PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

Entering Great Lent as the Beginning of Love “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may be seen not by men but by your Father who is in secret.” Matthew 6:16–18 ⸻ Great Lent approaches quietly. The world does not see it. The news does not announce it. There are no outward signs that something immense is about to unfold. And yet within the Church, within the Body of Christ, a door is ope

Why Great Lent Is Never a Private Act but the Offering of the Whole Body of Christ “We are not fighting alone. The same prowess is being undertaken by all the other members of the Body. Keeping the ordinances of the Church, we keep the bond with our fellows alive.” — Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou , “ The Way of the Lord” ⸻ We have quietly ruined fasting. We have turned it into a private spiritual wellness program, a dietary experiment, a form of self-curation. We speak of

The cold of the morning still clung to the stones of the church and to the breath of those who entered. Winter has a way of telling the truth. It exposes the fragility of the body and the ache of the heart. And yet within the walls of this holy temple there was a warmth that did not come from heat or shelter but from love made visible. The love of God that does not retreat from the coldness of the world but enters it and transforms it from within. Among all that was beautiful