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Prelest
Prelest,from , , itself from , ; , also known as spiritual delusion, spiritual deception, or spiritual illusion, is an Eastern Orthodox Christian term for a spiritual state of false holiness or deluded self-righteousness, believing in one's own spiritual superiority. Prelest should not be confused with mental illness, but is a spiritual illness caused by vainglory, pride, and demonic suggestion. It is said to be cured by humility and the Holy Sacraments under the guidance of one's spiritual father. In a broad interpretation, prelest afflicts everyone, as everyone has wrong thoughts, without fully understanding the meaning of life and the gravity of their sins. In a narrow sense, it refers to a person initially on the path of a pious Christian life, instead becomes proud and conceited about his or her own sanctity and triumph over sin. In Eastern Orthodox thought, the closer people are to God, the more they see their failings, and all true saints see the foulest sins not in others ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discernment Of Spirits
Discernment of spirits is a term used in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Charismatic Christian theology to judge the influence of various spiritual agents on a person's morality. These agents are: # from within the human soul itself, known as concupiscence (considered evil) # Divine Grace (considered good) # Angels (considered good) # Devils (considered evil) Discernment of spirits is considered necessary to discern the cause of a given impulse. Although some people are regarded as having a special gift to discern the causes of an impulse intuitively, most people are held to require study and reflection, and possibly the direction of others, in the discernment of spirits. Judgment of discernment can be made in two ways. The first is by a ''charism'' or spiritual gift, held as divinely granted to certain individuals for the discerning of spirits by intuition (1 Corinthians 12:10). The second way to discern spirits is by reflection and theological study. This second method is by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "Canon law of the Eastern Orthodox Church, canonical") Eastern Orthodox Church is Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church, organised into autocephalous churches independent from each other. In the 21st century, the Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church#Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, number of mainstream autocephalous churches is seventeen; there also exist Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church#Unrecognised churches, autocephalous churches unrecognized by those mainstream ones. Autocephalous churches choose their own Primate (bishop), primate. Autocephalous churches can have Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction (authority) over other churches, som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Of Sinai
Gregory of Sinai, or in Serbian and Bulgarian Grigorije Sinaita ( 1260s – 27 November 1346), was a Greek Christian monk and writer from Smyrna. He was instrumental in the emergence of hesychasm on Mount Athos in the early 14th century. Biography Born in Smyrna, he was captured by Seljuk Turks as a young man, and eventually ransomed to Cyprus, whence he became a monk at Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. Later, he moved to Crete, where he learned the practices of hesychasm from a monk named Arsenios. In 1310, he went to Mount Athos, where he remained until 1335. At Mount Athos, he was a monk at the Skete of Magoula near Philotheou Monastery. Increasing Muslim raids on Athos pushed Gregory and some disciples into the Bulgarian Empire, where he would find protection under Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander. He went on to found a monastery near Paroria, located in the Strandzha Mountains of southeast Bulgaria. Gregory's disciples also included Nicodemus of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James The Just
James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( from , and , , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was, according to the New Testament, a brother of Jesus. He was the first Jewish bishop of Jerusalem. Traditionally, it is believed he was martyred either in 62 AD by being stoned to death on the order of High Priest Ananus ben Ananus, or in 69 AD by being thrown off the pinnacle of the Temple by scribes and Pharisees and then clubbed to death. James, Joses, Simon, and Judas are mentioned as the brothers of Jesus as well as two or more unnamed sisters. (See Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3.) Catholics and Orthodox Christians teach that James, along with others named in the New Testament as brothers of Jesus, were not the biological children of Mary, mother of Jesus, but were cousins of Jesus, or step-brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph (as related in the non-canonical Gospel of James). Others consider James to be the son of Mary and Joseph. The Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Krestiankin
Archimandrite John (Ioann, , secular name Ivan Mikhailovich Krestiankin, ; 1910–2006) was an archimandrite of the Pskov Caves Monastery of Russian Orthodox Church. He was born in 1910 in the city of Oryol as an eighth child in the family of Mikhail and Elizaveta Krestiankin. The name Ivan was given to the boy in honour of Saint John of the Desert. His letters and theological works are well known and widely published in Russia and some other countries. Many cases of Fr. John's clairvoyance and wonderworking were recorded. In 1950 John was arrested by the Soviet authorities for his pastoral service and sentenced for seven years of labour camps. He was freed in 1955. Father John was a spiritual father and confessor for many Orthodox parishioners, providing religious instructions and guidance on various aspects of the faith and Christian life within the Orthodox Church. Among his notable spiritual children was Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), the author of the best-sellin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Of Sourozh
Anthony of Sourozh (, secular name Andrei Borisovich Bloom, and commonly known as Anthony Bloom; 19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003) was best known as a writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life. He was a monk and bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was founder and for many years bishop - then archbishop, then metropolitan - of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Patriarchate of Moscow's diocese for Great Britain and Ireland (the name 'Sourozh' is that of the historical episcopal see in Sudak in Crimea). As a bishop he became well known as a pastor, preacher, spiritual director and writer on prayer and the Christian life. Early life Andrei Bloom was born on 19 June 1914, in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Xenia and Boris Edvardovich Bloom. His mother was the half sister of the composer Alexander Scriabin. He spent his early childhood in Russia and Iran. During the Russian Revolution the family had to leave Iran, and by 1923 they were settled in Paris, where he was e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callistus I Of Constantinople
Callistus I of Constantinople (; died August 1363) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for two periods from June 1350 to 1353 and from 1354 to 1363. Callistus I was an Athonite monk and supporter of Gregory Palamas. He died in Constantinople in August 1363. Life Nothing is known of Callistus' early life. He was a disciple of Gregory Palamas and Gregory of Sinai. He lived at Mount Athos for 28 years and was a monk at the Skete of Magoula near Philotheou Monastery at Mount Athos. In his "''Hagiography of Gregory of Sinai''", he mentions two devotees, Jakov of Serres and Romylos of Vidin, then living and writing in Serbia. He also founded the Monastery of Saint Mamas at Tenedos, a small island near the Dardanelles. Patriarchate Callistus was elected to the throne of the see of Constantinople on 10 June 1350, succeeding Isidore I of Constantinople. In 1351, he convened a synod in Constantinople that finally established the Orthodoxy of Hesychasm. Callistus I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hierotheos Vlachos
Hierotheos Vlachos (; born Georgios Vlachos, , 1945) is a Greek Orthodox metropolitan and theologian. Biography He was born in 1945 in Ioannina, Greece. He graduated from the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki and was ordained priest in 1972 and bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ... in 1995. His diocese is the Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios. His book ''The Person in the Orthodox Tradition'' was awarded the first prize for the "top theological work written in Greece in 1991–96" by the Academy of Athens. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John The Prophet
John the Prophet, known also as Venerable John, was an eastern christian hermit of the monastery of Seridus and teacher of Dorotheus of Gaza.Barnasuphius and John ''Letters'', translated by John Chryssavgis Catholic University of America Press (2002) He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Life Not much is known about John's early life, though it is known he was not ordained. Jennifer Hevelone-Harper identifies him as John of Beersheba, a monk with whom Barsanuphius of Gaza corresponded, though this remains contested. What is known is that at some time between 525 and 527 he came to the monastery of Seridus upon invitation of Barsanuphius who gave up his cell to make space for John. He practiced a life of silence and according to the Christian view, earned the gifts of prophecy and perspicacity, for which he earned the designation of prophet. While abbot Seridus served as scribe and letter carrier for Barsanuphius, Dorotheus of Gaza, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barsanuphius
Barsanuphius (; ; ; died after 543), also known as Barsanuphius of Palestine, Barsanuphius of Gaza or Barsanuphius the Great (in Eastern Orthodoxy), was a Christian hermit and writer of the sixth century. He is considered one of the Desert Fathers. Together with John the Prophet, they gave spiritual direction and advice to a variety of people in the region through letters, of which over 850 have been preserved and influenced especially Orthodox monasticism. Barsanuphius is venerated as a saint in both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Life Hermit Born in Egypt, Barsanuphius entered the hilly region of Thavata close to Gaza at some point in the early sixth century and begun to live as a recluse in a cell near the village. The reasons for his move are uncertain, but it is possible that he did so due to the pro-Chalcedonian stance of the region compared to his native Egypt. He was already an experienced ascetic before his arrival and experienced in the tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silouan The Athonite
Silouan the Athonite (Russian: Силуан Афонский) also sometimes referred to as Silouan of Athos, Saint Silvanus the Athonite or Staretz Silouan (January 17, 1866 – September 24, 1938) was an Eastern Orthodox monk of Russian origin, born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov who was a poet and monk of the St. Panteleimon Monastery. The life and teachings of Saint Silouan were brought to light by his disciple, Archimandrite Sophrony (aka Saint Sophrony the Athonite, Saint Sophrony of Essex) in his classic book 'Saint Silouan the Athonite''. Life He was born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov, of Russian Orthodox parents who came from the village of Snovskoye in Imperial Russia's Tambov Governorate. According to the biography compiled by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), Silouan of Athos worked in his youth as a carpenter in his brother's trade. The heart of Silouan “ignited with love for God” after witnessing the miracles performed at the tomb of . At the age of twenty-seven, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed as an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous region in Greece by the monastic community of Mount Athos, which is ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The remainder of the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis (municipality), Aristotelis municipality. By Greek law and by religious tradition, women are prohibited from entering the area governed by the monastic community. Mount Athos has been inhabited since ancient times and is known for its long Christian presence and historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least 800 AD during the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine era. Because of its long history of religious importance, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
