The body cannot be purified without fasting and vigil, the soul without mercy and truth, and the intellect without contemplation of God and communion with Him. These pairs constitute the principal virtues in these three aspects of the human person.
– St. Ilias the Presbyter, “A Gnomic Anthology.” The Philokalia, Vol. 3
Featured image: Pyx made by Archimandrite Pimen, 1736. From the vestry of the Ipatevskii Monastery, Kostroma. Photographer Sergeĭ Mikhaĭlovich, 1911. Prokudin-Gorskiĭ Collection. Library of Congress
