March 01, 2013
Many, crowding to the fast, pollute themselves in the thoughts of their hearts, sometimes by doing evil against their brethren, sometimes by daring to defraud. And, to mention nothing else, there are many who exalt themselves above their neighbours, thereby causing great mischief. For the boast of fasting did no good to the Pharisee, although he fasted twice in the week1, only because he exalted himself against the publican. In the same manner the Word blamed the children of Israel on account of such a fast as this, exhorting them by Isaiah the Prophet and saying, ‘This is not the fast and the day I have chosen, that a man should humble his soul; not even if thou shouldest bow down thy neck like a hook, and shouldest strew sackcloth and ashes under thee; neither thus shall ye call the fast acceptable2.’ That we may be able to show what kind of persons we should be when we fast, and of what character the fast should be, listen again to God commanding Moses, and saying, as it is written in Leviticus, ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, In the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a day of atonement; a convocation, and a holy day shall it be to you;and ye shall humble your souls, and offer whole burnt-offerings unto the Lord3.’ And afterwards, that the law might be defined on this point, He proceeds to say: ‘Every soul that shall not humble itself, shall be cut off from the people4.’
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St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Select Works and Letters. Edited by Archibald Robertson. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999. pp. 507-8. Online text available at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
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January 24, 2021
January 19, 2021
January 07, 2021
Due to the severe ice storms of February 11th & 15th, the monastery has been without power, phones and internet for a prolonged period of time. This will likely continue for the indefinite future due to the severe damage from the storm throughout the entire region.
We are working to fulfill orders placed via our online store as quickly as we are able, however the process is very slow since we need to drive hours to town to download the orders, return to the monastery to print them off and package them, and then drive back into town to ship them since no mail or shipping services are able to reach us. We appreciate everyone's patience as we are doing our best to run our business during these circumstances.
Please pray for us!