#gratitude and appreciation

A monastic sermon, translated from Greek by Octavian Gordon, urges gratitude towards God as the foundation of the spiritual life, drawing on Scripture and the example of Brother Thaddeus, a slave of Scythian origin who became a monk and martyr. Faith and a pure life are presented as inseparable, whilst the iconoclasts are condemned for their refusal to recognise the icon of Christ.

An interview with an Athonite abbot, conducted by Hieromonk Dionysius of Ostrov Monastery, explores essential themes of the Orthodox spiritual life: gratitude towards God as the key to the mysteries revealed to Saint Joseph the Hesychast, the role of spiritual fatherhood, asceticism, fear, the contemporary crisis and the failure to manifest virtues, illustrated by recollections of Saints Paisios of Mount Athos, Ephrem of Katounakia and Joseph of Vatopedi.

Gratitude towards God is examined as a fundamental spiritual state, springing from an awareness of God’s gifts and culminating in the Holy Eucharist, understood as a complete union with Christ. Drawing on the teachings of Saints Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory Palamas, John Chrysostom, Dumitru Stăniloae and the Gospel passage on the healing of the ten lepers, the article demonstrates that authentic gratitude signifies a constant communion with God, whilst its absence leads to alienation and dehumanisation.