PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

On the love of God that dismantles the religious ego “For whom the Lord loves He chastens.” — Epistle to the Hebrews 12:6 A brother said to an Elder, “Why does God take away the things by which I believed I was serving Him?” The Elder replied, “Because you had begun to possess them.” There is a mercy of God that comforts the heart. But there is another mercy that terrifies it. For a long time a man may believe that he loves God. He fasts. He prays. He studies the Scriptures.