You were not commanded to blame the lazy

 You were not commanded to blame the lazy, nor to control wickedness, nor to reproach laziness, but to relieve poverty, to heal calamity, to stretch out your hand and lift up those who have fallen.

Saint John Chrysostom

On prayer

Learn to pray to God not only at prayer times, but every hour and every moment, since He is everywhere. From the constant remembrance of God, an inexpressible peace will flood your heart.

Saint Theophanes the Recluse

 

When we ask someone to pray for us and we become complacent and fall asleep, that is, we become lazy, then does he eat so that we can be satisfied? Is that possible? He has the fruit of love, since he prays for us, but we remain hungry. If he begs God to give us bread, that is, His gifts, and we do not stretch out our hand to receive them, his prayer is useless and fruitless for us. Do not deceive yourself.

But if someone well-intentioned asks for your prayer, do not refuse it (evasively?) with the excuse (or pretext?) of your unworthiness; “for the faith of him who asked [for prayer] has often saved the one praying with a broken heart” (Climax 28. 40). When we are asked to pray for the correction of a negligent person, we are ashamed and we are corrected ourselves.

Hieromonk Justin 

Dreams are deceptive

– Elder, I am troubled by some bad dreams...

– When you see a bad dream, never examine what you saw, how you saw it, if you are guilty, how much you are to blame. The evil one, because he could not tempt you during the day, comes at night. Sometimes God also allows us to tempt us in sleep, so that we may see that the old man has not yet died. Other times, the enemy approaches a person in his sleep and presents him with various dreams, so that he may be distressed when he wakes up. Therefore, do not pay any attention to it; make your cross, cross your pillow, put the cross and a couple of icons on the pillow and say the prayer until you fall asleep. The more you pay attention, the more the enemy will come to bother you!!!

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

I have not met a person without a cross.

Some with a large cross and some with a small cross.

Some with a heavy cross and some with a lighter one…

Some carry it without complaint.

Some cry in secret.

Some sometimes get tired on the road and rest.

Others carry it on their shoulders.

Others on their backs.

And others hug it. Tightly.

Almost romantically…

And some others drag their cross…

However, everyone carries something.

Everyone has something.

The point is not to give up.

The point is not to throw down your cross.

May the end find you, the passage, and your hands still hold the cross.

The cross that has been given to you.

That is the point.

And if sometimes you reach the “amen”, raise your eyes high.

Great cross, great Resurrection

Humility Dispels the Devil

 

“Humility has great power and drives the devil away. It is the most powerful blow to the devil. Where there is humility, there is no place for the devil. And where there is no devil, there can be no temptations. Once, an ascetic urged a little monk to say “Holy God…” The little monk said, “Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,” but he wouldn’t say, “have mercy on us.” Say: “have mercy on us”! Nothing! If he had said it, he would have become an Angel. The little monk says everything, but he doesn’t say “have mercy on me,” because humility is required. “Have mercy on me” involves humility, and the soul receives the great mercy of God that it seeks.

Whatever we do, humility, love, and nobility are needed. Things are simple. We make them difficult. As much as we can, let us do what is difficult for the devil and easy for man. Love and humility are difficult for the devil and easy for man. And a sick person who cannot exercise can defeat the devil through humility. In a single moment, a person can become an angel or a little devil. How? Through humility or pride. What, did it take hours for Lucifer to go from being an angel to the devil? It happened in seconds. The easiest way to be saved is through love and humility. That is why we should start with love and humility and then move on to the rest.

May we always bring joy to Christ and sorrow to the devil, since he loves hell and does not want to repent.”

Excerpts from the book “With Pain and Love for Modern Man”