"God is good. He alone is truly and fully good. He is good without mixture of evil; in Him all evils disappears. From Him comes all good. All that is good not only comes from Him, but is also His presence. Where the good is, there God is present.''
Paulos Mar Gregorios
Prayer is a relationship word; it can never be thought of in abstraction, isolated from others or from God. Unfortunately, we have reduced prayer to a private act, an occasion for selfish concern or complaint. Yet prayer is never exclusive or divisive; it is inclusive and caring. Authentic prayer is never self-serving or self-complacent; it involves a sense of compassion for all people and all creation.
The whole Orthodox understanding, discipline, and teaching about prayer may be condensed into the short formula commonly known as the “Jesus prayer.” […]
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” This brief prayer is a simple prayer and not a complicated exercise. The Jesus Prayer can be used by everyone as a concise, arrow-prayer that leads directly from our heart to the heart of God via the heart of the world. It is the realization – beyond the recitation of conventional prayers – of the power of silence. For when prayer culminates in silence, we awaken to new awareness. Then, prayer becomes a way of noticing more clearly and responding more effectively to the world within us and around us.
His Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New
From the Foreword written by His Holiness
Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer by Norris J. Chumley
2011 Harper Collins Publishers
What is the purpose of prayer? To make a link between prayer and mind, between mind and heart, between the power that thinks and the power that loves. So the mind that descends its awareness into the heart is not an activity of the human being, it is a work of God. What we are doing is that we pray to God for the unity of our own being, the whole being.
When we pray, we are making a house for him (God) in our heart, and when God enters he brings sublime peace with him. Once united to God, we are never alone, and we need never fear anything again. God becomes our protector, the foundation for our whole life.
In the Gospel we say that God is our Father. This is a God who loves us, a God who is himself love. When God himself settles into our being, he makes a house for himself in our heart. He’s hugging us.
Archimandrite Teofil of Brancoveanu Monastery (Romanian Orthodox Church)
Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer by Norris J. Chumley
2011 Harper Collins Publishers
Orthodox Peace Fellowship conference to focus on forgiveness:
UW professor Robert D. Enright, Kim Phuc to be keynote speakers
The North American Conference of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship has chosen
Robert D. Enright Ph.D., professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be a keynote speaker. Enright is a founding member of the International Forgiveness Institute Inc., is the author of four books including “Forgiveness is a Choice.” He has appeared on “20/20” and “NBC Nightly News,” and his work has been featured in TIME, McCall’s Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the LA Times.
Some of the other speakers expected at the event:
“‘Forgiveness’ is a topic that has much to do with ‘peace,” says Alexander Patico of the OPF. “Conflict between two individuals or two groups can cease, but often the seeds of future conflict are there, ready to germinate at the first opportunity. Without forgiveness, we achieve only a surface calm, not a reconciliation that is the foundation of true peace.”
Without forgiveness, says Patico, “inner peace remains elusive, as well. There are, however, many different ways to think about forgiveness – what it means and what conditions must exist for it to happen. The conference will explore those different conceptions, so that forgiving might become more feasible for all who take part.”
The event will be held at the
Information will be available about conference costs shortly; the organization plans to offer low-cost options for those with financial challenges or who are coming from greater distances.
Reservations must be received prior to Wednesday, Sept. 14. More information is available by contacting Patico at opfnorthamerica@gmail.com or Rev. Paprock at frjohnbrian@gmal.com or 608.242.4244
The Orthodox Peace Fellowship is an association of Orthodox Christians applying the principles of the Gospel to situations of division and conflict – in the home, the parish, the community, the work place, and within and between nations.
