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

St. Anna the Prophetess and the hidden life that becomes proclamation “And she did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God and spoke of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” — Luke 2:37–38 Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, appears in the Gospel of Luke for only a few verses, yet in those verses the whole mystery of a life lived for God is revealed. She is already