What Does “True Orthodoxy” Mean? Four Patristic Criteria for Discernment
What does true Orthodoxy mean? Four patristic criteria for discernment: apostolic continuity, catholicity, holiness, and Eucharistic communion.
Cleopa, the Last Saint of Romania
Saint Cleopa Ilie, glorified in 2025, as a patristically verifiable Romanian Orthodox elder: life, teaching, humility, gifts, and fruits.
Saint Basil of Poiana Marului (II) — His Writings, Teaching, and Philokalic Legacy
Saint Basil of Poiana Marului — Part II: His Writings, Teaching, and Philokalic Legacy “The writings of Elder Basil can and must be regarded as the very first book to which anyone who wishes to practice the Jesus Prayer with…
Saint Basil of Poiana Marului (I) — His Life and Encounter with Saint Paisius Velichkovsky
Saint Basil of Poiana Marului — Part I: His Life and Encounter with Saint Paisius Velichkovsky “When I saw him, I glorified God from my whole soul that He had deemed me worthy, unworthy as I am, to behold so…
Which ROCOR? A Canonical Guide for Orthodox Christians in the United Kingdom
How a believer can recognise a canonical ROCOR parish in the UK — and why not every church calling itself the «Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia» is in communion with the Orthodox Church.
How to Read the Philokalia: The Path of Gradual Initiation the Tradition Recommends
The scene has repeated itself for decades. An Orthodox Christian, searching for spiritual depth, hears about the Philokalia. He buys it — in English, the Palmer-Sherrard-Ware edition in five volumes; in Romanian, the Stăniloae edition in twelve volumes; in Russian,…
Why Not All Philokalias Are the Same: A Map of Translations, Disciples, and What Was Lost Along the Way
On the shelves of Orthodox bookshops today you can find several different Philokalias — in Greek, in Russian, in Romanian, in English. They are not identical. This article maps the living lines of transmission — from St. Paisius Velichkovsky at Neamț, through St. Theophan the Recluse, to Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae — and explains what each editor added, omitted, filtered, or restored, and why it matters for the reader today.
Great Holy Water and Small Holy Water — the Romanian tradition compared to other Orthodox countries
In the Holy Orthodox Church, water is not merely a creature of nature, but one of the foremost through which the gift of God works. From the very Creation, the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis…
The Prayer of the Heart — the Living Heart of Orthodoxy
From the deserts of Egypt and Saint Isaac the Syrian, through Saint Gregory Palamas and the Philokalia, to Saint Paisius Velichkovsky and Saint Joseph the Hesychast: the unbroken thread of the Jesus Prayer in Orthodox tradition.