Spiritual instructions

This list may seem overwhelming. Just calm down and relax! Memorise this “We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once” and live by it. Make reading a regular habit. You don’t need to read everything all at one go. Be patient! Orthodox education is a life-long process!

Contents

• Follow these social media accounts
• General 1
• General 2
• God’s will
• Hope and overcoming despair/discouragement
• Homosexuality
• Marriage and building an Orthodox family
• My vast collection of saint quotes
• Other denominations, religions and reviews of views of certain Orthodox writers
• Prayer
• Psychology and Orthodox spirituality – anxiety, depression, etc.
• Social media pages
• Spiritual reading – the writings of the Orthodox saints (AKA the Holy Fathers)
• Spiritual reading – the lives of the Orthodox saints
• Suffering – sorrows, death, illness, all misfortunes

General 1

• 10 great saint quotes about humility
• 10 great quotes about friendship
• 10 passages about music and its effect on the spiritual life
• Amazing collection of articles about Christmas
• Concerning progress by St Ambrose of Optina
• Before you change the church change yourself
• How the prayers of those who are on earth can help those who are in hell
• On happiness
• The letters to a beginner for female novices by the spiritual daughter of St John of Kronstadt

• 8 great saint quotes about praying for others
• 8 passages from saint lives about praying for others
• Extracts from “Thoughts for each day of the year” by St Theophan the Recluse
• Extracts from the “Prologue from Ohrid” by St Nikolai Velimirovich
• On repentance and lust
• On science and religion (St Luke of Simferopol)
• St Paisius (Velichkovsy) on fasting
• The grace of the resurrection
• The hospital is an invention of the church
• The rich young ruler and the nativity fast
• The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity
• What happened to all the elders?

God’s will and providence

• How do we know God’s will?
• Quotes about God’s will and providence
• Marriage or Monasticism?

Marriage and building an Orthodox family 

• A contemplation on marriage
• How my marriage almost fell apart and what saved it – the story of a priest
• Marriage: Heaven or Hell?
• Marriage: The Great Sacrament
• On finding your other half
• Preparing for the journey of marriage
• St John of Kronstadt and the education of children
• “Turn your home into heaven” – On one of St John Chrysostom’s maxims
• The upbrining of the children by St Poryphios
• Why Peter and Febronia?

Other denominations, religions and reviews of views of certain Orthodox writers

• Comparing Notes: The Diaries of Fr. Alexander Schmemann and Russian Church Unity in the Diaspora
• Against gnosticism
• St Nicholas of Japan on Buddhism (Part 1)
• St Nicholas of Japan on Buddhism (Part 2)
• The difference between Orthodox spirituality and other traditions
• Why Sola Scripture honestly scares me

Prayer

• 10 great quotes about the Jesus Prayer (I)
• 10 great quotes about the Jesus Prayer (II)
• 10 saint quotes about the necessity for constant prayer throughout the day
• 6 guidelines for highly effective prayer
• A Prayer rule by St Theophan the Recluse
• Exhortation on the prayer rule by St Ignatius Brianchaninov
• Let us learn to pray – Part 1 by St Theophan the Recluse
• Let us learn to pray – Part 2 by St Theophan the Recluse
• Let us learn to pray – Part 3 by St Theophan the Recluse
• My short introduction to constant prayer
• On the Jesus Prayer by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
• Prayer of the heart: The duty of those living in the world by St Theophan the Recluse
• Saint Theophan the Recluse – Homily 1 Beginning to Pray
• Saint Theophan the Recluse – Homily 2 Mental Prayer
• Saint Theophan the Recluse – Homily 3 Unceasing Prayer
• Saint Theophan the Recluse – Homily 4 Life of Prayer
• Selections from The Arena, On Prayer
• The Jesus Prayer
• The Jesus prayer (St Luke the Archbishop)
• The Jesus Prayer St Theophan the Recluse
• The letters of St Theophan the Recluse on prayer

Spiritual reading – the writings of the Orthodox saints (AKA the Holy Fathers)

• 10 reasons about the importance of reading the writings of the Orthodox saints (I)
• 10 reasons about the importance of reading the writings of the Orthodox saints (II)
• Don’t be a fanatical, super correct, legalistic, cold Christian
• Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers – Spiritual Reading
• Guidance for laymen on reading spiritual books: by Archbishop Theophan of Poltava
• How I deeply digest what I read
• How to approach the reading of the Holy Fathers: by St Ignatius Brianchaninov.
• Introduction to Blessed Paisius Velichkovsy: The man behind the Philokalia: by Fr Seraphim Rose of blessed memory.
• The fervent admiration some saints had for the works of St Ignatius Brianchaninov
• The importance of spiritual reading: by Fr Timothy Pavlatos
• The similarity of the writings and the lives of the saints with the Scriptures
• The Holy Fathers of Orthodox Spirituality: Part 1 of 3 – The Inspiration and sure guide to Christianity Today: by Fr Seraphim Rose of blessed memory.
• The Holy Fathers of Orthodox Spirituality: Part 2 of 3 – How to read the Holy Fathers: by Fr Seraphim Rose of blessed memory.
• The Holy Fathers of Orthodox Spirituality: Part 3 of 3 – How not to read the Holy Fathers: by Fr Seraphim Rose of blessed memory.
• Why do Orthodox Christians need Holy Fathers? Isn’t the bible enough?
• More resources on how to PROPERLY ready Orthodox writings and the Holy Fathers can be found here.

An extremely helpful tool in helping me collect into one location and carefully digest online articles and good saint quotes from all social media platforms is my “digital brain” – a computer program called “evernote”. If you want to know more about this, read this not so long piece on Getting started with evernote. I highly recommend you read it! It also includes my tips for how I read spiritual material.

• 10 great quotes about the role of suffering/sorrows in the spiritual life (I)
• 10 great quotes about the role of suffering/sorrows in the spiritual life (II)
• Natural death and the work of perfection
• On suicide
• On sudden death
• The deeper the sorrow, the closer is God
• The Holy Fathers on illness