that the actions being taken now will …
Rilke: The Buddha
As if he were listening: stillness, distance. We hold our breath and cease to hear it. He is like a star surrounded by other stars we cannot see. He is all things. Do we really expect him to notice us? What need could he have? If we prostrated ourselves at his feet, he would …
God, our Neighbor in Isolation
You, God, who live next door:If at times, through the long night, I trouble youwith my urgent knocking—this is why: I hear you breathe so seldom.I know you’re all alone in that room.If you should be thirsty, there’s no oneto get you a glass of water.I wait listening, always. Just give me a sign!I’m right …
The Best Apophatic Theologian
A case of contradictories, both of them true.There is a God. There is no God.Where is the problem? I am quite sure thatthere is a God in the sense that I amsure my love is no illusion. I am quite surethere is no God, in the sense that I am surethere is nothing which resembles …
Words of a Thirsty Soul
Give me a drink of you. My mouth wide open, I breathe in.What you say to me (to us) is: breath and life.I receive the mission to be a wellspring: it's You in me, leaping up into eternal Life.A mission to breathe. These words were written in 1994 in his journal, by Christophe Lebreton, the …
The Bible in the Marketplace
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:1-13) The Orthodox Church reads these opening words of the Bible on the first day of Lent. But the Church also reads Isaiah 1:1-20. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken…” The …
Ancient Answers 