Speaking to adolescents, I have often used this imagery of the inner temple to help them understand the Church's teaching regarding sexual intimacy. There is a 'narthex' of the soul, our 'outer courtyard.' This most public part of our lives represents the face we show the world. It is a place of...

When Abba Macarius dwelt in the great desert, he was the only one living as an anchorite, but lower down there was another desert where several brothers dwelt. The old man was surveying the road when he saw Satan drawing near in the likeness of a man and he passed by his dwelling. He seemed to be...

The first, the basic definition of man is that he is the priest. He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God--and by filling the world with this eucharist, he tranforms his life, the one that he receives...

When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie (spiritual sloth), and attached by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, 'Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?' A short while afterwards, when he...