Strip away all that is filthy of flesh and spirit.

You might well be fasting from flesh, but are you feasting on other people?

"Saint Cosmas came from Bulgaria where his devout parents provided him with a good education in Slavonic and Greek. They wanted him to marry but he was drawn by the love of Christ and, unknown to them, made his way to the Holy Mountain of Athos to become a monk at the Bulgarian monastery of Zographou. On the feast of the Annunciation at the Monastery of Vatopedi, he saw a woman among those serving in the Church and in the refectory, and he was grieved at first to observe this breach of the monastic rule, but overjoyed when he realized that it was the Mother of God who had appeared to him in this way.   "He was clothed in the holy angelic Habit and, after some time, was ordained priest. One day, as he was praying before the icon of the Mother of God, asking her with tears how to achieve his salvation, he heard a voice saying, 'Let my servant withdraw to the desert outside the monastery.' He was obedient to the will of God and, with the blessing of his Abbot, lived in silence from then on. Some years later, he was found worthy of the grace of discernment of thoughts and of beholding things happening elsewhere, as well as of other spiritual gifts. In the course of many years, he was the spiritual helper of a great number of monks. At the end of his life, Christ appeared to him saying that he would shortly have a great trial to endure from the Devil. Indeed, the prince of demons made his appearance next day with a host of his servants bewailing and bemoaning their inability to annihilate their great enemy Cosmas, who had held them in check for so long and gained possession, by his virtue, of the throne in Heaven that had once been Lucifer's. Taking a heavy stick, the demon beat the Saint so violently that he left him half-dead. As God allowed, Saint Cosmas died in peace two days later, on 22 September 1323. When the fathers came from the monastery to bury him, the wild animals gathered round. They kept silent until the end of the service, but howled unusually loud as his body was covered with earth. Then having paid their respects, they made off into the wilderness. Forty days later, the monks came to take up the body of Saint Cosmas and translate it to the monastery, but it was no longer in the grave. Where it now is God alone knows." (Synaxarion)

Don't let your prayers be little and timid but straight from your heart. 2 Corinthians 6: 16 - 18, 7:1 Matthew 15: 21 - 28

And His Righteousness and all this will be added to you. Romans 5: 1- 10, Matthew 6: 22- 33.

In a world full of sin - what are we to celebrate?

2 Corinthians 6:1-10, Matthew 25: 14-30 A wasted life.

Luke 18:10-14 The Pharisee and the Publican.

Philippians 4:4-9, John 12: 1-18. What does real spirituality look like?

Acts 11: 19 -30, John 4:5-42 The worst of the worst.

This week's episode features a speech that Matthew delivered at the 2009 St. Vladimir's Seminary Summer Conference on the myth of past unity in American Orthodox history. Click here for supplemental material related to this episode.

Matthew interviews historian Fr. Oliver Herbel about a little-known—though very important—1940s precursor to SCOBA. Learn more HERE.

Matthew looks at a few of the ways in which Theophany has been celebrated throughout American Orthodox History. Learn more HERE and HERE.

Matthew tells the story of Metropolitan Antony Bashir on the 44th anniversary of his death. Learn more HERE.

Matthew Namee talks with His Grace Bishop Basil, the newly elected Secretary of the Episcopal Assemblies. We learn of his impressions of the historic May 26-28 gathering in New York as well as the assignment he has been given to coordinate the work of the committees that will be formed leading up eventually to a Great and Holy Council.

Because social proof has become such a mainstay in marketing, it's easy for marketers to grow numb to it. You forget that social proof is one of Cialdini's most persuasive principles. So here are 5 new studies to remind you about the persuasive power of social proof.

The post Social Proof: 5 new studies that prove its continued persuasive power appeared first on Coaching and training to scale your copywriting business, plus programs for new copywriters, startups, and marketers.

Becoming a SaaS copywriter is your ticket to being at the forefront of the tech industry, where your words have the power to turn interest into conversions. It's more than just writing. It's about understanding the pulse of the market and crafting messages that resonate with users on a personal level. You'll work with innovative brands, helping to shape messages that not only inform but also engage and inspire action. It's a dynamic, rewarding career path where your skill can directly contribute to a company's success, translating tech speak into language that connects, convinces, and converts.

The post From Rookie to SaaS Copywriter Pro: A Newbie’s Blueprint appeared first on Coaching and training to scale your copywriting business, plus programs for new copywriters, startups, and marketers.

Where do unshipped marketing assets go when they die? We imagine a place called Marketing Purgatory. It’s a gloomy world where unused ads, landing pages and email campaigns mope around, waiting for the day they’ll finally launch. Sadly, it’s a day that will never come. Some of these assets were killed by zealous CEOs. Others […]

The post The ‘Ship It’ Manifesto: How to get your content assets out of Marketing Purgatory appeared first on Coaching and training to scale your copywriting business, plus programs for new copywriters, startups, and marketers.

“We have 0% customer churn.” – said no SaaS marketer ever. Instead, what I hear all the time is: “If only we could keep growing without churn growing with us.” “If only we could get new trials to actually USE the product, they’ll see how great it is.” And even this story someone shared on […]

The post I spent 60+ hours analyzing onboarding emails for 127 SaaS trials. This is how the top SaaS retain users. appeared first on Coaching and training to scale your copywriting business, plus programs for new copywriters, startups, and marketers.

Is it possible to give our children presents AND keep Christmas centered on Christ?

A mastermind group is a group of people who come together to share ideas, solve problems, and help each other grow. An ideal group has people who are at similar levels in their career or business. While members are typically in similar industries, each should have a different specialization and bring a complementary skill set. […]

In today’s episode, I’m joined by PJ Taei, Founder and CEO of Uscreen, an all-in-one video monetization platform for content creators that helps them build their brands and grow their businesses. The creator economy has changed a lot since PJ first founded Uscreen in 2015. And in that time PJ has managed to grow Uscreen […]

The product that drove webmasters crazy was back...for a moment, at least.

(screenshots) An official statement from Google says the site was designed to "provide content owners an easy way to give us access to their content". (more screenshots)

Uses Ajax and some other web2.0-ish features.

An untimely net-cord winner sets Tomas Martin Etcheverry on his way to victory against Dan Evans in Great Britain's opening match against Argentina at the Davis Cup in Manchester.

Great Britain's Jack Draper smashes his racquet after losing the opening set against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime during their Davis Cup match in Manchester.

24-time men's Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic says Jannik Sinner's doping case "is not helping tennis at all". Sinner, the men's world number one, was cleared of any wrongdoing after twice testing positive for low levels of clostebol - a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass - during the Indian Wells tournament in March. The World Anti-Doping Agency have appealed against the decision which said Sinner bore 'no fault or negligence' for the substance being in his system.

Twenty years since he became the US Open boys' champion, Andy Murray is giving New York a miss and beginning retired life with a holiday in Spain.

News that Jannik Sinner, the men's world number one, had failed two doping tests stunned tennis. BBC Sport examines the key questions at hand.

Elena Rybakina appoints fellow former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic as her coach from next season.

Great Britain's Katie Boulter reaches her third WTA final of the year with a 6-2 5-7 6-2 victory over China's Yue Yuan at the Hong Kong Open.

Germany's Alexander Zverev claims a straight-set win over home favourite Ugo Humbert to clinch his first Paris Masters title.

Aryna Sabalenka is the first player to secure a semi-final spot at the WTA Finals but her victory over Jasmine Paolini spells the end of the road for Elena Rybakina.

Zheng Qinwen crushes Jasmine Paolini to reach the WTA Finals last four as the already-qualified Aryna Sabalenka loses to Elena Rybakina.