Tag: St Theophan the Recluse

Of Course There Are Many Inconsistencies

· Fr. Michael Gillis 3 Leave a Comment on %s
St. Theophan the Recluse is today one of the most popular spiritual writers of 19th century Russia. In many ways his great gift is that he was able to summarize the whole Orthodox teaching on inner growth and spiritual life and apply it to the very specific context of 19th century Russia, especially 19th century Russian monasticism. Like his near contemporary, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, St. Theophan recognized that the monastic institutions of…

On Raising Snakes and Losing Mittens

· Fr. Michael Gillis
Remove from me the way of unrighteousness and with Thy law have mercy on me. Psalm 118: 29 St. Theophan the Recluse in a wonderful commentary on Psalm 118 (119), commenting on verse 29, makes the following comment about sin: St. Theophan’s comment: The person who endures assaults from sin cannot but realize that he himself gave sin such power over himself; he reared the serpent in himself, and consequently suffers justly;…