Said an elder. "God still speaks to those who have the time to listen."

 

Church Breathes a Prayer

Keep in mind that prayer for the reposed is strong through its communality, in that it comes from the entire Church. The Church breathes prayer.

In nature, when a pregnant mother breathes, the strength she receives from this breath passes on to her child. So also in a Grace-filled way the Church breathes a prayer that is shared by all, and the power of the prayer passes on to the reposed, who are held in the bosom of the Church, which is made up of the living and the dead, the militant and the triumphant.

Do not be slothful, but zealously commemorate all of our departed fathers and brothers whenever you pray. It will be your alms for them. - St. Theophan the Recluse

 

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.

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

Joy in the life of a Christian is proof that the Lord is at work in us!

 

One must also rest a little, so that with one's mind unclouded one can converse with God and divert one's mind from what is misleading. - St. Gregory the Theologian

 

Great Patience

To a young monk who began with great zeal for spiritual struggles, this temptation would occur: as soon as he began to pray, he would be seized by chills, a severe headache, and a fever.

– I am sick and it is not out of the question that I may die, he said to himself. So let me do my best to finish my prayer so that I will be ready when my Lord calls me.

With these thoughts he tortured himself and finished his daily Mass.

But after his prayer, everything passed. He felt great. He would get sick again as the time for prayer approached.

He too suddenly thought of death, he tortured himself and did not neglect his duties.

And God, seeing his great patience, quickly delivered him from the torturous temptation.

The first written prayer, dedicated to our Virgin Mary

The first written prayer, dedicated to our Virgin Mary, dates back to the 3rd century AD, specifically around 250 AD, written in Greek, with the intention of being used in the Divine Liturgy. It is entitled “Under Your Mercy”!

The prayer in question was found among fragments of papyrus, which were acquired by the John Rylands Library in Manchester in 1917. At first the prayer was not discernible, but when the papyrus was preserved the text of the prayer was revealed in all its grandeur and precision.

"Beneath thy compassion, we take refuge, O Theotokos: do not despise our petitions in time of trouble, but rescue us from dangers, only pure one, only blessed one."

Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)

Nowadays, we are increasingly afraid of the mark of the Antichrist, which will come at a time we do not know whether we will live to see. But few people even think about the mark of our personal sin. Yet it is precisely this mark that gives a person over to the power of the Antichrist's elements and deeds and is the true prototype of the mark that we should really fear!

And nothing divine will pass through this terrible seal of sin, with which we stamp our minds and hearts every day.

The Lord, knowing our weakness, gave us repentance—deliverance from sin. But this purification of the soul, mind, and heart is accomplished only in the Church, only in the Sacraments. - Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)

"Unjust death makes our hearts bleed. But God justifies unjust death."

 

Nothing should be done for show to people, but everything should be done from a pure heart. - St. Ephraim the Syrian

 

In the Divine Liturgy, before...

In the Divine Liturgy, before the Gospel is read, the Apolytikia of the Saints are read! Why is that? Because the Saints became Saints with the Gospel! Therefore, with the Gospel we too will acquire the necessary holiness and win the Kingdom of God!" - Fr. Charalambos Vassilopoulos.

On reading the Word of God

 

A monk came to his spiritual father and said: “Father! I will stop reading the word of God.” “Why is that?” asked the elder. “I don’t understand what is written,” answered the monk. “Child,” the elder then said to him, “when sheep find a fertile pasture, they greedily grab the grass and swallow it without chewing, trying only to grab as much as possible, then, having eaten their fill, they chew it. So you, while you have time and opportunity, read the divine books as much as possible without laziness, and the dark will become light for you. For thanks to habit you will understand the incomprehensible, or you will learn from the fathers and teachers of the Church, or finally, if there is no one to explain it to you, the Lord Himself will enlighten you.”

Archpriest V. Guryev

One can sing without a voice, when the soul inside produces sounds, because we sing not for people, but for God, Who can hear hearts and penetrate into the innermost depths of our soul.. - St. John Chrysostom

The Sign of the Cross

Experience, confirmed by centuries, shows that the sign of the cross has great power over all human actions throughout his entire life. Therefore, it is necessary to take care to instill in children the custom of often protecting themselves with the sign of the cross, and especially before eating and drinking, going to bed and getting up, before leaving, before going out and before entering somewhere, and so that children make the sign of the cross not carelessly or in a fashionable way, but with precision, starting from the forehead to the chest and on both shoulders, so that the cross comes out correctly... Protecting oneself with the sign of the cross has saved many from great troubles and dangers. - St. Ambrose of Optina

We are what we think, what we do, what we promise, what we show outwardly, what we feel, what we give. Listen to your thoughts and you will understand who you really are! - Abbot Tadei from Vitovnița Monastery

 

Broken Pot

 

If you happen to break a clay pot in the market, the potter will get angry and demand compensation for the damage. In truth, man is also made of the same cheap material as the pot, but what is hidden in him is priceless. It is the soul that creates man from within, and the Spirit of God that gives life to the soul.

If a pot is broken at the market, it is not the pot that is hurt, but the potter who molded it. In the same way, if a person is killed, it is not the person killed who feels the pain, but the Lord God, who created man, raised him up, and breathed His Spirit into him.

So if the one who broke the pot must compensate the potter, then all the more must the murderer compensate God for the life he took. Even if people do not demand compensation, God will. Murderer, do not deceive yourself: even if people forget your crime, God cannot forget. Look, there are things that even God cannot forget. For example, He cannot forget your crime. Remember this always, remember it in your anger, before you grab a knife or a gun.

On the other hand, we cannot kill life. To kill life completely would be to kill God, for life belongs to God. Who can kill God? You can break a pot, but you cannot destroy the clay from which it was made. Likewise, you can crush a person's body, but you cannot break, burn, scatter, or spill his soul and his spirit.

Saint Nicholai Velimirovic . Explanation of the Ten Commandments, Commandment 6

On that terrible and dreadful day....

On that terrible and dreadful day [at Your Second Coming] You will say, O Lord, to us sinners: “You all know well what I have suffered for your sake. I, God, took on flesh for your sake; I, the Invisible, visibly dwelt on earth for your sake,for your sake I hungered, I thirsted, I labored, for your sake I was persecuted, I was stoned; I, the Innocent, for your sake was slapped and spat upon; I, the Sinless, for your sake suffered a shameful death, for your sake I was pierced in the side with a spear, for your sake I was given vinegar mixed with gall to drink. All this I suffered for your sake, that I might make you holy and heavenly; I have given you the Kingdom of Heaven, I have called you all brothers, I have sent down upon you the Holy Spirit. What have you suffered for my sake, men? - St. Ephraim the Syrian

A Mount Athos monk used to say, "when the devil throws stones at you, take them and build a church,.

 

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matth. 22:37