St Kentigern

St Kentigern knew evil from his mother’s womb. St Thaney, his mother was raped. Yet he did not allow evil to touch him, to define him. He saw it for what it was, he called it what it was and … Read more

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Theophany & starting on our pilgrimage

A peaceful (freezing) day at Kilninian, cleaning the gutters, tending the new rose bushes and continuing work on the floor – we’ve been slowly sanding it for three weeks now.Blinding (but still freezing) sun, hale out of the blue, clouds … Read more

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Happy New Year 2020!

The world feels very small these months, a tiny space shrouded in fog and clouds. It seems like it has always been winter, that the rains and the winds have been with us since the creation of the world, and … Read more

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Flight to Egypt

An angel told Joseph in a dream to take the Child and flee to Egypt – get the young Mother, gather a few things and seek shelter in a pagan nation!What angel told you, young father, to take your child … Read more

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On Thin Places and Thin Persons

Sustained fasting allows prayer to descend to the depth of the heart and burn out the roots of our passions. I stumbled across this quotation by St Paisius Velichkovsky while I was on Athos, recording the new series of our … Read more

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The Royal Doors are ready

The iconostasis has a very humble, but functional structure: just the central Royal Doors and one narrow Deacon’s Door to the side. This basic structure is used in most Athonite hermitages, including St Paisios’ Kellia or Elder Joseph the Hesychast’s … Read more

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