Welcome to Monachos.net

Welcome to Monachos.net, a web site dedicated to the study of Orthodox Christianity through its patristic, monastic and liturgical heritage. This introduction describes the site's nature and focus, with a brief overview of its main content areas.

Icon of the Ladder to Paradise, based on the classic text of the same name by St John of the Ladder, commemorated on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent.

The Ladder to Paradise, based on the text of the same name by St John of the Ladder, commemorated on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent (1 / 14 March 2010)

Greetings to all in the fourth week of the Fast: We hope that the various resources here on Monachos.net will be of benefit to readers in this fourth week of Great Lent, leading up to the Sunday of St John of the Ladder.

Visit our collection of materials for Great Lent.

Try one of two day-by-day patristic reading plans for Great Lent, which provide daily readings on theological themes relevant to the season, from the early Church Fathers.

During the commemoration of St John Klimakos ('of the Ladder'), take a few moments to read On Repentance that Leads to Joy: a glimpse into St John's Ladder of Divine Ascent, and especially his teaching on joy-creating sorrow and its place in the ascetic life of the Church.

Are you interested in participating in the work of Monachos.net? Find out how you can help edit patristic texts, contribute academic studies, work on wiki content, and interact by other means.

Sign up for the Monachos.net eNewsletter and receive updates and news from the web site, direct to your inbox, as new materials are added or other changes made.

A Word From the Holy Fathers (new!) is our web start-page, providing random quotations from the Church Fathers, drawn from an ever expanding database of over 420 passages. This area, which we have offered for several years, has recently been updated to provide for additional quotations and user submission.

What's new? Start here for the newest materials on the site, including new studies, broadcasts and texts.

The Wonder of the Incarnation – St Gregory the Theologian

11 January 2010

In this fiftieth and final episode of the current series of A Word From the Holy Fathers, we examine a poignant reflection on ‘the wonder of the Incarnation’ by St Gregory of Nazianzus. The broadcast concludes with a small announcement about the conclusion of this series, and advance notice of its return with a new series in a month’s time.

‘Glory to God who has shown Himself to us!’—St Ephrem & St John on the Nativity

04 January 2010

In a broadcast for the Feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, we reflect on two hymns of St Ephrem the Syrian, and a portion of a homily by St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, on the glory of the night of Christ’s full revelation.

Remembering the Mother of God: St Cyril on the Theotokos and the Incarnation

28 December 2009

In this season of Christ’s incarnate coming in the flesh, we take a moment to reflect, through the words of St Cyril of Alexandria, on the role of the Virgin Theotokos in the nativity of the true God, Jesus Christ.

The Coming of the Lord – St Leo the Great

21 December 2009

In this week's broadcast, we examine a sermon by St Leo of Rome, normally read in the season of Pascha, yet which sheds great light on the coming of the Lord and the pastoral message to be gleaned from the intense theological disputes about Christ’s natures that raged in the early Church.

St Nicholas Cabasilas on the Assurance of the True Body and Blood

14 December 2009

In every age there is the temptation to doubt the Mysteries of the Church—to question how it is that the faithful should remain secure in believing that Christ makes Himself truly present in Body and Blood at the Holy Table. In this week’s episode, we examine an extended text by Nicholas Cabasilas, on the substance of our faith in the Mystical Supper.

Abba Poemen the Great: On Softening the Hardest of Hearts

07 December 2009

In this week’s broadcast, we examine three sayings by Abba Poemen (‘The Shepherd’) of Egypt, on the means by which the hardest heart can be softened by the Lord.