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We hope this page provides you with some thoughts to ponder,
but more than pondering... we encourage you to consider putting these words of
wisdom into practice. Check back often for updates and changes.
The
Meaning of the Orthodox Three Bar Cross
Why Beeswax Candles
|
On The Church |
|
Father G.: "A few days ago, when I said to Eldress
Gavrilia: 'I do not dare ask... I know how tired you are; how many
persons you see in our Cell... But, I would like to ask you to come
to our little church one of these evenings, but I cannot decide,'
her answer was: 'Oh no! Do decide, do tell me and I will come!'" |
|
Eldress Gavrilia: "Indeed this is the greatest joy
for me. It is wonderful to be among so many persons who love Got as
intensely as I do. Then something tremendous takes place: a
sort of energy emanating from Saints and Angels and these devoted
people. Such a gathering is like one of the greatest events. This is
what the Church is! This is the Church! |
|
Nun Gavrilia, The Ascetic of Love |
|
On
Patience and Anxiety |
| G.: Mother, I have noticed that,
many a time in our life, we are in a hurry and quite often, we get
impatient when God is slow in responding to our prayers… |
| G.G.: We must have patience,
because God lives in Eternity and works in Eternity. We
humans, are constrained to a short life of 70-80 years, so we are in
a hurry to see everything and see it fast! Because our life goes by
quickly. We exist here for only one brief moment in Eternity and
then what? We are finished with this life. God works in Eternity and
for this reason, we may ask for something today and get it in 30
years! In this way, we slowly acquire the experience and finally,
one day, we stop wishing and asking. For He knows what,
where, if and when He will grant it. So, we sit quietly without
fretting. Some will say that we are indifferent, full of apathy,
impassive. But this is not true: We simply walk with the Rhythm and
Will of God. This is how we can have no anxiety. Many years ago I
had anxieties. "what will happen? How will I do this? When will I
go there?" But then, I had the pride of wanting to know the
outcome of my work… Will it be criticized? Will it be approved? This
is why I was worrying and waiting impatiently. Now, nothing like
that! I just sit quietly and wait for His Will to be done in my life
— every day. As I told you before, every morning I put my signature
at the bottom of the new page, I sign <<carte blanche>> to
the Lord… |
|
G. Meneopoulou,
Athens. 1970-80 |
|
Feeling the Grace
of God |
| "It is the grace of
God which comes to you. At first this grace visits you softly, but
when, as you pray, you will feel a fiery moment of ineffable
joy sweep through your heart, and when on your knees, you will feel
an inexplicable affection in your soul and an imperative need to
weep, know then that the grace of Christ is visiting you. |
| Persevere;
my friend, and grace will come more and more often, until it lives
in you permanently. You will then know a continuous state of grace,
and the inner peace whose source is the forgiveness of Christ will
transform itself into spiritual joy, which will invisibly radiate
through every pore of your being. You will know the happiness of
being forgiven and of forgiving. |
|
Fr. George Calciu
Christ is Calling You!:
A Course in Catacomb Pastorship |
|
Bees and Flies |
| I know from
experience that in this life people are divided into two categories.
A third category does not exist; people either belong to one or the
other. The first one resembles the fly. The main characteristic of
the fly is that it is attracted by dirt. For example, when a fly is
found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will
ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt on the ground. It
will start messing around with it, and feel comfortable with the bad
smell. If the fly could talk, and you asked it to show you a rose in
the garden, it would answer: “I don’t even know what a rose looks
like. I only know where to find garbage, toilets, and dirt.” There
are some people who resemble the fly. People belonging to this
category have learned to think negatively, and always look for the
bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of good. |
| The other category is like the bee whose main
characteristic is that it always looks for something sweet and nice
to sit on. When a bee is found in a room full of dirt and there is a
small piece of sweet in the corner, it will ignore the dirt and will
go to sit on top of the sweet. Now, if we ask the bee to show us
where the garbage is, it will answer: “I don’t know. I can only tell
you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar.” It only knows
the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil. This is the
second category of people who have a positive thinking, and see only
the good side of things. They always try to cover up the evil in
order to protect their fellow men; on the contrary, people in the
first category try to expose the evil and bring it to the surface.
When someone comes to me, starts to accuse other people, and puts me
in a difficult situation, I tell him the above example. Then, I ask
him to decide which category he wishes to belong, so he that he may
find people of the same kind to socialize with. |
|
Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain |
|
Mercy and
Forgiveness Given To Us |
| "…the Master of all visible and
invisible creation was not ashamed to humble Himself and to take
upon Himself our human nature, subject as it was to the passions of
shame and desire and condemned by divine judgment; |
| and He became like us in all
things except that He was without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15), that
is, without ignoble passions. |
| All the penalties imposed by
divine judgment upon man for the sin of the first transgression —
death, toil, hunger, thirst and the like — He took upon Himself,
becoming as we are, so we might become as He is… |
| Being rich, He became poor for our
sakes, so that through His poverty we might become rich (cf. 2
Cor. 8:9). In His great love for man He became like us, so that
through every virtue we might become like Him." |
|
St. Mark The Ascetic |
|
To the Measure One Complains,
He Also Destroys |
| QUESTION: "Elder, where does complaining come
from and how can one avoid it?" |
| It comes from wretchedness, but in giving glory
to God one is able to defeat it. Complaining gives birth to more
complaining, and glorifying God gives birth to glorifying Him more
and more. When someone doesn't complain about a difficulty he finds
himself in, but instead glorifies God, then the devil is thwarted.
He goes off to find someone else who complains, for whom the devil
can turn everything even more upside-down. To the measure one
complains he also destroys… |
| Sometimes the "little-horned one" steals from us
and we never give thanks for anything; but others are able
spiritually to escape everything with glorification and thus be
blessed by God. |
| Complaining is a curse. It is as if one curses
himself; and upon him then comes the wrath of God. In Ipeiros I knew
two farmers. One was a family man who had one or two little fields,
and who entrusted everything to God. He would work as much as he
could without stress. "I will do whatever I can get to," he would
says. Sometimes his things would rot because of the rain, or he
didn't anticipate having to gather them up, and they would get
scattered in the wind. But in every circumstance he would say,
"Glory to Thee, O God," and all went well for him. The other had
many acres and mules, but no children. If you asked him, "How's it
going?" he would reply, "Leave me alone! Don't ask!" Never would he
say, "Glory to Thee, O God." He would only complain. As a result one
of his cows would die; or sometimes this would happen to him, and
sometimes that. He had everything except prosperity. |
| Therefore, I say glorifying God is very
important. It depends on us: will we fail to acknowledge the
blessings God gives us? Yet how are we to recognize God's blessing
when, for example, God gives a banana and all we can think about is
that the other guy is eating better? Do we realize how many people
there are who eat only dry rusks, yet who glorify God day and night,
and are thus nourished with heavenly sweets?! Such people acquire a
certain spiritual sensitivity and can easily recognize God's "hugs,"
that is His special, even intimate provisions. We don't acknowledge
them because our heart is a wreck, and thus we cannot be appeased by
anything. We don't understand that happiness is in eternity, and not
in the vain things of this world. |
|
From the book "Family Life" by Elder
Paisios the Athonite |
|
Stages of Repentance |
| 1. "I haven't even thought about repenting or
changing my life in observable ways." |
| 2. "I am thinking about repenting and changing
my life in observable ways." |
| 3. "I am preparing to repent and change my life
in observable ways." |
| 4. "I am beginning to repent and change my life
in observable ways." |
| 5. "I am repenting and my life is beginning to
change in observable ways." |
| 6. "I have repented and have changed my life in
observable ways, and I am striving now to continually repent and to
dwell with God." |
|
A Word from the Abbot |
| continued from an earlier
article |
| |
| "Do Not Resent, Do Not React, Keep Inner
Stillness" |
| |
| Do Not React |
| So this first spiritual
principle — do not resent — leads to the second. We must learn not
to react. This is just a corollary of "turn the other cheek." When
somebody says something hurtful, or somebody does something hurtful,
what is it that's being hurt? It's our ego. Nobody can truly hurt
us. They might cause some physical pain, or emotional pain. They
might even kill our body. But nobody can hurt our true selves. We
have to take responsibility for our own reactions. Then we can
control our reactions. |
| There are a number of
different levels to this principle. On the most blatant level, if
someone hits you don't hit them back. Turn the other cheek — that's
the Lord's teaching. Now, this is hard enough. But there is a deeper
level still. Because if somebody hits you, and you don't hit them
back — but you resent them, and you bear anger and hatred and
bitterness against them, you've still lost. You have still sinned.
You have still broken your relationship with God, because you bear
that anger in your heart. |
| One of the things which
is so difficult to come to terms with is the reality that when we
bear anger and resentment and bitterness in our hearts, we erect
barriers to God's grace within ourselves. It's not that God stops
giving us His grace. It's that we say, "No. I don't want it." What
is His grace? It is His love, His mercy, His compassion, His
activity in our lives. The holy Fathers tell us that each and every
human person who has ever been born on this earth bears the image of
God undistorted within themselves. In our Tradition there is no such
thing as fallen nature. There are fallen persons, but not fallen
nature. The implication of this truth is that we have no excuses for
our sins. We are responsible for our sins, for the choices we make.
We are responsible for our actions, and our reaction. "The devil
made me do it" is no excuse, because the devil has no more power
over us than we give him. This is hard to accept, because it is
really convenient to blame the devil. It is also really convenient
to blame the other person, or our past. But it is also a lie. Our
choices are our own. |
| On an even deeper
level, this spiritual principle — do not react — teaches us that we
need to learn not to react to thoughts. One of the fundamental
aspects of this is inner watchfulness. This might seem like a
daunting task, considering how many thoughts we have. However, our
watchfulness does not need to be focused on our thoughts. Our
watchfulness needs to be focused on God. We need to maintain the
conscious awareness of God's presence. If we can maintain the
conscious awareness of His presence, our thoughts will have no power
over us. We can, to paraphrase St. Benedict, dash our thoughts
against the presence of God. This is a very ancient patristic
teaching. We focus our attention on the remembrance of God. If we
can do that, we will begin to control our troubling thoughts. Our
reactions are about our thoughts. After all, if someone says
something nasty to us, how are we reacting? We react first though
our thinking, our thoughts. Perhaps we're habitually accustomed to
just lashing out after taking offense with some kind of nasty
response of our own. But keeping watch over our minds so that we
maintain that living communion with God leaves no room for
distracting thoughts. It leaves plenty of room if we decide we need
to think something through intentionally in the presence of God. But
as soon as we engage in something hateful, we close God out. And the
converse is true — as long as we maintain our connection to God, we
won't be capable of engaging in something hateful. We wont' react. |
|
|
"This is the true
foundation of prayer: keeping watch over your own thoughts and
giving yourself to prayer in great tranquility, in great peace, in
such a way as not to disturb others… You will then have to wage war
on your own thoughts and cut back their rampant growth… push ahead
towards God, refrain from doing as your thoughts would have you do,
but on the contrary lead them back from their dispersion, sifting
the natural thoughts from those that are bad." |
|
—St. Macarius the Great |
|
HOMILY |
| on what is the beginning of wisdom |
| |
|
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom
(Proverbs 1:7). |
| |
| If someone know the
number of stars in the heavens and the names of the fish in the sea
and the amount of grass in the field and the habits of the bests in
the forest, but did not have the fear of God, his knowledge would be
as water in a sieve. And his knowledge would make him a greater
coward in the face of death than the completely ignorant. |
| If someone could guess
all the thoughts of mankind and foretell the fate of mankind and
reveal every secret that the earth conceals in its depths, but did
not have the fear of God, his knowledge would be as milk poured into
an unclean container, by which all the milk would be spoiled. And,
in the hour of his death, his wisdom would not shine even a s much
as a piece of charcoal without a flame, but would make the night of
his death even darker. |
| The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. How can he who has not begun aright
finish aright? Whoever has started out on a wrong path from the
beginning must turn back and take up the correct beginning, that is,
he must set his feet on the right path. He who does not have the
fear of God cannot have love for God. What are we talking about? He
who has no fear of God has no faith in God. The greatest ascetics,
those who mortified themselves and who lived a life of asceticism
day and night for forty or fifty years, were filled with the fear of
God until death, and these, the most sinless among mortals, cried
out at their hour of death: "O God, have mercy on me a sinner!" |
| The fear of God is the
salt of all piety. If there is no such salt then all of our piety is
insipid and lax. The fear of God girds the loins, girdles the
stomach, makes the heart sober, restrains the mind, and flogs
self-will. Where is repentance without the fear of God? Where is
humility? Where is restraint? Where is chastity? Where is patience?
Where is service and obedience? |
| O my brethren, let us
embrace this word as the holy truth: The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. O Lord Almighty, implant Thy fear in our
hearts. |
| To Thee be glory and
praise forever. Amen. |
|
St. Nikolai Velimirovich, The Prologue from
Ochrid. |
|
The Heart: |
| The Battle-Ground of the
Spiritual Struggle |
| |
The battleground of the spiritual struggle is,
first
and foremost, man's own heart;
but 'the heart is deep.' |
| |
The real life of the Christian is lived in this
deep
heart, hidden not only from alien eyes, but also, in
its fullness, from the owner of the heart himself. He
who enters those secret recesses finds himself face
to face with the mystery of being. |
| |
Anyone who has ever given himself up with a pure
mind
to contemplation of his inward self knows
how impossible it is to arrive at a complete
understanding even of a few moments of his life;
knows how impossible it is to detect the spiritual
processes of the heart, |
| |
because in its profundity the heart touches upon
the state of being where
there are no processes. |
|
St. Silouan
The Monk of Mt. Athos |
|
Carry One
Another's Burdens |
| Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans XV: 1-7 |
| |
| How beautiful and
seemingly simple are the last words of to-day's Epistle: 'Carry one
another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the Law of Christ.' But
how much they claim from us! Linking it with Christ means that we
must be prepared to carry the burden of each person, of everyone,
whether it is a friend or a foe, whether the burden seems to be
great and honourable, or whether it s humiliating to us as it is
defiling to the other person. |
| |
| Christ became mane and
took upon Himself all the weight not only of our creaturely
condition, but of the condition of the fallen world. He took upon
Himself the weight, the crushing weight of the lives of everyone who
came to Him; not only of the sick and the needy, no only of those
who were clean and persecuted, but of those who were wallowing in
filth, those who were evil, as it seemed to others, at the very core
of their being. But through the darkness that blinded people He saw
the light at the core, He saw that the divine image was imprinted at
the very heart of every person, and it was to this image He
addressed Himself; it was this life eternal that was dormant in each
that He awoke through a touch, through a word, by His presence. |
| |
| And so, when we hear
the words of Paul that we should carry one another's burdens, it is
against this background of Christ's readiness never to reject
anyone, never to see in anyone a person for whom there was no hope
left, that we must turn to our neighbor. When the burdens we have to
carry are noble and tragic it seems to us easy to do so; it is easy
to be full of compassion, of sympathy for the persecuted, to be full
of sympathy and compassion for those who are in desperate material
need, for those who are in agony of mind, who suffer in all possible
ways. It is easy to have a moment of compassion for those who are
sick in body; but how difficult it is to have a steady sense of
compassion for those who are sick for a very long time and who claim
our attention week after week, year after year, at times for
decades. And even more so for people who are mentally disturbed and
who need our attention still more, who need us to stand by them,
carry them indeed on our shoulders; how many of us are capable of
this? |
| |
| But there is another
way in which we have to carry one another's burdens; the example
which I gave were burdens that afflicted others and burdens we were
only to share, and to share for moments. It is only for a few hours
that we visit the sick; it is only for a short while that we carry
the burdens of those who are in agony of mind and in distress,
because having been with them, stood by them, expressed all the
genuine concern which was our, we will walk out and put down this
burden while the other will continue to carry it. |
| |
| How much more difficult
it is when the burden is laid upon ourselves, and this burden is not
one that ennobles us in our own eyes or in the eyes of others, but
is simply pure ugly suffering and distress; the dislike of others
for us, the hatred of others, slander and calumny, and the various
many, many ways in which our neighbor can make our lives almost
unbearable. How difficult it is then to think of them not just as
the cause of all that destroys our lives, but as people who are
blind, who are unaware of what they are doing. We pray in the
litanies by saying that we ask God to be merciful to those who hate
and wrong us, who devise and do evil against us! |
| |
| How often is it that
people devise nothing, mean nothing, but are totally thoughtless. At
that moment how difficult it becomes to see this person as someone
whom we must take upon ourselves, with all the consequences of it
and bring this person before God; to bring before God ugliness,
meanness, thoughtlessness, unintentional cruelty — bring it before
God and say: 'Forgive, Lord! They do not know what they are doing…'
These words that are so beautiful and so inspiring. Carry one
another's burdens and so you will have fulfilled the Law of Christ,
claim from us a generosity, a steadiness and courage and a likeness
to Christ which is far beyond what we are prepared to offer most of
the time to most of the people, even to the people whom we love,
whose burdens we are prepared to carry for a moment and then leave
the burden on them. |
| |
| Let us reflect on every
person who is of our acquaintance, beginning with the closest ones,
who have claims on us, or who burden us by their very existence, or
the way they behave. And then, let us look father and learn to
accept the burden and carry it as Christ did — up to death on the
Cross. Amen. |
|
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh |
|
Watchfulness of Thoughts
Leads to Purity of Heart and Actions |
| The greatest temple, in
which God delights to dwell, is that which He skillfully crafted
with His own hands—our entire being, our soul, as long as it is
pure. Purity of heart consists in the nous (the eye of the soul)
being free from evil thoughts, from which evil and passionate
feelings originate which cause the body to be passionately excited.
For it is then that both soul and body are defiled, and to a certain
degree their purity and spotlessness are lost. |
| The first evil and
passionate thought—but primarily the corresponding passionate
fantasy—is the starting point of all forms of sin. No sin occurs in
deed if an evil thought does not precede it by means of the
imagination. Therefore, in order to attain the greatest good—purity
in the full sense of the word—we need to purify our nous from sinful
imaginations and thoughts. Only in this way is purity acquired with
a firm foundation. |
| If we want to stop
doing evil deeds without paying attention to our inward thoughts, we
labor in vain. When we have taken care to purify our soul, the God
of glory will dwell in it, and it will become His holy and luxurious
temple, giving forth the fragrance of the incense of unceasing
prayer to Him. |
|
Selected from Counsels from the Holy Mountain
From the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim |
On Pride, Self-Reproach, and Humility
Thoughts of pride and vainglory are formidable and difficult to fight
against. But before the humility of Jesus, they literally lose their strength.
"The truth shall set you free from every sin and passion." (Jn 8:32). The Holy
Fathers write: "When you see Pilate and Herod reconcile, know that they are
preparing to kill Jesus. And when you see vainglory and pride attacking you,
know that they are plotting to destroy your soul!" Fear and trembling should
seize you when you discern such thoughts; for in proportion to the magnitude of
your pride, the providence of God prepares to chasten you with trials so that
you may learn to think humbly. Force yourself to be humble, and when you see
thoughts of pride, lay hold of a whip and start lashing yourself. The bodily
pain will drive away the pain of your soul, and God, Who sees how much you are
struggling, will provide you with the corresponding strength, for according to
our intention and struggle, Jesus sends His almighty power.
Jus think how many people have preached, written, and dogmatized; they filled
the world with books, as did Origen who wrote many books and saved many people
and strengthened a multitude of others to become martyrs; yet in the end he was
labeled as the founder of a heresy and fell away from God.
Alas! How much evil does pride create in man! God reckons no man's works as
his own, since man is merely a faucet, a tap---not the spring! And how can the
faucet consider the water flowing through it as its own work, since it knows
that the spring causes the water to flow? Even so, forgetfulness is a most evil
teacher of the soul, for had it remembered the truth, it would not have gone
mad. What made Lucifer fall? Was it not haughty thinking? Let this be a lesson
for us, for one acquires experience and caution not only from one's own
misfortunes, but also from one's neighbor's . How did great ascetics, who had
renounced everything, fall and reach the point of demonic possession and then
return to the world so that monasticism was blamed? They fell because they
thought that they were better and more virtuous than the others, and that they
were supposedly accomplishing something.
Selected from Counsels from the Holy Mountain From the Letters and
Homilies of Elder Ephraim
|
Speak With Words
of Heavenly Fragrance |
Be careful with your mouth, but
primarily with your mind;
Do not let evil thoughts start talking
with you.
Do not let your mouth say words that
would perhaps wound your brother. |
Let your mouth put forth words
which are fragrant;
Words of consolation, courage,
and hope.
It is a person's mouth that reveals his
interior, his inner man. |
|
Selected from Councils from the Holy Mountain
From the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim |
|
What Is It To Be A True Christian? |
"We should not, in living an Orthodox
Life think that we can be
cold and hard and correct
and still be Christians. |
| Of primary importance is the heart. |
The heart must be soft, the heart must be
warm. If we do not have this warm heart,
we have to ask God to give it. |
and we have to try ourselves to do those
things by which we can acquire it." |
|
Fr. Seraphim Rose |
|
"Simplicity of Life Brings
Remembrance of God" |
| I have realized that the destruction of
man lies in the abundance of material goods, because it prevents him
from experiencing the presence of God and appreciating His
benevolence. If you want to take someone away from God, give him
plenty of material goods. He will instantly forget Him forever. |
| I realized this when I was younger.
When I was on Mt. Sinai, I lived in a place that had no water. I had
to walk for two hours to get to a rock where water was leaking from
its side. I placed the jug underneath and waited about an hour until
it was filled up. The limited about of water created in my soul
various feelings: |
| Every day I was in agony: "I wonder,
will the water be dripping from the rock?" I prayed to God to
continue to make it drip. As I was walking towards the rock, I was
anxious to see whether I would find some water and I prayed. When I
could detect from far away the water glittering as the sunbeams were
falling on the rock, I glorified God. On my way back, I constantly
thanked Him and glorified Him for the water He gave me. So, the
small amount of water impelled me first, to constantly pray to God
to make the rock drip and secondly, to thank and glorify Him, as He
is the giver of all good things. |
| When I left Sinai, I went to the Skete
of Iveron, where there was no shortage of water. We had plenty of
water, which was sometimes wasted, as it was left running for no
reason. At some point, I felt that I had developed a different
attitude inside my soul. I realized that during my stay at the
Skete, I hadn't said, not even once, "Glory to God." |
| While the small amount of water became
a reason for me to pray and glorify God, its abundance made me
forget that water is indeed a gift form God and I should be grateful
to Him. The same thing applies to material goods. |
|
Selected form Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain
From the Conversations and Homilies of Elder Paisios |
| A Word from the Abbot |
| The Fast of Silence |
One of the most valuable disciplines that
we can learn during Lent is to keep silence. Silence, a St. Gregory of
Nyssa said, is the "language of the age to come." Silence is fating from
words, and from all the temptations that our words lead us into. The
Lord tells us that we will be held accountable for every idle word. St.
James tells us that unless we bridle our tongue, our religious practice
is in vain.
Silence is not only abstaining from talking. That is
valuable. We must abstain from idle talk, and especially gossiping,
judging, criticizing and hurting others with our words. This is a
beginning. But we need to strive also for inner silence, the quieting of
the internal dialogue, the stilling of our thoughts. This a a process,
and we work from the outside inwards.
We begin with external silence, shutting our mouths,
shutting off the television, radio, iPod, music and every other sort of
distraction that fills our lives with noise, and our minds with images.
This kind of fast is difficult at first, but exceedingly fruitful—and
one you may not want to give up once Pascha rolls around! When we cut
out the distractions, all sorts of thoughts and images will rise up in
our minds, and we can see the internal chaos we have been suppressing.
It is not pleasant. But, if we are to make any real progress, we have to
see this about ourselves; that we have surrendered control of our very
minds to this noise. Once we begin to confront our internal noise, then
we can begin to pray.
The Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on
me!") is a way to help focus our minds and combat the thoughts that
battle to distract us, and keep ourselves focused on Christ. It can be
said very fast, when the thoughts are very strong, or very slowly and
contemplatively. This will lead us, eventually, to simple stillness of
mind, and the pure awareness of God's Presence, and the Mystery of His
love. |
| The Great Commandment |
Do not neglect the commandment of love:
for through it you will become a son of God,
but transgressing it you will become
a son of gehenna. |
Love between friends is destroyed if you envy or
are the object of envy; if you cause or suffer loss;
if you revile or suffer revilement;
and finally if you feed and keep suspicious
thoughts against your brother. |
Do not be conquered by hatred,
but conquer it by love... |
Pray to God sincerely for him, accept his
excuses or cure yourself by excusing him.
Regard yourself as the cause of the trial and
resolve to endure until the cloud has passed. |
Pay heed to yourself lest it be in you and not in
your brother that lurks the evil that cuts you off
from him; and hasten to make your peace with
him, lest you forsake the commandment of love. |
Fear keeps the old commandments, but love
keeps the live-giving Commandments of Christ |
|
St. Maximos the Confessor, Fourth Century on Love |
|
Why
Confess? |
Father Paisios suggested to one of this visitors to
go to confession. |
He replied:
Father, why should I go to confession
since I will, again,
fall into the same sins? |
The Elder said:
During the war, when a soldier is injured in the
leg, he has to go to the doctor to take care of his
wound, so that he may fight again.
However, if he says: "Why should the doctor take
care of my wound, since I will be injured again,"
then his wound will be left uncovered and
exposed to bacteria; it will get infected and he
will eventually die of hemorrhage. |
| The same happens with confession. |
You must go to confession; if you fall into the
same sins, you will once again confess them, until
you learn not to fall and stand on your feet. |
|
Selected from Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain
From the Conversations and Homilies of Elder Paisios. |
| The Church |
"The definition of the Church, Her life,
Her purpose, Her spirit,
Her plan, Her ways |
all these are given in the wondrous Person
of the God-man Christ. |
Hence, the mission of the Church is to
make every one of her faithful,
organically and in person,
one with the Person of Christ;
to turn their sense of self into a sense of
Christ, and their self-knowledge (self-
awareness) into Christ-knowledge
(Christ-awareness); |
for their life to become
the life in Christ and for Christ;
their personality to become personality
in Christ and for Christ; |
that within them might live,
not they themselves,
but Christ in them (Gal. 2:10). |
|
20.
Hope |
|
The patient endurance of
trouble, or longsuffering, at the beginning can be mixed with the
consciousness that it can't be otherwise. But in time hope grows out
of it, which then accompanies it steadfastly and give it strength,
making it seem completely voluntary. When man sees how much he has
to endure, he begins to see that it is impossible for him not to
have comfort from God, if not in the world, at least, in the next.
This hope becomes for him with time very sure. Thus we can define
hope as a certitude of the future things which appears in the person
who hopes. If faith is a certitude of various present unseen
realities and if when it is powerful it gives even a communion of
those realities to the one who believes, hope is the certitude which
one has in certain future realities and of the participation which
he will have in them. So hope is faith oriented to the future for
the one who has it. Hope is faith in an advanced stage, a power
which gives transparency to time, which penetrates through time, as
faith penetrates space and visible nature. In hope there is a plus
of evidence, a plus of knowledge. Where does it come from? Is it
real, or only an illusion? Does it come from a will which habitually
insists that it knows that the future will be such, under pressure
from the present which doesn't meet his expectations? The answers to
these questions will be found in the discussion which follows.
Hope is an advance, a leap over time. As by care193
man is continually bent over toward the future, so is he also by
hope, but in another way: By care he has a foreboding of an
unpleasant future, which he takes measures to avert; by hope he
senses a favorable future which he reaches with difficulty.
Heidegger didn't' see in man this opposite care, this "existential"
which is just as much a part of human nature as care. So, just as a
gnosiological194 virtue
is recognized in care in relationship to the future (Heidegger,
Scheler), in the same way, it must also be recognized in hope.
But when we say that hope belongs just as much to human
nature as care, we don't mean that they actually coexist at ever
moment in the soul. At least religious hope, the hope of blessedness
in the future life is present in the soul in direct proportion to
the absence of care, and vice versa. In regard to hope in an earthly
future the same thing can't be said except to a lesser degree, but
this only because such hope doesn't contain the same certitude as
the religious. So it could be said that hope and care have single
root in human nature: preoccupation with the future. But when the
fruit of hope grows from this root, in other words the certainty in
the anticipated future, the fruit of care no longer does, or at
least worldly care, but only the care to not compromise the winning
of something sure. And the fruit of worldly care grows big where the
fruit of hope doesn't.
If we closely compare hope and care we realize that the
reason for the impossibility of their coexistence is the fact that
in the same measure in which hope contains proof, care contains
uncertainty. So the uncertainty of care is present where the proof
and quite of hope are lacking. Because the care which serves hope
isn't the nourished uncertainty of worldly care, but is just
cautions not to lose something of sure hope.
The certainty of hope in the future blessings which God
will give us and the uncertainty of worldly care are shown by the
peace which the first gives and the continual fragmentation which is
included in the second. Putting the contrast between them in other
terms, St. Mark the Ascetic says: "Largeness of heart means hope in
God; constriction means bodily care."195
You have the experience of the congestion of the
heart when you are disturbed and "ample room" when you are peaceful.
But uneasiness, in regard to the future is the fruit of uncertainty,
just as peace is the fruit of certainty. Care is the offspring of
the fear of the future, thus of uncertainty, of the timidity that it
won' be just the way we want it.
In the treatise On Baptism Mark the Ascetic
repeats many times that the heart where Christ dwells from Baptism
can't be opened but "by Christ Himself and by intelligent hope,"196
in other words by the hope that sees the unseen, or the things in
the other life. Then the heart is really opened, no longer being
ruled by care itself. And only when hope gains control of us and by
it the heart is opened, do we escape the thoughts of the world, or
thoughts of care.
Thus the opening of the heart coincides with the
victory of hope in us and with an escape from care and its thoughts.
This opening of the heart is one of the proofs of things beyond the
world. Hope is vision with the heart, with the deepest part of our
spirit, thus it is an intimate mystical conviction, a state of the
transparency of our nature to the things beyond this world.
Truly, if care is existential, if it pertains to life.
and is structurally related to human nature after the fall, what a
miracle it is that man can escape it, better said that it can be
transformed into the "existential" of hope. How could the foreboding
of an unsure future be changed into the presentiment of a blessed,
sure future, or uncertainty into certainty? The process of this
transformation could only be explained by the intervention of a
power distinct from the power of human nature, or by the coming into
contact somehow of the depths of this being with the reality hoped
for. Thus hope can't be only an illusion. In hope we experience a
certainty, which doesn't depend only on our will, which doesn't have
only the strength which we give it. The strength of hope has grown
in us from somewhere else and it is impose don our will, or as in
addition to what we can will. We previously had no hope, we didn't
feel it in us, although maybe we weren't in despair either. But
after a while we noticed that hope in the things to come had grown
stronger in us, as a certainty which filled us with more and more
peace. Along with this, the poisoned sap of the weeds of care which
had grown over our hearts, which were growing on the hard ground
under which our heart was hidden, dried up; and it seems that as
hard as we, too, want to take the cares of life as seriously as our
neighbors around us, we can't do it any longer.
The problems which make people around us lose sleep
have lost all their meaning in our eyes. |
193 Remember that
the author uses care here in the sense of a state of anxiety
or worry. trs
194 As included in
gnosiology, the science of cognition, "the act or process of
knowing including both awareness and judgment." Fr. Staniloae uses
this term throughout this book. In English epistemology is
perhaps preferred. trs
195 No
Righteousness by Works 114, GrPh 1, p. 116; cf. Phi
1, p. 134.
196 PG 65.996C. |
|
Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirituality:
A
Practical Guide for the Faithful and a Definitive Manual for the
Scholar. |
|
Nativity Homily |
|
The only-begotten Son of
God, my brethren, begotten in eternity of the Father without a
mother, was born in time of a Mother without a father. That first
begetting is an unfathomable mystery of the Holy Trinity in
eternity, and this second birth is an unfathomable mystery of God's
power and love for mankind in time. The greatest mystery in time
corresponds to the greatest mystery in eternity. Without probing
with the light of our small understanding into this greatest of
mysteries, let us be content, my brethren, with the discovery that
our salvation had its origin not from men nor from earth, but from
the greatest heights of the invisible, divine world. Such is God's
mercy and such is man's greatness, that God the Son Himself came
down from eternity into time, from heaven to earth, from the throne
of glory to the shepherd's cave, solely to save man, to cleanse him
from sin and to lead him back to Paradise. "I came forth from the
Father," where He had everything, "and am come into the world," that
could give Him nothing. The Lord was born in a cave, to show that
the whole world is a dark cave that only He can illumine. The Lord
was born in Bethlehem - the House of Bread - to show that He is the
only Bread worthy of true men. |
| O Lord Jesus, the pre-eternal Son of
the living God and Son of the Virgin Mary, enlighten us and nourish
us with Thyself. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen. |
|
St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Bishop of Zhicha,
from The Prologue of Ochrid, December 25th. |
|
The Fruit of Fasting |
| Fasting is wonderful |
| because |
| it tramples our sins like a dirty weed, |
| while it cultivates and raises truth |
| like a flower. |
|
St. John Chrysostom |
|
On the Love and
Humility of God |
| "There were ten lepers in the holy Gospel, and
the divine bath—the command of the living Logos of God—cleansed all
ten of them. But only one returned to give thanks to his great
Benefactor. And then truth itself, Jesus, asked, 'Were there not
ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not found any who
returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' (Lk.
17:17-18). |
| Therefore, in every good turn of events, but
also in attacks of misfortune, in good health, as well as in
encounters with illness, in joy, but also in sorrow, |
| we should always offer up the fragrant incense
of our thankfulness before the throne of God as unprofitable
servants who have received mercy through the precious blood of
Christ. |
| Our dear Christ, our good God, give us the gift
of thankfulness, so that we will not be condemned even more—the
guild for our various sins is enough." |
|
Selected from Counsels from the Holy Mountain
From the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim |
|
On
Humbleness, Patience and Justice |
| "When people treat us unjustly, we must be
happy, |
| because God's justice, which is superior to
human justice, will protect us. |
| We should either seek human justice or patiently
wait for the justice of God. |
| We must be careful, however, not to pursue an
unjust treatment, |
| because this would be unfair on our part and
would indicate lack of love towards other people. |
|
Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain |
|
On Humbleness and
Patience |
| "Man wants to progress spiritual and asks God to
give him love, prayer, obedience and all virtues. |
| We should be aware that God will not give us
what we are asking for, no matter how hard we try, unless we humble
ourselves. |
| If our only aim is humility, then God will give
us everything for free." |
|
Selected from Elder Paisios of the Holy
Mountain
From the Conversations and Homilies of Elder Paisios |
|
The Action of Grace by
Humbleness and Patience |
| God wants and desires only one thing from us:
our humbleness. |
| He does not need anything else; just to humble
ourselves, so He can make us partakers of His divine grace, which
was granted to us through the mystery of Holy Baptism. |
| Although we did not love Him yet, neither had we
struggled to acquire His grace, He gave it to us as a gift out of
His extreme kindness. |
| He is only asking from us to humble ourselves
and respond out of gratefulness and appreciation to His love. Thus,
divine grace, which abides in us, will be activated and function
accordingly. It will make us love God and get to know Him; it will
do everything for us, if only we humble ourselves and allow for it
to act. |
| The only obstacle to the energy of God's grace
is our pride, our lack of humility. |
|
From the Conversations and Homilies of Elder
Paisios of the Holy Mountain |
|
On the Love and Humility
of God |
| I pray from my heart
that you are well and rejoice in peace of soul, for the peace of God
is nothing but a place of God, repose, bliss and divine delight. |
| The peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7), is given to souls
that struggle as a prize and royal gift; it is a property of the
children of God. In order for it to dwell in the soul of a
Christian, first, godly labor is necessary — labor of a spiritual
nature. Then it takes discernment and a blameless, clear conscience
shining brighter than the sun, which knows that one has done what he
should. |
| Then this soul receives
the precious gift of "the peace of God" and delights in it and
converses like a bride with her most beautiful Bridegroom Jesus
about their eternal marriage and the spiritual riches of heaven. And
while one thinks about these things, the peace increases, and one
ends up in very sweet tears. |
| The peace of God is
one's betrothal for the future wedding with the slaughtered Lamb. O
peace of God, come even to me the trouble-maker, who does not know
Your beauty! Come and refresh my wretched condemned soul! |
|
Selected from Counsels from the Holy Mount
From the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim |
|
The Awakening of Grace in
the Soul |
| |
"From the instant we are baptized,
grace is hidden |
| |
|
in the depths of the
intellect,
concealing its presence even from the
perception of the intellect itself. |
| |
When someone begins,
however, to love God |
| |
|
with full resolve, then in a
mysterious
way, by means of intellectual
perception, grace communicates
something of its riches to the soul. |
| |
Then, if he really wants to hold
fast to this |
| |
|
discovery, he joyfully starts
longing to
be rid of all his temporal goods, so as
to acquire the field in which he has
found the hidden treasure of life
(cf. Mt. 13:44). |
| |
This is because, when someone rids
himself of |
| |
|
all worldly riches, he discovers the
place where the grace of God is
hidden. For as the soul advances,
divine grace more and more reveals
itself to the intellect." |
|
From St. Diadochos of Photiki (The Philokalia
Vol. 1, pg. 279) |
|
Prayer As Preventative Medicine for the Soul |
| Prayer is a conversation of man with
God. He who prays with a broken and humbled spirit is filled with
divine gifts and blessing - that is, with joy, peace, comfort,
illumination, and consolation - and he, too, becomes blessed. |
|
Prayer is a double-edged sword that
slays despair,
saves from danger,
assuages grief,
and so on. |
| Prayer is a preventative medicine for
all diseases of soul and body. |
|
Elder Ephraim of Philotheou (Mt. Athos) |
|
Building Churches, but... not
Forgetting |
|
"We are building New
Churches and Church buildings and it's wonderful — Glory be to God,
BUT... St. John Chrysostom says: 'Don't neglect your
brother in distress while you decorate His house. Your brother is
more truly His temple than any Church building.'" |
|
On Miracles |
|
St. John
Chrysostom |
| |
| "As to miracles, they oftentimes, while they
profited another, have injured the one who had the power, by lifting
him up to pride and vainglory... |
| These then lut us perform with much diligence. |
| For if you change from inhumanity to almsgiving,
you have stretched forth the hand that was withered. |
| If you withdraw from theatres and go to the
church, you have cured the lame foot. |
| If you draw back your eyes from an harlot, and
from beauty not your own, you have opened them when they were blind. |
| If instead of satanical songs, you have learned
spiritual psalms, being dumb, you have spoken. |
| These are the greatest miracles, these are the
wonderful signs. |
|
Submit Yourselves One to
Another |
| "Tell me, how does the bee frame her comb, and
then you shall speak about God as well. Master the handiwork of the
ant, the spider, and the swallow, and then you shall speak of God as
well... He indeed, who says that he is ignorant knows something. And
what is that? That it is incomprehensible to man... God has marked
out limits to our knowledge, and has laid them deep in nature. He
assigns the whole to His will. So then let us only 'give thanks for
all things.' |
| "This is the part of a well disposed, of a wise,
of an intelligent servant. Let there be an interchanges of service
and submission. For then there will be no such thing as slavish
service. It would be better if both masters and slaves were servants
to one another, for it is better to be a slave in this way than free
in any other. Imagine the case of a man having a hundred slaves and
in no way serving them; and suppose again a different case, of a
hundred friends, all waiting on one another. Which will lead the
happier life?" |
|
St.
John Chrysostom,
Homily XIX on Ephesians V, B#57, pp. 141-142. |
|
Lay Down Your Infirmities
Before God |
| Question: "In the book Questions and
Answers of St. Barsanuphius the Great, it is written: 'Lay down
your infirmities before God.' How does one do this?" |
| Answer: "When thoughts attack and you
haven't the strength to struggle with them, then say: 'Lord, Thou
seest my infirmities. I haven't the strength to struggle-help me!'" |
|
Elder
Ambrose of Optina |
| "If you do not feel like praying, you have to
force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with force is
higher than prayer unforced. You do not wnat to, but force yourself.
The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Matthew 11:12)." |
| |
"What does this mean: 'Thy rod and Thy staff,
they have comforted me" (Psalm 22:4)?
Answer: "The rod is the Cross, afflictions, and the staff is the
Jesus Prayer. The rod is the active part of virtue, and the staff is
the noetic part." |
|
Elder
Ambrose of Optina |
| "The Holy Fathers emphasize synergy - personal
effort linked with free will and grace - in connection with
salvation and sanctification. Action, constant vigilance and a right
spirit are required, which will naturally arise out of a proper
liturgical and devotional life." |
|
Second
Conference of Abbot
Joseph |
|
"The Power of the Sign of the
Cross" |
|
Elder
Ambrose
of
Optina |
| The Elder wrote about this same subject to one
of his spiritual daughters: "The experience of the ages shows that
the sign of the cross has great power over all a person's actions
during the entire course of his life. Therefore it is necessary to
strive to root in children the habit of protecting themselves with
the sign of the cross often, especially when receiving food and a
drink, going to bed and waking up, before departing somewhere in a
vehicle, before leaving and entering any place; and they should not
make the sign carelessly or according to fashion, but precisely,
beginning with the forehead to the solar plexus, then to both
shoulders, so that a proper cross is produced... The sign of the
cross has saved many from great dangers and afflictions." |
|
"Entering into a Living Faith" |
|
Elder
Ambrose
of
Optina |
| 1. |
By first recognizing one's own wretchedness and
weakness |
| 2. |
one later experiences the salvation of God,
which comes to one's aid at the time of interior battle. For the
Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call on Him in
Truth (Psalm 144:19) and He will save the humble of spirit
(Psalm 33:18). |
| 3. |
When one experiences this salvation in the
feelings of the heart, one rejoices as much for the relief from
impure thoughts as in the goodness of God and His Providence,
cooperating with and saving him. |
| 4. |
Through this one enters into living faith with a
sure feeling, not of one's own strength but of Christ's, |
| 5. |
which is why one especially devotes oneself with
sweetness of hear to the Savior |
| 6. |
and gives one's whole self over to Him, with
undoubting hope in Him and love. |
| 7. |
This giving over of oneself with heartfelt hope
impacts to the soul a surpassing peace and joy. |
| 8. |
This forms the interior Kingdom of God, which
Christ the Savior commanded us to seek before all. And it is in
truth the most complete and satisfying blessing for a man, so that
all other material good things desired by the world now seem too
coarse, having no meaning and are not worth seeking. |
| The Philokalia |
|
Volume
I |
|
60.
What takes place according to nature is not sinful; sin always
involves man's deliberate choice. It is not a sin to eat; it is a
sin to eat without gratitude, and not in an orderly and restrained
manner such as will enable the body to be kept alive without
inducing evil thoughts. It is not a sin to use one's eyes with
purity; it is a sin to look with envy, arrogance and insatiable
desire. It is a sin to listen not peacefully, but angrily; it is a
sin to guide the tongue, not towards thanksgiving and prayer, but
towards backbiting; it is a sin to employ the hands, not for acts of
compassion, but for murders and robberies. And thus every part of
the body sins when by man's own choice it performs not good but evil
acts, contrary to God's will. |
|
We
Partake but Remain Strangers |
|
"We partake of the divine worship, while being strangers to one
another. We are strangers prior to the divine Eucharist and we
remain strangers after it. We are hermetically closed in ourselves,
jailed in the dreadful prison of the senses and passions, especially
the passion of self love, which is the root of all other passions." |
|
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, The Illness and
Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition, p. 20. |
|
The Church Embraces All People |
|
"The Church embraces all people with all their problems and
worries, and strives to transfigure them. The Church, in any case,
is a spiritual Hospital which heals people's spiritual illnesses.
She does not reject anyone." |
|
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, The Illness and
Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition, p. 21. |
|
Worry is the Worship of Self Will |
|
"Worry is the worship of the idol of self-will, ever
trying to control life and the universe, rather than abandoning
ourselves to God's Providence and to live in His peace. |
Missonary Letters of Saint Nikolaj Velimirovic
Letter
40
To
Monk Avakum
about Sins of the Mind
You ask if sins of the mind
are dangerous? As a monk you know this best. You know that one of the holy
fathers has said that the essence of monasticism is the cleansing of the mind of
evil thoughts. You also know the Church lists three types of sin: in deed, in
word, in thought. This is why we pray to the Father of light for the dead, that
He would forgive them all sins, whether in deed, in word or in thought. And the
fact that God knows the sinful thoughts, you read in the Gospel, "And Jesus,
seeing their thoughts, said, 'Why do ye think evil in your hearts?" Satan did
not sin in any other way except through evil thoughts. That is why he was cast
out form before the face of the Lord and thrown into Hades.
Evil thoughts are the seed of every evil. From that seed
sprout sinful words, sinful desires and sinful deeds. Remember Christ's second
parable about the Sower, "A man sowed good seed in his field. And when people
were asleep, their enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat." God sows good
thoughts into the soul of every man. If someone gets lazy and does not keep
watch over his soul like he would over a sown field, he is like the sleeper. And
while he sleeps, the evil spirit comes, the enemy of God and man, and sows
tares, which is to say evil thoughts, into the soul. And from evil thoughts to
evil words, the distance is no greater than from a seed to a root of a plant.
Which means, there is no distance, the two are organically connected.
So therefore, keep watch over yourself. Close your eyes more
often and, as Saint Nikita Stifat said, "examine the thoughts sailing on the sea
of the mind."
In the rules of monasticism, the main exercise defined is the
uprooting of evil thoughts — before they develop, and grow, and rule over the
soul, and finally turn into action. Dash them against the stone. As the Psalmist
said, "O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, happy shall he be that
taketh and dasheth thy little ones against he stones!" Do you understand the
spiritual meaning of this? Babylon is the kingdom of the devil and his children
are the thoughts. Christ is the Stone. Blessed is, therefore, the one who dashes
the evil in himself from that start, destroying it with the eternal stone —
Christ.
So, since you and I both know this, we have no other choice
but to also act accordingly.
Rejoice in the Lord.
Translated by monk Seraphim
"If the Lord delays granting you full victory over your enemies and puts it
off to the last day of your life, you must know that He does this for your own
good; so long as you do not retreat or cease to struggle wholeheartedly. Even if
you are wounded in battle, do not lay down your arms and turn to flight. Keep
only one thing in your mind and intention - to fight with all courage and ardour,
since it is unavoidable. No man can escape this warfare, either in life or in
death. And he who does not fight to overcome his passions and his enemies will
inevitably be taken prisoner, either here or yonder, and delivered to death."
-
Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli
"'God's love for men brings it about that salvation and fervor come to us in
proportion to the haste each of us makes to be renewed in the fruits of the
Spirit, to awaken from the slumber of negligence, to be cleansed of the filth of
indifference and of the sluggishness of worldly thoughts, and in proportion to
the heat of the flame of our continuous recitation [prayer] night and day."
- St. Theodore
"'Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy' (Matt. 5:7). The
merciful person is he who gives to others what he has himself received from God,
whether it be money, or food, or strength, a helpful word, a prayer, or anything
else that he has through which he can express his compassion for those in need.
At the same time he considers himself a debtor, since he has received more than
he is asked to give."
- St. Peter of Damaskos.
"The believing man is not one who thinks that God can do all things, but one
who trusts that he will obtain everything he needs."
- St. John Climacus
"The man who wishes to offer a pure mind to God but who is troubled by cares is
like a man who expects to walk quickly even though his legs are tied together."
- St. John Climacus
"Above all this, we have been given humility, which watches over all the virtues
and is that great holy strength with which God clothed Himself when He came into
the world. Humility is the rampart of the virtues, the treasury of works, the
saving armor and the cure for every wound. When they made the fine linens, the
gold, and all the fittings of the Tabernacle, they covered them with sackcloth.
Humility is least among men, but precious and glorious before God. If we acquire
it we shall trample the whole force of the enemy underfoot. It is said, 'Whom
shall I consider, if not the humble and meek?'"
- St. Pachomius.
"Just as one cannot build a ship unless one has some nails, so it is
impossible to be saved without humility."
- Amma Syncletica
"When you hear that at that
time the Lord freed the souls from hell and the regions of darkness and that He
descended into hell and did an amazing work, do not think that this does not
have any personal meaning for you. Man, indeed, can readily accept the evil
one. Death has its grip on the children of Adam and their thoughts are
imprisoned in darkness. And when you hear mention made of tombs, do not at
once think only of visible ones. For your heart is a tomb and a sepulcher.
When the prince of evil and his angels have built their nest there and have
built roads and highways on which the powers of Satan walk about inside your
mind and in your thoughts., then really, are you not a hell and a sepulcher and
a tomb dead to God?... But the Lord descends into the souls of those who seek
Him. He goes into the depths of the hellish heart and there He commands death,
saying, "Release those captive souls that seek after me, those that you hold by
force in bondage." He breaks through the heavy stones that cover the soul. He
opens the tombs. He truly raises to life the dead person and leads that captive
soul forth out of the dark prison."
- On Pascha - Homily 13.11 from Saint Macarius
"One day Elder Paisios was visited in his remote
hermitage by a group of five obnoxious young men, full of pride and arrogance.
He patiently spent several hours showing them extra attention. But a theology
teacher who was present became irritable and impatient. 'How could you tolerate
them?' he asked him. And the elder replied, 'Have you ever wondered how God
could tolerate you?'"
- The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality,
by Kyriacos C. Markides
"Some of the elders came to Abba Peomen and said to him, 'Is it your wish that when we see brothers nodding off
at the synaxis (after the Sixth Ode of the Canon of Matins), we should nudge
them so that they should keep awake during vigil?' He said to them, 'For my
part, if I see that a brother is drowsy, I put his head on my knees and let him
rest.'" - From The Paradise of the Fathers
"Rather than look to rational proofs and theological
arguments, the Orthodox believer finds the confirmation of his faith in the
proven, verifiable spiritual history of these blessed traditions, called
sacraments. Performing these acts within the holy community of the Church
gives the believer the opportunity to encounter the living Presence of
Christ. This is a way of life totally removed from studying and refining
beliefs. One who travels the sacramental path does not focus upon learning more
about God, in hope that this knowledge will somehow miraculousy turn
into true love. Rather day by day, moment by moment, the believer participates
directly in Christ's life by joining Him in the sacramental acts of love that He
Himself has ordained we perform together. This way to God is founded upon a
simple, fundamental truth: real love is an act, not an idea. -
"A Living Salvation" from Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells,
by Matthew Gallatin
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