• When we think back to the places where we felt most at home, we quickly see that it was where our hosts gave us the precious freedom to come and go on our own terms and did not claim us for their own needs. Only in a free space can re-creation take place and new life be found. The real host is the one who offers that space where we do not have to be afraid and where we can listen to our own inner voices and find our own personal way of being human. But to be such a host we have to first of all be at home in our own house.

    —Henri Nouwen

  • Even if I hold the ‘correct’ opinion, even the opinion of a saint or of all of the saints, even the clear opinion of the Holy Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, if I hold such a correct opinion and I harbour in my heart conceit or selfish ambition or I look out mostly for my own interests rather than for the interests of others, then I am not of the same mind with any saint or with the Church—no matter how correct my opinion is or isn’t.

    Being of One Mind: What It Is and Isn’t
    ARCHPRIEST MICHAEL GILLIS | 27 FEBRUARY 2021

  • “Nothing ever happens either in the world or in the universe without the will of God or His permission. All that is good and noble is God’s will, and all that is negative and bad happens because He allows it. He knows why He allows these things to happen and for how long. If the incorporeal angelic powers or we men were allowed to do as we please, there would be total chaos in the world and in the entire universe. But God is present everywhere and He is Light, a Light that penetrates all.” 

    —Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

  • In the end, both the optimist and the pessimist have it wrong, because each is looking at only part of the evidence. When we open our eyes to the fullness of reality, what we find is a chiaroscuro canvas of both darkness and light. The totality of evidence elicits in us something like ‘melancholic joy’: a grateful and uninhibited joy for the goodness of being, but one tinged by sadness at the pervasiveness of evil and melancholy because it all comes to an end. Seeing the evil in the world helps us to live well while we can, because death is coming for us all, and entropy is gnawing at the fringes of our existence. And seeing the goodness helps us to live gratefully, softening the sting of reality.

    The ‘melancholic joy’ of living in our brutal, beautiful world

  • But the moments of silence lead infallibly to profound decisions, wordless decisions, a gift of my inmost “self”. Conversions take place silently and not in spectacular gestures. Returning to God, burying oneself in him, this total gift, these moments of intimacy with God are always mysterious and secret.

    +Cardinal Sarah

  • Learn to be silent more, and you will not sin and judge others. When you will cease complaining and will zealously care for the sick for God’s sake, then you will be freed from your illnesses, not only of the body, but also of the soul. If after your correction the illness does not leave, then it means that for your patience you will be given a crown in the future unending life.

    —St. Joseph of Optina

  • Never be afraid of the sword if your conscience does not accuse you; never be afraid in war if your conscience is clear.

    Saint John Chrysostom
    HOMILY TWO, After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive
    On the Vanity of Riches

  • And should the whole world insult you, yet if you dost not insult yourself you are not insulted.

    The only real betrayal is the betrayal of the conscience: betray not your own conscience, and no one can betray you.

    Saint John Chrysostom
    HOMILY TWO, After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive
    On the Vanity of Riches

  • The main question is: “Do you own your pain?” As long as you do not own your pain—that is, integrate your pain into your way of being in the world—the danger exists that you will use the other to seek healing for yourself. When you speak to others about your pain without fully owning it, you expect something from them that they cannot give. As a result, you will feel frustrated, and those you wanted to help will feel confused, disappointed, or even further burdened.

    But when you fully own your pain and do not expect those to whom you minister to alleviate it, you can speak about it in true freedom. Then sharing your struggle can become a service; then your openness about yourself can offer courage and hope to others.

    —Henri Nouwen

  • While therapy can be useful in learning how to cope with trauma, I think ultimately what’s needed is other human beings.

    I think often times, someone needs to reach into our broken world and physically pull us out of it. They need to shake us and wake us out of the melancholic daze we walk around in after we’ve been hurt.

    On Healing
    Ruby