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Latter-day Fathers

Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain

Gerontissa Gabrielia

Elder Germanos of Stavrovouni

Stories from the Desert Fathers

On Good and Evil

On Lasciviousness

On Avarice

On Repetance

On Prayer

On Fasting

On Labour

On Confession

On Matrimony

On Holy Communion

Gerontikon of
Mt. Athos

Elder Joseph the Hesychast and the teaching of mental prayer which flowed
from his letters

Prayer of the heart for the Faithfull Living in the world

With the Fathers

On the Necessity of Constant Prayer for all Christians

Hermas: The Shepherd

First Vision

Second Vision

Third Vision

Fourth Vision

Fifth Vision

First Commandment

Second
Commandment

Third Commandment

Forth Commandment

Fifth Commandment

Sixth Commandment

Seventh
Commandment

Eighth Commandment

Ninth Commandment

Tenth Commandment

Eleventh
Commandment

Twelwth
Commandment

First Similitude

Second Similitude

Third Similitude

Forth Similitude

Fifth Similitude

Sixth Similitude

Seventh Similitude

Eighth Similitude

Ninth Similitude

Tenth Similitude

St. John Chrysostom - Homily on the passage <Father if it be possible...>

Symeon of
Thessaloniki -
All should pray in the
name of Jesus Christ

Basil of Caesarea - Letter 234 to Amphilochius

Basil of Caesarea - On the Holy Spirit 66-68

The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp

St. John Chrysostom Instructions to Catechumens

First Instruction (1)

First Instruction (2)

First Instruction (3)

First Instruction (4)

First Instruction (5)

Second Instruction (1)

Second Instruction (2)

Second Instruction (3)

Second Instruction (4)

Second Instruction (5)

St. John Chrysostom Three homilees concering the power
of demons

Introduction

Homily 1

Homily 2

STORIES FROM THE DESERT FATHERS

ON CONFESSION 

SAINT KASSIANOS THE ROMAN

Germanos said : "it is usually a pretext for our shame, and the cause of harmful piousness, when, quite often, certain fathers are confessing our brothers, not only do them no good, but instead they accuse them and thus lead them to despair, like the incident which we witnessed with our own eyes in Syria.

A brother went to confession, to one of the elders there; with all his simplicity and honesty, he unashamedly bared the depths of his heart. He had not quite finished, when the elder became exasperated and angry with that brother, accusing him for his ugly thoughts. This event became known, and many brothers were too ashamed to go to the elders for confession".

Abba Moses said : "as I previously mentioned, it is good to disclose our thoughts to the fathers, but not to any one of them at random;

our confession must be to spiritual elders who have the gift of discernment, and not to those who have simply turned white-haired by age. Because many brothers became disoriented whenever they placed importance only on age, and when they went to confession, instead of obtaining a remedy, they reached the point of despair, because of the elders' inexperience.


SAINT MARK THE ASKETIC

He who hopes, will be harmed if he recalls all his sins, one by one.

The sorrow which will come with their remembrance, will drive away hope;

if, again, he remembers his sins without feeling any sorrow, it is as though he is repeating them.

When your mind forsakes itself, and succeeds in clinging exclusively to hope, then the enemy - under the pretext of confession - will remind it of past sins, so that it might awaken passions which the person had forgotten ( through God's grace ), and in this sly fashion, harm him. Because even a strong person, or one who is averse to passions, will become distressed with the things he has done, and his conscience will inevitably be clouded.

The one who still lives in the fog, and is still perceptive to sensuality, will relive the same passions, in such a way, that the remembrance of past sins will prove to be a contamination, and not a confession.

A prudent man who is aware of the truth does not confess to God by numbering the sins he has committed, but by patiently accepting the painful consequences of those sins.


SAINT MAXIMOS

We go to confession for two reasons : to thank God for the bounty He has given us, or, to plead our case and to undergo examination for the mistakes which we have made (..) In both cases, confession makes a person humble.

(…) The first case is humbled, because he views himself as unworthy of the good things which God has granted him, and the second one, because he beseeches God to forgive his sins. 

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