A Self Account: Proper confession accompanied with repentance and regret needs preparation; which is called self account. Be strict and accurate with yourself. Compare God’s kind and good dealings with your denial and harshness towards Him. Compare your life with the lifes of saints. Remember St. Peter’s words, “If the righteous one is scarcely saved,…

Reading, in general, gathers the mind from its wandering and leads it to concentrate on the subject of the reading. When the topic of reading changes, the kind of thoughts will change also. St. Mar Isaac said, "Remembering virtuous people renews in us the desire of virtue. Therefore, spiritual reading does not gather the mind…

Why did the church choose the Psalms of David the Prophet and organise them into an Agbia? I do not want to answer this question with my own words but I want you to hear what St John Chrysostom says, “We read the Books of the Old Testament once a year with an effort; we…

There are people who are humble by nature and there are those who obtained humility through spiritual struggle and much spiritual training. We do not deny that it is a difficult road but it is the same narrow road leading to the City of Joy. It is a long road and needs continuous training, subduing…

As has been said fasting is the beginning of the spiritual life, thus it is considered the pavement on which virtues are obtained; it opens the door for virtue and it ornaments the soul. St Filoxinus says: “The more ascetic the body is, the stronger the Spirit. Little food makes the body light and subdues…

Two eminent phenomena distinguished the Christians of the early generations of Christianity, these are the desire for martyrdom and the love of chastity and virginity. We find the dominance of these two phenomena over the believers an ordinary matter which keeps pace with the deep spirituality they enjoyed and the wonderful sublimity they attained by…