Praying in the Rain Fr. Michael Gillis, and Ancient Faith Ministries
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- Religion & Spirituality
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Fr. Michael Gillis reflects on the inner life of Orthodox Christians. Drawing on the wisdom of both ancient and contemporary Church Fathers, Fr. Michael ponders the struggles, the ironies, and the disciplines of the spiritual life.
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Death Does Not Come for Coffee
What will we finally say when death visits us - and not for coffee?
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The Problem With Vainglory
One of the problems with vainglory, according to St. Isaac the Syrian, is that “it hands that person over to” either fornication or pride. But before we can talk about how vainglory hands one over to either fornication or pride, we need to understand what vainglory is. Nowadays the word vain means to have a high opinion of oneself, but that is not what it originally meant, nor what it means in the Bible or in the hymnology of the Church. This is why many English-speaking Orthodox Christians have no idea what vainglory means.
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How Could God Allow...
"How could God let his representatives get away with such things?"
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Same Sex Attraction and Three Desert Fathers
We live in a generation that has been taught to tie their personal identity to their imagined sexual preferences. Consequently, it is difficult to help people who struggle with sexual passions to find hope and repentance. However, the teaching of holy fathers such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Barsanuphius of Gaza provide a very helpful alternative to the world’s way of thinking about such passions. For these saints, same-sex attraction is a passion like any other. It is not part of one’s identity, but is a parasitical passion, resisted and struggled against as all other passions are.
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Customer Reviews
Profound wisdom and humility
I always benefit from Fr. Michael's rare podcasts. I wish they were more frequent, but if they were they probably wouldn't be as wise. They always are a gift to me - confirming something I've sensed but couldn't enunciate, or pointing to a truth my mind and heart were too fogged up to perceive. I especially love his takes on St. Isaac the Syrian, one of my favorite saints. Not many people whom I've run across are as good as Fr. Michael is at explaining the hidden gems in St. Isaac's writings.
Incredible wisdom
Two episodes in and the insight and wisdom is just so apparent!
Wisdom.
I’ve benefited a lot from this podcast and Fr. Michael’s wisdom. Highly recommended.