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Latter-day Fathers

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain

Gerontissa Gabrielia

Elder Germanos of Stavrovouni

Stories from the Desert Fathers

On Good and Evil

On Lasciviousness

On Avarice

On Repetance

On Prayer

On Fasting

On Labour

On Confession

On Matrimony

On Holy Communion

Gerontikon of
Mt. Athos

Elder Joseph the Hesychast and the teaching of mental prayer which flowed
from his letters

Prayer of the heart for the Faithfull Living in the world

With the Fathers

On the Necessity of Constant Prayer for all Christians

Hermas: The Shepherd

First Vision

Second Vision

Third Vision

Fourth Vision

Fifth Vision

First Commandment

Second
Commandment

Third Commandment

Forth Commandment

Fifth Commandment

Sixth Commandment

Seventh
Commandment

Eighth Commandment

Ninth Commandment

Tenth Commandment

Eleventh
Commandment

Twelwth
Commandment

First Similitude

Second Similitude

Third Similitude

Forth Similitude

Fifth Similitude

Sixth Similitude

Seventh Similitude

Eighth Similitude

Ninth Similitude

Tenth Similitude

St. John Chrysostom - Homily on the passage <Father if it be possible...>

Symeon of
Thessaloniki -
All should pray in the
name of Jesus Christ

Basil of Caesarea - Letter 234 to Amphilochius

Basil of Caesarea - On the Holy Spirit 66-68

The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp

St. John Chrysostom Instructions to Catechumens

First Instruction (1)

First Instruction (2)

First Instruction (3)

First Instruction (4)

First Instruction (5)

Second Instruction (1)

Second Instruction (2)

Second Instruction (3)

Second Instruction (4)

Second Instruction (5)

St. John Chrysostom Three homilees concering the power
of demons

Introduction

Homily 1

Homily 2

STORIES FROM THE DESERT FATHERS 

ON LABOUR

For praying and for psalms - just like many other things - every moment is suitable, therefore we should praise the Lord, not only by using our hands as we work, but also with our tongue whenever we can, which is even more capable of strengthening our faith. If, however, we cannot pray in a loud voice, then let us praise the Lord within our hearts, with psalms and hymns and spiritual odes as the Scriptures tell us; let us say our prayer during our working hours : namely, we can thank Him for giving strength to our hands for labouring, and for the mind's capacity for science; for granting us the materials from which we made our tools, and the materials which we use in our crafts, whichever they may be; and to pray that the labours of our hands have no other purpose, than to please God. 


HOSIOS MARK THE ASCETIC

Whatsoever we may do without prayer and guileless faith, will later prove to be harmful and imperfect.

Pray continuously for every single thing, so that you do nothing without the help of God.


HOSIOS NEILOS THE ASCETIC

Entrust the needs of your body to God, and then it will be obvious that you have also entrusted the needs of your spirit to Him.

Is it perhaps we who have succeeded in acquiring the necessary things in life ? It is God who looks after our life. Man's attempts, if not aided by God, are doomed to fail, while divine providence - even without man's cooperation - will provide the perfect necessities. How did they benefit from their own attempts, to whom God said "you have sown much, but gathered little, and I have scattered even that, from your hands".

And which necessities were lacking, to those who lived virtuously, without giving any thought to them ? Didn't the Israelites live in the desert for forty years, without any of those things which agriculture produces ? They did not lack any sustenance whatsoever; indeed, the sea produced extraordinary sustenance - quail; and the skies rained manna, an unusual and strange rain. And the rock, which was absolutely dry, cracked open and gave plentiful water. As for clothing and shoes, even these endured, throughout all that time , because they did not suffer any wear.

And what agriculture gave sustenance to Elijah, during the time he was in the ravine ? Didn't the crows bring him food ? And when he went to Sarephtha , wasn't he given bread by a widow, who took it from the mouths of her own children ? To thus highlight how virtue is far more precious, even more than the maternal instinct. (…….)

Why therefore do we dash to the ground this heavenly lifestyle, and sink into material anxieties ? And enrobe ourselves with manure, we, who once wore royal robes ?

As Jeremiah said, in his laments : "when we reside within meanings bright and burning, we don royal robes" and when we depart from this condition to participate in earthly conditions, we dress ourselves with manure.

Why do we take our hope away from God, and rely on our own hands and thus attribute God's providence to our own powers ?

Job had cursed this stance, saying that if he himself possessed it, it should be considered his greatest sin; that is, to bring his own hand to his mouth, and to kiss it.

This is what we are doing now, and yet we do not fear. Because most people are accustomed to kissing their hands passionately, saying that they earn their living with them. It is these people which the Law implies, when it says "he that walks on his hands is unclean; and he that walks on all fours, is thoroughly unclean". He that walks on his hands, relies on his hands and places all his hopes on them; he that walks on all fours, is he that agonizes over tangible things, and has his attention focused on them perpetually. 

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