The Lord will make wise the one who humbles and belittles himself. He who considers himself wise falls away from the wisdom of God. - Saint Isaac the Syrian

 

Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. The word “Hosanna” means “Save, I pray” or “Save now.”

 

You will eat vegetable soups, tahini soups and God will bless you and you will be satisfied with nothing else in your life.

Once when I went up to the monastery, Father Simonas asked me. It was Great Lent!!

-Are you fasting, my child?

-I tell him, yes, Father Simon.

-What are you eating?

-I tell him, oil all through Great Lent .

He turns and says to me: -My child, then what kind of fasting are you doing?

-Why, Father Simon?

He tells me, you will not eat oil, my child, you will fast five days a week and eat oil on the weekend, but you will not leave your stomach hungry.

You will eat vegetable soups, tahini soups and God will bless you and you will be satisfied with nothing else in your life.

And that's exactly what happened.

To this day I continue my fasting.

In fact, he told me something that I really liked!!!

He tells me: my child, during this season the human blood rotates 400 times more than at other times, and during these 49 days of fasting, when the human body does this, it throws off all diseases.

Abba Hyperechios said: “Let your mind be always on the Kingdom of Heaven and you will soon inherit it.” From the Philokalia of the Neptic Fathers

** The neptic fathers are Orthodox Christian ascetics known for teaching nepsis (sobriety, watchfulness, or inner attention) to achieve inner stillness (hesychia) and union with God. Compiled in the Philokalia, they emphasize guarding the mind and heart against passions by vigilantly monitoring thoughts.

If the Church is the hospital, the Monastery is the intensive care ward.

 

Saint Silouan the Athonite said, "If after prayer you do not have love for your enemies in your heart, then you have not prayed." When a person prays sincerely, the fire of love for God is kindled in their heart, and this fire of love naturally spreads to everything around them, including people.

 

Said an Athonite Elder:

“There is a red-haired demon who drives monks from Athos,He drags them onto a ship and takes them off into the world, casting a terrible despondency on the monk. One day, an Athonite monk was walking along a path praying and met this red demon. He looked, and saw that the red fur on his shoulder and neck was all rubbed off.

The monk asked:

“Who are you?

” “Me? I’m a demon.

” “Why is your fur so strangely rubbed off?

” “Yes, I carry monks on my shoulder into the world. It’s a difficult task! But if I carry them off, then in the world I’ll ride them myself