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Words of the Heart
Words of wisdom from Gerondissa Makrina on living a Christian life.
- GenresSpiritualityChristian
558 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
28 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 29, 2021
A must read for every Orthodox Christian. Her life is truly inspiring and her wisdom is truly informative and given by God.
January 11, 2026
Listened to as an audiobook provided by Anthonite Audio, available on YouTube for free and on Spotify as a podcast.
Gerondissa Makrina, someone I was not familiar with before, has had an interesting life as a nun that is truly inspiring for anyone who is invested in either learning about the monastic life or learning about how to live close to the monastic life through modern times as a citizen.
This book begins with an insight on her youth before she became a nun, living in the city as a little girl in poverty while having lost both her parents at a young age; she takes on all responsibilities of care and hard labour as to not only provide for her little brother, but also to get closer to the Holy Spirit. While working many jobs she meets her spiritual Father, who she will refer to many times throughout her teachings. This chapter ends with her repose, describing her last moments and her last wishes.
In her homilies, that are written word-for-word and were provided due to her initiative to recording her sessions for future teachings, she comes back to this; how hard labour can give you so much more good than only the money you will receive at the end of the month. It will give you enrichment of the soul as well, not only of your wallet.
I have found that after some time in the book, a lot of homilies would be the same in topic - as such the book would somewhat repeat itself. It makes it more “boring” to read, but maybe the repeating of the teachings is also what makes you remember them more, and that’s maybe also why she taught such topic multiple times; they are important.
Truly interesting homilies, aswell for someone that is an “agnost” but nevertheless interested in the Orthodox Christian faith and philosophy of it, like me. It not only teaches and tells you about a christian life, but also normal every-day activities for anyone and how to help or behave in such situations. Like being humble, not to waste food, how to treat people, help people with their own activities etc. Even such that seem like the lowest of the lowest actions can make such a big change.
Although I find it hard to rate, it was a book that I will never to regret having spent hours of time on.
Gerondissa Makrina, someone I was not familiar with before, has had an interesting life as a nun that is truly inspiring for anyone who is invested in either learning about the monastic life or learning about how to live close to the monastic life through modern times as a citizen.
This book begins with an insight on her youth before she became a nun, living in the city as a little girl in poverty while having lost both her parents at a young age; she takes on all responsibilities of care and hard labour as to not only provide for her little brother, but also to get closer to the Holy Spirit. While working many jobs she meets her spiritual Father, who she will refer to many times throughout her teachings. This chapter ends with her repose, describing her last moments and her last wishes.
In her homilies, that are written word-for-word and were provided due to her initiative to recording her sessions for future teachings, she comes back to this; how hard labour can give you so much more good than only the money you will receive at the end of the month. It will give you enrichment of the soul as well, not only of your wallet.
I have found that after some time in the book, a lot of homilies would be the same in topic - as such the book would somewhat repeat itself. It makes it more “boring” to read, but maybe the repeating of the teachings is also what makes you remember them more, and that’s maybe also why she taught such topic multiple times; they are important.
Truly interesting homilies, aswell for someone that is an “agnost” but nevertheless interested in the Orthodox Christian faith and philosophy of it, like me. It not only teaches and tells you about a christian life, but also normal every-day activities for anyone and how to help or behave in such situations. Like being humble, not to waste food, how to treat people, help people with their own activities etc. Even such that seem like the lowest of the lowest actions can make such a big change.
Although I find it hard to rate, it was a book that I will never to regret having spent hours of time on.
March 26, 2023
This book is a series of homilies given by a Greek Orthodox Nun. She lived in the 20th century. I had to read this over a long period of time because she has so much I need to think about.
January 26, 2025
DNF @50% while this book was inspiring and had some good quotes, most of the homilies became the same after a while and I lost interest
September 7, 2024
Best book I’ve ever read.
December 17, 2025
finally. done.
July 21, 2021
Gerondissa Makrina's spiritual daughter, Gerondissa Efpraxia has been a dear "Mother" to me for over 20 years. So, getting to know Gerondissa Makrina through her book has been very special.
Gerondissa Makrina's language is simple and modern, and her message is deep and timeless.
Gerondissa Efpraxia's gave me her blessing to publish, 'Daily Quotes from "Words of the Heart" by Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou.' She asked me to select quotes most appropriate for laypeople living their faith in the world.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MMT3HZW?...
Gerondissa Makrina's language is simple and modern, and her message is deep and timeless.
Gerondissa Efpraxia's gave me her blessing to publish, 'Daily Quotes from "Words of the Heart" by Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou.' She asked me to select quotes most appropriate for laypeople living their faith in the world.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MMT3HZW?...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews