A brother came to Scetis to visit Abba Moses and asked him for a word. The old man said to him, 'Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.

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...

Abba Gregory said, 'These three things God requires of all the baptized: right faith in the heart, truth on the tongue, temperance in the body.'

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...