Praying in the Rain

Fr. Michael Gillis and Ancient Faith Radio

Fr. Michael Gillis reflects on the inner life of Orthodox Christians. Drawing on the wisdom of both ancient and contemporary Church Fathers, Fr. Michael ponders the struggles, the ironies, and the disciplines of the spiritual life.

  • The Form of Love
    "The grace of God is not in the man who does not love his enemies."
    18 October 2024, 5:00 am
  • The Chief Hypocrite
    It is time for a public confession from the chief hypocrite.
    11 October 2024, 5:00 am
  • Four Sources of Thoughts
    The movement of thoughts in a man originates from four causes.
    4 October 2024, 5:00 am
  • Thoughts, Passions, Gardening
    Someone recently asked me about how to understand the evil thoughts they experience.
    24 May 2024, 5:00 am
  • Death Does Not Come for Coffee
    What will we finally say when death visits us - and not for coffee?
    9 February 2024, 6:00 am
  • The Problem With Vainglory
    One of the problems with vainglory, according to St. Isaac the Syrian, is that “it hands that person over to” either fornication or pride. But before we can talk about how vainglory hands one over to either fornication or pride, we need to understand what vainglory is. Nowadays the word vain means to have a high opinion of oneself, but that is not what it originally meant, nor what it means in the Bible or in the hymnology of the Church. This is why many English-speaking Orthodox Christians have no idea what vainglory means.
    1 February 2024, 6:00 am
  • The Art of Humility
    There is strength in humility.
    18 January 2024, 5:49 pm
  • How Could God Allow...
    "How could God let his representatives get away with such things?"
    12 January 2024, 6:00 am
  • Same Sex Attraction and Three Desert Fathers
    We live in a generation that has been taught to tie their personal identity to their imagined sexual preferences. Consequently, it is difficult to help people who struggle with sexual passions to find hope and repentance. However, the teaching of holy fathers such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Barsanuphius of Gaza provide a very helpful alternative to the world’s way of thinking about such passions. For these saints, same-sex attraction is a passion like any other. It is not part of one’s identity, but is a parasitical passion, resisted and struggled against as all other passions are.
    28 August 2023, 8:56 pm
  • A Bit on Illumination
    "We have to read with discernment and humility."
    28 August 2023, 2:20 pm
  • Forgiveness on a Snowy Day
    Just about any discipline that has to do with the body, if you really think that discipline is important, is mostly just a matter of making yourself do it; but forgiveness is not merely a bodily matter. Forgiveness is a matter of the soul, of the heart. Forgiveness is not so easy. On its most basic level, forgiveness means that you will not seek revenge. It means that you are letting go of your right to get even. When you forgive someone, you stop punishing them in your mind. It means that you stop rehearsing in your mind how much they hurt you.
    28 February 2023, 7:55 pm
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