• GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

• ALERTNESS
• ALIVENESS
• CHARITY (We should remember that we do not live just for ourselves.)
• COMPASSION
• COMPOSURE (Also Equipose.)
• CONTROL OF MIND.
• COURAGE (Some people say it is impossible to face life without courage.)
• CREATIVITY (We should be able to think our own thoughts and be creative in our approach to the problems of life.)
• DETACHMENT (See also Renunciation)
• DETERMINATION (In life we should know what we want and to be able to stay on course.)
• DUTY (We should understand what is our duty and try to perform our duties diligently.)
• DISCIPLINE (Without self-discipline, they say, we are unable to achieve anything.)
• FAITH (Faith is what allows us not to lose direction)
• FEAR OF GOD (Fear of God is called the beginning of wisdom)
• FILIAL PIETY (Love, reverence, and proper conduct toward parents).
• FORGIVENESS (It is not healthy for us to carry a grudge. Let us learn how to let go.)
• HARD WORK (Work, activity are good for our bodies and minds.)
• HUMANISM (We should try to serve one another and the whole humanity.)
• HUMBLENESS (With our egos overblown we cannot listen to God.)
• INSPIRATION (In this short life of ours there is no time for boredom. We should be inspired to follow God and to do good deeds for fellow human beings.)
• JOY (Joy is a sign that we are on the right path.)
• LEADERSHIP.
• MATERIALISM (Dangers of materialism)
• MODERATION (Also Middle Path.)
• PATIENCE
• PEACE (Peace of heart and mind and its impact on peace around, including wars.)
• PURITY (Purity of the heart, cleanliness of the body are signs of respect for God.)
• RENUNCIATION
• RESPONSIBILITY(Taking responsibility for one's thoughts, words and actions.)
• RIGHTEOUSNESS (Noble, moral conduct; cultivating one's life and virtues).
• SACRAMENTS (Through sacraments we access graces otherwise difficult to obtain)
• SILENCE (Many people believe we should not talk much, especially about others.)
• SIMPLICITY (We should be satisfied with what we have and do not get attached to possessions.)
• STRIVE FOR GOD(We should never be satisfied with our achievements, but from any point or position try to advance toward God).
• TOLERANCE (We should be tolerant for one another as God is tolerant of our ignorance and sinfulness).
• VEGETARIANISM
• WILL (In a sense we are what our will is.)

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Yet these… were godly men

whose virtues have not been forgotten;

Their wealth remains in their families,

their heritage with their descendants;

Through God’s covenant with them their family endures,

their posterity, for their sake.

And for all time their progeny will endure,

their glory will never be blotted out;

Their bodies are peacefully laid away,

but their name lives on and on.

At gatherings their wisdom is retold,

and the assembly proclaims their praise.

Sirach 44:10-15. Quoted in: Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos.

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Last updated: 2008/03/25