PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

On the Anointing of the Sick and the mercy we forget until we need it “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the Church…” — James 5:14 There is something humbling about walking into a room where sickness has stripped everything away. No titles. No achievements. No arguments about theology. No carefully managed image. Just frailty. A body that does not obey. A mind clouded or frightened. A family standing helpless at the edge of the bed. The quiet hum of ma

Great Lent as the Death of the False Self and the Birth of the Heart “The way of God is a daily cross. No one has ascended to heaven by ease or comfort.” — St Isaac the Syrian ⸻ Great Lent is not a season. It is an assault on everything false in us. The Church does not invite us into Lent as the world invites us into self-improvement. She drags us into the desert. She removes the coverings. She strips away the lies we tell ourselves about who we are and how holy we think we a