Join Michael in a discussion about what is means to be feel like a stranger in our own surroundings and in this world in general and why this actually a good thing.

Join Michael in a discussion about living intentionally to embed hopefulness in our body, mind and soul, and accept death with the hope of eternal life.

Join Michael in a discussion about what well-being and non-being really mean, and how we often do things we think are beneficial but really are not in our best interest and lead us father from God rather than towards Him.

Join Michael as he discusses questions about why good people suffer, bad people thrive, and reconciling this with the goodness of God.

Join Michael in a discussion of some of the spiritual pitfalls we can fall into during Great Lent if we are not careful and attentive to its true purpose

Join Michael in a discussion of our desires, how they get in the away of the elusive peace we seek, and what we need to do to find true contentment.

Join Michael in a discussion of God’s goodness versus our own goodness, and why the prevalent cultural belief of many that all you have to be is a good person is results in so many unintended consequences.

Fr. Seraphim shares some of the ways in which laypeople can imitate the life and prayer of monastics.

Father Seraphim reflects on why he refrains from going into detail about Celtic saints during the podcast. He also begins to share about the life of Saint Oran.

Father Seraphim reflects on the life of Saint Columba, and talks about spiritual fathers.

Fr. Seraphim reflects on his experiences confessing, the role of a spiritual father, and he gives three recommendations to help get the most out of each confession.

Fr. Seraphim continues his discussion from last week on how to get more out of each confession, by recommending three more exercises to help grow closer to both the spiritual father and Christ.

Fr. Seraphim was in Paris shortly after the November 13 attacks. He reflects on what our response as Christians should be. How do we hold on to our Christianity? What is our role as peacemakers? He reminds us that we fight for is not of this world.

Fr. Seraphim reads the introduction and the ending of the booklet On Prayer. "True prayer is a state of being. It is the oneness between God and humanity." The full text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea continues his series on fasting with a discussion on how experience follows action. The fruit of fasting can take years to develop.

Fr. Seraphim begins a discussion on fasting and the importance of discernment in the spiritual life.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea concludes his series on fasting.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea continues his series on fasting.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea shares reflections at the conclusion of his recent visit to Mt. Athos.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea talks about his reasons for taking a break from the podcast.

Fr. Seraphim shares about the life of St. Brendan.

Fr. Seraphim speaks about losing hope and temptation and how it is not a sin until we act upon it. He goes into detail about our salvation and the difference between falling into sin and being tempted.

To die to the world has nothing to do with self-destruction or the destruction of the world. Quite the opposite, when we die to the world, we begin the process of being born in Christ, which is then reflected back unto the world as a new blessing, a new input of grace, a new change for salvation. To be dead to the world means not to engage with the world in its fallen state, but to engage with its full spiritual potential, with the hidden image of God imprinted on everyone.

Two summers ago (when people still travelled) I met a lady on the ferry who had come to the Isles all the way from North America because 'God told me to visit Scotland'. Apparently, God had told her to visit many places in the world and she was looking forward to wherever He would send her on her next holiday. This lesson is based on a very different story about St Macarius the Great who one day received the thought of leaving his cell to go and pray in the desert. After he waited for FIVE YEARS, fighting in prayer to discern if this is the will of God, he then went into the desert.

Not the virus, not the vaccines, not ecumenism, not any other enemy of choice: the greatest danger to our salvation and the trigger of the destruction of this world is our SIN We are the ones who can destroy ourselves and our world, but we are also the ones through whom the world can be saved. Christ has already opened that door for us. A world without love can have no future, but one drop of Love can redeem ALL.

Prayer is a new creation - St Sophrony says somewhere. By that, he means that prayer will change the one who prays into a new person, a true person, the saints whom God created us to be. If we are afraid of change, we should be terrified of prayer, because prayer is deeply transformative or nothing at all. Prayer kills the evil seeds in us and it feeds the good seeds in us. Like a series of small deaths and resurrections, prayer slowly reshapes our being, until it re-creates us according to the Image of God in us.

Every Lent is an opportunity to START ANEW, to shine in Christ, to do the things we only think about doing the rest of the year. We can go deeper in our faith, we can create secret 'signs of love and faith' with Christ, we can re-shape the courses of our thoughts and emotions so they once again flow in the direction God intended them to flow when He created us.

As we begin our Lenten journey, Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us of the importance of repentance for our salvation.

What is the Orthodox practice of total fasting? How do you keep it and why would you? What are the spiritual benefits of fasting for a period from all food and water for the love of Christ?

Fr. Seraphim Aldea explains the hiatus from recording the podcast for 18 months.

No good can come from constantly re-assessing our decision to enter a marriage or monastic life. The time for assessing is before we enter the Sacrament; after that, we should allow Christ to freely use the 'tool' of the Sacrament to shape us into the Saints He created us to be.

Why can't I stop sinning when I want to stop with all my being? Why is it that I cannot pray with the strength with which I want to pray? Why can't I be the person I want to be for the love of Christ? And is there a way to actually move forward from all this sin and to grow in our spiritual life?

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us to keep ourselves grounded in humility, so we may fight pride and hypocrisy, and prevent them from staining our spiritual struggle before the Lord. When you are at the beginning of your spiritual life, you need to prioritize your ascetical works, because they will eventually help you open up to receive God's Grace.

We are broken and our prayer reflects that brokenness. But we are called to be one, to be simple with God's simplicity. As our prayer grows, we grow as well. As we spiritually heal and let go of our complexities and divisivenesses (which are results of our fallen nature), our prayer slowly lets go of its brokenness and becomes what it is supposed to be: a prayer beyond words, a silent prayer that is an act of being.

This video is part of a Lenten Retreat at St Seraphim's Cathedral in Santa Rosa, California. As we prepare to enter Great Lent, we might ponder on the impossible height to which we are being called—to be perfect with the Father’s perfection—an impossibility that becomes possible in Christ, as we open up to His presence. This paradox and the tension it creates in us keep our spiritual life safe from being reduced to empty piety and religiosity.

We live in an age of new paganism. The distance we allowed between ourselves and Christ has created a spiritual void in the world, which is rapidly being filled with spiritual experiences and rituals that mirror those of the ancient pagan world.

Fr. Seraphim gives a short update.

Learning About Spirituality from the Celtic Saints (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Fasting for God Opens Our Spiritual Sight (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Being Young is VERY Hard in this World We Made (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Having Constant Spiritual Ups and Downs? (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Reading versus Lived Experience of Jesus Christ (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Ars chats with director Juliette Eisner and original study participants in new documentary series.

These days, anyone can start a blog or create a simple website in a matter of hours. However, getting that website to work and look just the way you want it to takes a lot more time. Most people don’t realize that and end up giving up long before the work is done. If you don’t have […]

The post How to Create a Blog or a Freelance Writer’s Portfolio Using Propel Site appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

Are we as Orthodox Christians doing enough to fill the vacuum that the radical ideology of San Bernardino thrives on? Perhaps our own lack of spiritual fortitude is part of the problem.

In this time of troubles among the churches, we should all be looking to the light of the manger for answers.

Why is the Lenten Journey so challenging? Fr. Steven Ritter gives us some answers.

Does the degradation of language reflect a degradation of the human being? Yes, it does.

Much of what passes for Orthodox teaching by certain extremist internet personalities is destructive, dangerous, and not Orthodox.