Praying in the Rain
Praying in the Rain
Fr. Michael Gillis, and Ancient Faith Ministries
Reflections on the Inner Life from Canada's Pacific Coast
Saying and Doing Through Compunction
Compunction can guide what we do and say.
Dec 6, 2024
The Form of Love
"The grace of God is not in the man who does not love his enemies."
Oct 18, 2024
The Chief Hypocrite
It is time for a public confession from the chief hypocrite.
Oct 11, 2024
Four Sources of Thoughts
The movement of thoughts in a man originates from four causes.
Oct 4, 2024
Thoughts, Passions, Gardening
Someone recently asked me about how to understand the evil thoughts they experience.
May 24, 2024
Death Does Not Come for Coffee
What will we finally say when death visits us - and not for coffee?
Feb 9, 2024
The Problem With Vainglory
One of the problems with vainglory, according to St. Isaac the Syrian, is that “it hands that person over to” either fornication or pride. But before we can talk about how vainglory hands one over to either fornication or pride, we need to understand what vainglory is. Nowadays the word vain means to have a high opinion of oneself, but that is not what it originally meant, nor what it means in the Bible or in the hymnology of the Church. This is why many English-speaking Orthodox Christians have no idea what vainglory means.
Feb 1, 2024
The Art of Humility
There is strength in humility.
Jan 18, 2024
How Could God Allow...
"How could God let his representatives get away with such things?"
Jan 12, 2024
Same Sex Attraction and Three Desert Fathers
We live in a generation that has been taught to tie their personal identity to their imagined sexual preferences. Consequently, it is difficult to help people who struggle with sexual passions to find hope and repentance. However, the teaching of holy fathers such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Barsanuphius of Gaza provide a very helpful alternative to the world’s way of thinking about such passions. For these saints, same-sex attraction is a passion like any other. It is not part of one’s identity, but is a parasitical passion, resisted and struggled against as all other passions are.
Aug 28, 2023
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