On the Saints

24 September 2026

 

Saints, People Like Us Through baptism we become part of a family much larger than our biological family. It is a family of people “set apart” by God to be light in the darkness. These set-apart people are called saints. Although we tend to think about saints as holy and pious, and picture them with halos above their heads and ecstatic gazes, true saints are much more accessible. They are men and women like us, who live ordinary lives and struggle with ordinary problems. What makes them saints is their clear and unwavering focus on God and God’s people. Some of their lives may look quite different, but most of their lives are remarkably similar to our own. The saints are our brothers and sisters, calling us to become like them.

 

        Henri Nowen

Entrusting in God

3 September 2026

 

For someone to entrust himself to God means that, from that point onwards, he will no longer be devoured by anguish or fear over anything; nor will he again be tormented by the thought that he has no one to look after him.

 

St. Isaac the Syrian

On Prayer

13 August 2026

 

As a bird without wings, as a soldier without arms, so is a Christian without prayer.

 

        St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

On Holy Scripture

8 August 2026

 

The reading of the word of God should be performed in solitude, in order that the whole mind of the reader might be plunged into the truths of the Holy Scripture, and that from this he might receive warmth, which in solitude produces tears; from these a man is wholly warmed and is filled with spiritual gifts, which rejoice the mind and heart more than any word.

 

        Seraphim of Sarov

Justification by Faith

29 July 2026

 

Therefore they were all glorified and magnified, not through themselves or their own works or the righteous actions which they had produced, but through his will; and therefore we ourselves, who through his will have been called in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves, nor through our own wisdom or understanding or piety or the works which we have produced in holiness of heart, but through faith, through which the Almighty God has justified all people from the beginning of the world; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

 

        Clement of Rome

On the Resurrection

18 July 2026

 

By His Resurrection, Christ conquered sin and death, destroyed Satan's dark kingdom, freed the enslaved human race and broke the seal on the greatest mysteries of God and man.

 

        Nikolaj Velimirović

The Gospel

12 July 2026

 

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

 

       St Augustine