Stages

A person is perfect in this life when as a pledge of what is to come he
receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of
Christ’s life. In the life to come perfection is made manifest through
the power of deification.
St. Gregory of Sinai, Philokalia, Vol. 4

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Deification

A person is perfect in this life when as a pledge of what is to come he
receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of
Christ’s life. In the life to come perfection is made manifest through
the power of deification.
St. Gregory of Sinai, Philokalia, Vol. 4

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The Artisan & Field Worker

Although the Holy Fathers praised monasticism as the angelic state, and although many of the greatest saints lived their lives and attained perfection in the deaf and lifeless desert, nevertheless, the Orthodox Church does not recommend tonsuring to all the faithful. “Neither all those in the desert were saved nor all those in the world [...]

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The Purpose of Life

“This life has been given to you for repentance; do not waste it in vain pursuits.” – St. Isaac the Syrian

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Forgetting Theosis is Blindness

“At the present time,” the elder replied, “Owing to our almost universal coldness to our holy faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and our inattention to the working of His Divine Providence in us, and to the communion of man with God, we have gone so far that, one may say, we have almost abandoned [...]

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Theosis: the aim of Christian Life

“It was Thursday,” writes Motovilov. “The day was gloomy. The snow lay eight inches deep on the ground; and dry, crisp snowflakes were falling thickly from the sky when St. Seraphim began his conversation with me in a field near his hermitage, opposite the river Sarovka, at the foot of the hill which slopes down [...]

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The goal of all we do

In our catechisms, sermons and everything said by parents, teachers, clergy and other workers of the Church, instead of talking about sterile improvements of mankind, let us educate Christians towards Theosis. This is the genuine spirit and experience of the Church. Otherwise, the virtues, regardless of how great they may be, do not, in fact, [...]

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St. Seraphim on Fire

Abba Joseph, a desert father, was approached by Abba Lot, who informed him that he had kept his rule of prayer, fasted, purified his thoughts, and lived peaceably—what more could he do? Abba Joseph held out his hands toward heaven, fingers extended, and said, “You can become fire.” Each fingertip blazed like a candle. Abba [...]

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St. Seraphim on Deification

St. Seraphim of Sarov, a Russian monk of the nineteenth century, went into the forest with his disciple, Motovilov, during a snowstorm. While praying, St. Seraphim became iridescent in appearance, to the point of emitting what was for Motovilov an almost blinding light. Accompanying this glow was a warmth in the midst of the Russian [...]

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God became man, that man become God.

St. Clement of Alexandria: “The Word of God became man, that you may learn from man how man may become God.”
St. Athanasius of Alexandria: “For he was made man that we might be made God…and…he himself has made us sons of the Father, and deified men by becoming himself man.”
St. Gregory the Theologian: “Let us [...]

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