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

If you go into a pilgrimage with humility and the belief that you understand very little—if anything—then by the end of it, something may be revealed to you beyond your own limitations.

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.

Father Seraphim reflects on some of the content from his past podcasts, and asks for forgiveness because of the brief hiatus he took in posting new material.

Fr. Seraphim reads a section, To Pray is to Follow, from the booklet On Prayer. The text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

Fr. Seraphim reads a section, Sin and Prayer, from the booklet On Prayer. "To define myself through my sinfulness is to decide that I am my own creator. I replace God with myself and I become my own creation, not His." The text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

Fr. Seraphim reads a section, Killer Prayer, from the booklet On Prayer. "The basic thing people seem not to understand is that the point of prayer is not happiness." The text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

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 reads the final section of the booklet On Prayer. 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 speaks on the importance of welcoming Christ into our lives.

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

Fr. Seraphim Aldea delivers a talk in Atlanta, GA, about the power of our demons in those we meet, including the unborn.

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.

On Violence and Power.

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.

After we sin, our hearts freeze. For a while, we stay away from God on purpose. We need time to heal, we need some sort of ritual of cleansing, some manner in which to make ourselves (in our own eyes) acceptable again to God. But the way back to prayer must begin as soon as possible, if possible even during the act of sin itself. The sooner we turn ourselves back to face Christ's Light, the sooner we shall drag ourselves out of the depth of our fall. Remind yourself of those who were waiting in the darkness of hell for Christ's Descent - ask for their desperate desire to be forgiven, pray for their unceasing hope that Light WILL one day find them and bring them back to Life out of the death of their hell. For those who put their trust in Christ, there is always Hope, there is always Love, there is always a way back to repentance and Life.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea helps answer the question "Will we ever reach the holiness of the Saints?".

Why do we forget all the beautiful things God teaches us in our life? How come we cannot hold on and remember all the advice God speaks to our hearts, either in prayer or through the people and circumstances of our lives?

Don't look for the easy way out of pain. Do not deny the reality of your doubts, your struggles and your sins. Be who-you-are before Christ, so that He may save the truth of who-you-are.

When we judge our brother we become anti-Christs, because we rob the True Judge - Jesus Christ - of the authority given to Him Alone by the Father. We envy His place on His Throne of Judgement and we sit on His Throne in our mind, making ourselves to be judges, although God did not give us this authority. We are not the Judge, but the ones who will be judged, with the rest of humanity. We must always remember that the Same One Who said: 'do not kill' also said: 'do not Judge'.

Why is God so interested in what we do in the bedroom? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings?

The world attaches no value to our bodies and it often feels as if the Church shares the same vision: the body is evil, worthless, a sort of dark gate through which demons, passions and sins enter our being. But is this the revealed truth and is this really what the Church confesses? We need to escape this confusion, we need to rediscover the worth of our bodies before we start preparing our fight against the passions which control them. If we do not know the value of our bodies, how are we expected to fight for them?

This battle is now way above our heads. We need to humbly wait in the loving palm of Christ.

What has happened in the last year and a half at the Orthodox Monastery of All Saints?

Fr. Seraphim shares a message of forgiveness at Christmas.

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?

The devil wants us to forget him. His ultimate success would be to make us believe that he is not even real, that he is just the product of our imagination. Once that happens, the flood-gates of sin are wide open in us and our salvation is in great danger.

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.

The sign of a true Christian

Fr. Seraphim gives a short update.

Fr. Seraphim encourages viewers to take time away before resetting their lives.

Fr. Seraphim encourages us to avoid false faces and the havoc they wreak.

How to Fight Evil from our Hearts in a World of Lies and Confusion (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Don't Hide You from Christ (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

On the Blood of Martyrs (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Unnatural Associations (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Procrastination and Self-Worth (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

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

The One True Christ... and the many false ones (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Jesus Christ: The Only Path to Salvation (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Don't Let Expectations Define You (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

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

Finding work as a freelance writer is hard enough even in fields with little competition. However, there are several niches where that competition is off the charts. If you plan to make a living writing about one of those, you’ll need to bring your A-game. Some examples of highly-contested niches include finance and (surprisingly) psychedelics. […]

The post What Are the Most Contested Fields for Freelance Writers? appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

Fr. Steven takes a break from his commentary on Orthodox unity to speak about the recent Supreme Court decision related to Same Sex Marriage.