Through a Monk's Eyes

We need a short break: Going for a spiritual reset to the Moldavian monasteries in Northern Romania

Fr. Seraphim gives a short update.

The Hermit, his Cave, and his Island

Fr. Seraphim Aldea introduces us to Inch Kenneth, the 'desert' of St Kenneth.

Dead Tired

Fr. Seraphim gives an update on the monasteries.

The Island of St Brendan the Navigator

Join Fr. Seraphim and the Monasteries of Mull and Iona on a pilgrimage to St Brendan's Island: Eileach an Naoimh—'The Rock of the Saint'.

When Reason Goes against Faith

St. Morwenna of Cornwall

St. Morwenna is commemorated on July 18.

Pray from the belly of hell

Where are our hearts?

"Truly I say to you, I do not know you."

Joy and jokiness: acquiring and losing the Holy Spirit

When your heart aches for prayer: simple advice to help you pray again

Two Ways to Reject the World: Demonic and Christ-like

Family Against Faith? When Our Loved Ones Become Our Enemies

AI and Antichrist: We Enter an Age of Spiritual Darkness

The subtle way of the Antichrist

What has light to do with darkness?

A horrible realisation: our spiritual state

The sign of a true Christian

When God speaks to you: How to hear God's Voice and receive His guidance

It is easy to ask for God's Word, but it is difficult to listen and accept His answer. That is because His answer reveals His Divine will and once we know that, we need to silence our own will and follow Him.

When God speaks to you: How to hear God’s Voice and receive His guidance

It is easy to ask for God's Word, but it is difficult to listen and accept His answer. That is because His answer reveals His Divine will and once we know that, we need to silence our own will and follow Him.

The story of a miracle: how God healed me and then poured a mountain of grace over us

The story of a miracle: how God healed me and then poured a mountain of grace over us was recorded by Fr Seraphim (Aldea) at Mull Monastery (The Orthodox Monastery of All Celtic Saints), on the Isle of Mull.

The ‘Exciting’ Spirituality of Non-Believers

We live in an age of new paganism. The distance we allowed between ourselves and Christ has created a spiritual void in the world, which is rapidly being filled with spiritual experiences and rituals that mirror those of the ancient pagan world.

The 'Exciting' Spirituality of Non-Believers

We live in an age of new paganism. The distance we allowed between ourselves and Christ has created a spiritual void in the world, which is rapidly being filled with spiritual experiences and rituals that mirror those of the ancient pagan world.

Embracing the Impossible through Lent

This video is part of a Lenten Retreat at St Seraphim's Cathedral in Santa Rosa, California. As we prepare to enter Great Lent, we might ponder on the impossible height to which we are being called—to be perfect with the Father’s perfection—an impossibility that becomes possible in Christ, as we open up to His presence. This paradox and the tension it creates in us keep our spiritual life safe from being reduced to empty piety and religiosity.

How we pray: Our Reality vs Christ’s Teaching

We are broken and our prayer reflects that brokenness. But we are called to be one, to be simple with God's simplicity. As our prayer grows, we grow as well. As we spiritually heal and let go of our complexities and divisivenesses (which are results of our fallen nature), our prayer slowly lets go of its brokenness and becomes what it is supposed to be: a prayer beyond words, a silent prayer that is an act of being.

How we pray: Our Reality vs Christ's Teaching

We are broken and our prayer reflects that brokenness. But we are called to be one, to be simple with God's simplicity. As our prayer grows, we grow as well. As we spiritually heal and let go of our complexities and divisivenesses (which are results of our fallen nature), our prayer slowly lets go of its brokenness and becomes what it is supposed to be: a prayer beyond words, a silent prayer that is an act of being.

How to do things for God

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us to keep ourselves grounded in humility, so we may fight pride and hypocrisy, and prevent them from staining our spiritual struggle before the Lord. When you are at the beginning of your spiritual life, you need to prioritize your ascetical works, because they will eventually help you open up to receive God's Grace.

The Unforgivable Sins

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us that these are unforgivable sins against God's Love and Mercy. Feeling entitled to God's forgiveness, reducing God's Love to an automatic, impersonal tool of forgiveness—this is spiritual abuse of God's Love, this is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. The other is to lose hope, to think that God's Love is not strong enough to cover our sins, to sink so low in our despair that we believe our sin has defeated God's Love.

Reset Your Spiritual Life

'All is well, but I feel dry. Where there was life, I now have only the memory of it.' We tend to formalise our spiritual life, but Life is not in formalities: Life is in the Spirit—We need to reset our spiritual life to factory settings, jumping out of our comfort zones into a new, living faith.

Why is prayer SO HARD for me?

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us that prayer is 'the art of arts and the highest science'. Prayer is hard, it is exhausting and it will slowly burn the sinful parts of your being. This is why prayer is naturally painful and extremely difficult. In its perfect form, prayer is impossible for our fallen selves, but it becomes possible by grace (for the Saints) and in Christ's Kingdom, when we shall finally experience the full potential of our human nature.

Why did God create this Hostile World?

Fr. Seraphim Aldea answers the question "If God is perfect, why did He create imperfection?", by reminding us of His love for His creation.

The 'Perfect as You Are' Heresy

Would you tell the demoniacs whom Christ healed that they are 'perfect as they are'? Would you tell Mary Magdalene that the seven demons who fought her made her 'who she was'? Would you stop Christ from forgiving sinners because there is no need for them to be forgiven? If we are 'perfect as we are', then what need do we have of Christ? THIS is why the idea that we do not need to change, that we have to embrace ourselves just as we are and that sin is somehow part of our true selves — this is...

The ‘Perfect as You Are’ Heresy

Would you tell the demoniacs whom Christ healed that they are 'perfect as they are'? Would you tell Mary Magdalene that the seven demons who fought her made her 'who she was'? Would you stop Christ from forgiving sinners because there is no need for them to be forgiven? If we are 'perfect as we are', then what need do we have of Christ? THIS is why the idea that we do not need to change, that we have to embrace ourselves just as we are and that sin is somehow part of our true selves — this is...

Remember the Devil: His Eyes Are Fixed on Us with Endless Hatred

The devil wants us to forget him. His ultimate success would be to make us believe that he is not even real, that he is just the product of our imagination. Once that happens, the flood-gates of sin are wide open in us and our salvation is in great danger.

Why it is impossible to stop sinning in this generation?

Why can't I stop sinning when I want to stop with all my being? Why is it that I cannot pray with the strength with which I want to pray? Why can't I be the person I want to be for the love of Christ? And is there a way to actually move forward from all this sin and to grow in our spiritual life?

Be Blessed This Christmas, My Dear Ones

Fr. Seraphim shares a message of forgiveness at Christmas.

I Suffer from Anxiety and Low Self-Esteem. All I Want is to Love and Be Loved.

The opinion of others can destroy one's self-esteem. We need to found our life on Christ's values, regardless of the response that generates in those around us. We may be unpopular, but we are truly ourselves, and that is worth carrying this Cross for.

“I fear my marriage is failing” — Marriage as a tool in the hands of Christ

No good can come from constantly re-assessing our decision to enter a marriage or monastic life. The time for assessing is before we enter the Sacrament; after that, we should allow Christ to freely use the 'tool' of the Sacrament to shape us into the Saints He created us to be.

"I fear my marriage is failing" — Marriage as a tool in the hands of Christ

No good can come from constantly re-assessing our decision to enter a marriage or monastic life. The time for assessing is before we enter the Sacrament; after that, we should allow Christ to freely use the 'tool' of the Sacrament to shape us into the Saints He created us to be.

A Fall Too Far? Spiritual Survival Between Our Two Brains: the Faithful and the Sinner

There is no fall too deep for Christ's love for us. Never lose hope, my brothers and my sisters.

Gripped by Sin. Why doesn't Christ help?

We sometimes pray very hard for Christ to release us from our sin, but it feels as if He just looks away and doesn't want to help. Almost always, this betrays a much more serious sin in us, hiding underneath the one that troubles us. Pride, judgement, and condemnation of others can prevent Christ from releasing us from our sin.

Gripped by Sin. Why doesn’t Christ help?

We sometimes pray very hard for Christ to release us from our sin, but it feels as if He just looks away and doesn't want to help. Almost always, this betrays a much more serious sin in us, hiding underneath the one that troubles us. Pride, judgement, and condemnation of others can prevent Christ from releasing us from our sin.

Habitual Sin: How To Move Forward

Hope and repentance are the two wings of spiritual life.

Monastery Update: Tonsures and New Properties

What has happened in the last year and a half at the Orthodox Monastery of All Saints?

Why we stopped, and why we are restarting the podcast

Fr. Seraphim Aldea explains the hiatus from recording the podcast for 18 months.

Like a Paralyzed Man on the Roof of a High-Speed Train

This battle is now way above our heads. We need to humbly wait in the loving palm of Christ.

How To Fight Against Lust

Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Does God even care what we do with our bodies?

The Three Entry Gates for Lust

We often gather our forces to fight our spiritual enemies at the wrong 'gate' of our being. Most frequently, evil enters our life through the gates of our mind and heart, not that of the body. We need to pay attention and learn the behaviour of the evil one, so we may guard well the fortress of our being. Once we learn to decode his behaviour, we can finally begin to plan a strategy to fight back.

A Gate for demons, or for God?

The world attaches no value to our bodies and it often feels as if the Church shares the same vision: the body is evil, worthless, a sort of dark gate through which demons, passions and sins enter our being. But is this the revealed truth and is this really what the Church confesses? We need to escape this confusion, we need to rediscover the worth of our bodies before we start preparing our fight against the passions which control them. If we do not know the value of our bodies, how are we e...

God's “Obsession” with Lust

Why is God so interested in what we do in the bedroom? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings?

God’s “Obsession” with Lust

Why is God so interested in what we do in the bedroom? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings?

A Matter of Faith and Mad Love

Some things are to be discerned with one's mind, but others - the most important ones - should be approached based on faith and love alone. One cannot 'discern' one's vocation for married or monastic life; this is not a choice to be made based on logical assessment, but on the love one feels in one's heart.

What is God's will for us?

My will or God's will? The will of the world and that of our families have become components of our own will. To discern and follow the will of God, we must free ourselves from the dominion of these three: the will of the world, the will of our immediate circle of family and friends, and our personal will. The best teacher for this is the wonderful St John of the Ladder (of Sinai).