"We shall not care what people think of us, or how they treat us. We shall cease to be afraid of falling out of favour. We shall love our fellow men without thought of whether they love us. Christ gave us the commandment to love others but did not make it a condition of salvation that they should love us. Indeed, we may positively be disliked for independence of spirit. It is essential in these days to be able to protect ourselves from the influence of those with whom we come in contact. Otherwise we risk losing both faith and prayer. Let the whole world dismiss us as unworthy of attention, trust or respect – it will not matter provided that the Lord accept us. And vice versa: it will profit us nothing if the whole world thinks well of us and sings our praises, if the Lord declines to abide with us. This is only a fragment of the freedom Christ meant when He said, 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8.32). Our sole care will be to continue in the word of Christ, to become His disciples and cease to be servants of sin."

Elder Sophrony of Essex
from His Life is Mine, p. 55.

 

Retail Price: $14.95
Published by: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood
Item Number: SB0021

Uncommonly candid, We Shall See Him As He Is is the spiritual autobiography of Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, one of the greatest and most influential elders of the twentieth century.

Retail Price: $13.95
Published by: Saint Vladimir's Seminary Press
Item Number: SB0018

A book on the Art of Arts and Science of Sciences by Elder Sophrony, one of the greatest theologians in the Orthodox Christian tradition.

Retail Price: $8.95
Published by: The Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist
Item Number: SB0024

A compilation of some of the sayings of Archimandrite Sophrony, a truly great master of the Orthodox spiritual life. Translated by Sister Magdalen.