The soul needs two wings for its heavenly flight;

 

The soul needs two wings for its heavenly flight;

One, humble fasting,

the other, great prayer.

If you lack one, the other will not be able to save you.

Saint Melania of Rome

Let us not judge others.

 Let us not judge others. Because to judge means that we have pride, and to take upon ourselves the Judgment, which is not ours, but God's business. When we criticize, we usurp the authority of God.

(Elder Germanos of Stavrovouniotis)

We rush to judge, because we have a high opinion of ourselves.

(Elder Ephraim of the Skete of Saint Andrew)

When the old man rules within, even the Holy Mysteries become a snare.

There are indeed many Christians—countless in number—who strive along the path of ascetic struggle, who partake of the Holy Mysteries, who pray earnestly, and who read diligently from spiritual writings. And yet, despite all this, they find no true peace, no abiding joy in their lives. Instead, they complain, and complain, and complain unceasingly, never tasting the beauty of life in Christ. Without even realizing it, they awaken within themselves the old man of sin, and their whole existence turns around him.

Beloved, beware! If within your heart you harbor self-love and selfishness, then your prayers, your fasts, and even your offerings will not only be without meaning—they will be harmful to your soul. For sooner or later you will begin to imagine that God withholds from you the “reward you deserve,” and you will accuse Him of injustice. Thus, be vigilant. For a man may twist anything to serve his ego—prayer, church attendance, the reading of spiritual works, and even the Mysteries themselves—turning them into food for his pride and self-centeredness.

_Protopresbyter Stefanos Anagnostopoulos_

The path of Christ is to love all people—both those who love us and those who hate us.

 The path of Christ is to love all people—both those who love us and those who hate us. Be gentle, and if someone offends you, do not seek to take revenge, but forgive them and show them kindness. And with the love you show them, you will compel them to ask for your forgiveness—if, of course, they are a person with a conscience.

For, my children, from good comes good; from evil, kindness never comes. That is why you should not quarrel with someone who wrongs you, for this will only multiply the evil. Instead, show them kindness so that they may be calmed, and so that you may receive your reward from God. “Bear one another’s burdens,” Christ tells us.

Saint George Karslides

Saint Paisios on Devotion to the Most Holy Theotokos

– Tell us, Elder, something about the Panagia.

– What can I say? You put me in a very difficult position. To speak about the Panagia, one must first live and experience Her.

 

– Elder, does the name of the Panagia also have spiritual power, as does the name of Christ?

– Yes. Whoever has deep devotion to the Panagia hears Her name and is transformed. Or, if he sees it written somewhere, he venerates it with reverence and his heart leaps with joy. And when he venerates Her icon, he does not feel that it is merely an icon, but that it is the Panagia Herself, and he falls down overwhelmed, dissolved by Her love.

 

– Elder, tell us something about your pilgrimage to the Panagia of Tinos.

– What can I say? Such a small icon, and yet it is filled with so much Grace! I could not bring myself to leave it. I only stepped aside so as not to hinder the others who were waiting to venerate.

 

– Some people, Elder, are scandalized by the many offerings that adorn the miraculous icons of the Panagia.

– Let me tell you what once happened to a very simple and devout pilgrim. He went to Iveron Monastery and venerated the Panagia Portaitissa. There, the icon is covered with coins and offerings. On his way back, as he was going toward Stavronikita Monastery, he began to have thoughts: “My Panagia, I wished to see You in another way—simple, without all these coins.” And what happened then? Suddenly, he was seized by a sharp pain, he became dizzy, and he collapsed in the middle of the road. In distress, he began calling upon the Panagia for help: “My Panagia, please heal me, and I will offer You two coins!” At that moment the Panagia appeared to him and said: “This is how they brought Me the coins. Did I ever ask for them? Did I want them?” And immediately the pain ceased. You see, because he was sincere and had great faith, the Panagia helped him.

 

Sometimes, in my little cell, when I want to pray to the Panagia, I think: “How can I go before Her empty-handed to ask for help?” So I gather a few wildflowers, place them before Her icon, and say: “My Panagia, receive these flowers from Your Garden.” Before I ever went to Mount Athos, I used to hear people say that it is “the Garden of the Panagia,” and I expected to see flowers, fruit trees, and the like. But when I arrived and saw wild chestnut trees, I understood that the Garden of the Panagia is spiritual. And later, within that Garden, I came to feel Her presence.

– Elder, how will I be able to feel the presence of the Panagia, so that my heart may be warmed?

– Since you bear the name of the Great Mother of Christ, and by grace the Mother of all mankind, you should constantly call upon Her: “My Panagia, help me to live in a way that is pleasing to You. Others are moved just by hearing Your name, and what am I doing?” I pray that our Panagia will always remain close to you and shelter you, as a mother bird covers her little chicks beneath her angelic wings.

-HELP! HELP, Priests of the Most High, help..., Orthodox Christians, help!... Liturgies, prayers, Memorials, Trisaya... HELP.., Christians!

 Years ago, a young priest told the following terrible story:

“My mother, who did not want her son to become a priest, died in the third year after my ordination. As her son, I, as a priest, did not pay much attention to her death. I did what was necessary and nothing more.

One afternoon, towards dusk, I was passing outside the Cemetery. So I thought:

“Shall I not light the candle for her?”

I did indeed light it and sat down on a stone. However, I did not have a liturgy with me, so I did not recite the Trisagion for her. As if I was a little dizzy, however, and suddenly I thought that the graves began to open, the dead bodies of people to rise and cry out!.

-HELP! HELP, Priests of the Most High, help..., Orthodox Christians, help!... Liturgies, prayers, Memorials, Trisaya... HELP.., Christians!

I also see my mother, a little frightened:

-HELP, my son, she told me, help! Help, now that you are a priest, help for everyone, help, help.. and she fell on me, tearing with cries of despair, asking for help for her soul.

Then I came to my senses, terrified… It was already evening… I ran away… my robes were torn… and from my terror I did not sleep all night.

The next morning I said to my elder sister:

“Look and see.

For three years I will celebrate Mass every day for my mother, for all the dead, for all those who are written there, in the Cemetery, and for all the names of the deceased that they will give me from here and there.”

I celebrated a thousand and a hundred Masses continuously, without interruption!

A thousand and a hundred Memorials with kollyva, with Trisaya, with everything that was due; every day!

Many times at night I saw souls saying “thank you”, some because they were thirsty, others because they were refreshed, others because they were full, others because they were warmed up in the freezing cold!

“Thank you, I’ve warmed up, my father”, they would say to me, “I was cold, I’ve warmed up, I thank you”. Others thanked me because they saw a little light and others held “loaves of bread in their hands…”.

Very Rev. Stefanos Anagnostopoulos

Book: Experiences during the Divine Liturgy

There are two types of discernment. The physical and the spiritual.

 The word discernment comes from the verb διακρικό = to distinguish, to see well, to interpret, to decide, to judge correctly. According to the Fathers of the Church, it is “the greatest of all virtues” (the greatest of all virtues). Anthony the Great, with his great ascetic experience, said: “Many have melted their bodies in asceticism, but because they did not have discernment, they found themselves far from God.”

There are two types of discernment. The physical and the spiritual.

Physical discernment: This discernment is possessed by few people. It is characterized as wisdom and prudence, knowledge and consideration, the ability to perceive and judge. A person should study everything, be able to correctly compare things, ideas, positions. Usually these abilities increase as maturity progresses, without this being absolute.

Spiritual discernment: It is everything that characterizes physical discernment and, in addition, the gift that the Holy Spirit gives to the person who strives humbly. The degrees of holiness are parallel to the degrees of discernment, since holiness without discernment is not ensured even for a minute.

Saint John of the Ladder says that discernment is “being able at all times, in every place and in every thing to distinguish what the will of God is. This is achieved by those who have a pure heart, a pure body and a pure mouth”.

Essentially, it is the gift that maintains balance in the life of a Christian. That is, discernment as a divine gift, dictates to you when you can do something, when you should speak and when to remain silent. Discernment distinguishes quality. It sees what is worthy or what is not worthy or how much it is worthy. Discernment distances a person from excesses that are dangerous for the spiritual life. Discernment distinguishes the right, chooses the good, judges the best, avoids extremes, walks the middle path. It searches for the best answer to a question that is posed, the appropriate solution. Discernment is necessary for everyone, but especially for those who teach, guide and advise. It does not require either excessive severity or great leniency.

The absence of discrimination gives rise to exaggeration, fanaticism, guilty silence, unjust condemnation, cowardice, slowness of spirit, obsession, a sterile and unfruitful life. In essence, it deprives the human mind and human nature of sobriety.

To acquire this charisma, effort is needed. And this effort is the observance of the commandments of Christ together with asceticism, with a constant experience of repentance and, above all, humility. Discernment comes from knowledge, experience, spiritual cultivation and maturity. It is the result of self-control, self-criticism, study and divine illumination.

The great virtue of discernment is the greatest spiritual power. It gives simplicity, patience, frugality, kindness and a deep sense of proportion. The discerning person can comfort and rest souls.

What is Christ for us...

 What is Christ for us...

Christ is everything for us...

Do you want your wounds to be healed?

Is He the DOCTOR..

May your soul be at peace?

Is He PEACE..

May injustice be punished?

Is He JUSTICE.. 

If you need help..

Is He the POWER..

If you fear death..

Is He the LIFE..

If you seek heaven..

Is He the WAY..

If you hate the darkness..

Is He the LIGHT..

If you are hungry.. He is the FOOD..

Saint Augustine.

Many times God allows various people to embitter us without our fault,...

 Many times God allows various people to embitter us without our fault, in order to forgive some ''veresedia'' (debts sins) that we owed, and thus God gives us the opportunity to forgive ourselves. 

It is God's economy that certain people are there and embitter us...

When a doctor predicts the death of a patient, is the doctor responsible for the death and the patient will die, because the doctor predicts it or because the patient, being sick, has no hope of life and will die? 

Or when someone foresees and predicts, for example, the crime of a person, is the one who foresees responsible or the one who will commit the crime responsible? Of course, the criminal is responsible and not the one who predicts. 

God did exactly the same in the case of Judas. 

 He foretold the betrayal of Judas, because as God he foretold it and Judas was solely responsible for the betrayal of Christ. 

The Prophecy, i.e. of God, depends on the betrayal of Judas and not the betrayal of Judas, on the Prophecy of God. 

The Holy Chrysostom characteristically says: The betrayal of Judas was not prophesied so that Judas would become a traitor, but because he was about to become a traitor, his betrayal was prophesied. 

Demetrios Panagopoulos the Preacher +

 Whoever chooses to pray becomes resilient to the difficulties and challenges of life.

In other words, he is a person who knows how to feel comfortable wherever he finds himself.

Will he find himself in poverty?

In wealth?

Among good people?

Among bad people?

Among those who love him?

Who do not love him?

Who want him?

Who do not want him?

Who hate him?

Who slander him?

It makes no difference to him...

He knows how to adapt wonderfully and live happily.

And the more he prays, the more resilient he becomes, so much so that he does not even feel the hardships he endures...

– Elder Emilian of Simonopetra

The devil tries to soil and defile every good thing a man would do

 

17. The devil tries to soil and defile every good thing a man would do by intermingling with it his own seeds in the form of self-esteem, presumption, complaint, and other things of this kind, so that what we do is not done for God alone, or with a glad heart. Abel offered a sacrifice to God of the fat and firstlings of his flock, while Cain offered gifts of the fruits of the earth, but not of the firstfruits: and that is why God looked with favor on Abel's sacrifices, but paid no attention to Cain's gifts (cf Gen. 4:3-5). This shows us that it is possible to do something good in the wrong way - that is to say, to do it negligently, or scornfully, or else not for God's sake but for some other purpose; and for this reason it is unacceptable to God.

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

A saintly Fool for Christ in the heart of Athens (Part 2)

He saved a woman from the deadly sin of adultery...

Nicoletta then took a long sip of coffee and began to tell her story with Crazy John... 

"One evening" she said "perhaps ten or more years ago, I saw a young man wandering aimlessly in our neighborhood. I watched him purposely, because I thought he was a burglar. Suddenly, I noticed Crazy John coming out of his building in a hurry and quickly walking in the direction of the only ground-floor house in the neighborhood, where a four-member family was living as tenants.

The fool sat himself squarely on the steps of the front yard, and began to chant the hymns to the Panaghia out loud. He especially liked to chant  "O Virgin pure...."

Two hours went by, but the fool continued to chant hymns. I went out and told him to stop. Then I noticed the young man walk hurriedly away.  The fool got up and went inside the house. I followed him out of curiosity, to see what was going on.  I must admit that my mind went to something sinister. I rang the doorbell and a young woman opened the door.

Crazy John was seated at the kitchen table, eating something the young woman had served him.  Next to him stood her five year old son. Turning to the boy, the fool began to tell him that one of God's ten commandments is the one that says "Thou shalt not commit adultery".

Imprecatory Psalms?

 

The book of Psalms of the Old Testament is considered by general recognition and confession, one of the most wonderful books of the Bible. Not only for the wealth of religious ideas it expresses, not only because in it the voice of man is heard along with that of God, but because the deepest human emotions are expressed in it, from excessive joy to heavy sorrow, but also because this book becomes a source of inexhaustible comfort and hope for all people, in all times, since everyone finds there, a part of their hidden self. It is basically a book of prayers, collective and individual.

The content of the book is usually divided into 5 sections: (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150). Among these categories, there is another, which has attracted the attention not only of believers, but also of negative critics. This is a category of Psalms where there are curses against the enemies of the psalmist (David and others), and which seem to express hatred and a vindictiveness. Such Psalms are mainly 18 (vv. 38-44), 35, 52, 58, 59, 69, 83, 109 and 137. These Psalms, if read within the whole of the Psalms and in relation to others, may not be impressive at first glance. However, if they are isolated and studied, they raise the reasonable question of why they were included in an inspired book of the Bible, and how they can be interpreted and understood today.

Do they really express hatred and revenge, and if so, how can they be harmonized with the provisions of the Mosaic law on love for enemies (Exod. 23:4-5, Lev. 19:17-18, cf. and Prov. 24:17, 29, 25:21-22), and, much more, with the wonderful Christian teaching on love even of enemies, forgiveness, and the blessing of enemies by Christians (Matt. 5:44, 1 Cor. 4:12, Rom. 12:14,20).

These Psalms were called by the researchers the Cathar Psalms (Imprecatory Psalms, Cursing Psalms, Fluch psalmen) and they studied them in order to reach some conclusions.

By reading such Psalms, critics and deniers of the Bible claim that they are proof that the Psalms are not an inspired book. Because they reveal hatred and a non-Christian spirit and reveal the Psalmists’ belief in a bloodthirsty, vindictive, tribal God who is called to avenge his faithful, just as the other peoples of the Near East invoked their deities for war, massacres and the bloodshed of their enemies!

Apparently, the critics and atheists have arguments here. But is that how things are? Or might a better investigation show that these Psalms can be integrated into the spirit of the Psalmists’ era and the overall spirit of the Bible, as they exist? Before we look at some individual points, it must be said in advance that these Psalms were written by David and other known (Asaph, Korah, etc.) or unknown Psalmists (such as the 137th apparently by an unknown Jew in Babylon, in the 6th century BC), and they speak of enemies. These enemies are sometimes personal, unjust enemies and slanderers of the Psalmist, sometimes enemies of the nation of Israel (e.g. Edomites, Moabites, Babylonians), and sometimes of God himself. These enemies are accordingly dealt with in the Psalms, based on the concept of justice and the basic principle that existed in the Mosaic law (an eye for an eye, Exod. 21:23, 24 cf. Gen. 9:6) and is known as the law of self-interest, or retaliation. A law known throughout antiquity and in the code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi

This provision, which expresses a spirit of justice, sets limits and restrictions on the victim's revenge, and defines the administration of justice by the competent judges, by imposing a penalty no greater than the evil and damage suffered by the victim (cf. Deut. 25:1-3). Personal vendetta is thus abolished, except in the case of intentional homicide (Num. 35:19 ff.).

Under the regime of the Mosaic law, the Israelites learned to have a developed sense and criterion of justice, which not only did not exclude punishment, but in the last analysis they resorted in difficult and unapplicable cases to the source of justice, to God himself.

The cry of the psalmist in the above Psalms is a cry for justice, not for causeless hatred! Let us pay attention to this. The “how much longer”, and “how much longer”, and “Save me, O Lord”, are a complaint of the psalmist to God, who asks for an answer to his prayers and nothing more than what will ultimately happen to the wicked (see the expressions in Ps. 34:2, 9, 10, 35, 36. 55:23, 63:9-11 etc.). A careful reading and analysis of the above Psalms, not fragmentarily as quoted, but in the entirety of each one and based on the context, the historical occasion of composition and, in particular, the poetic language which is a language of exaggeration and metaphor, can turn the research in another direction and to other, more valid thoughts.

Something very basic that we must take into account in light of the above is that, for the most part, the Psalmists did not yet have a clear view of the afterlife through the resurrection of the dead as it is more clearly set out in the later books of the Old Testament, i.e. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. For them, the field of righteousness and justification of the believer is exclusively and solely earthly life. Therefore, the Psalmists turn to the source of justice, to God himself, for vengeance (from ek-dikazo, i.e., for the administration of justice), because they do not want to take revenge, to take justice themselves, with their own hands. They abandon themselves to the love, judgment, justice of God and the punishment of the wicked by God himself. The Psalmist (5:5-6, 45:7) referring to God says that God loves justice and hates lawlessness and will destroy the wicked and transgressors. Thus, he also imitates God in this way (Ps. 97:10). The Psalmists try when they suffer unjust suffering, to defend themselves, to justify themselves, even though they recognize that they themselves are sinners. They are on the side of God and his laws, and not on the side of lawlessness, lies, hypocrisy and injustice.

The psalmist is indignant against God’s enemies, whom he considers his own, personal enemies. Thus, in Psalm 139:21-22 we read: “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I hate them with a perfect hatred. They have become my personal enemies. Examine me, O God… Test my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me…”

We observe, here in this wonderful Psalm (for it is wonderful in its entirety), two things. First, that David hates (= detests, without wanting to harm anyone, since in the Hebrew language the verb hate also has this meaning) the enemies of God, and considers them as his own, personal enemies, because God is a God of love and justice. Second, he humbly asks God to cleanse him if he thinks anything wrong in anything (cf. also Ps. 25:4; 26:2, 3).

Thus, in Psalm 59, the psalmist concludes: “But I will sing of your power and praise your mercy in the morning, for you have been my fortress… for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who loves me!”

The national enemies of Israel, the surrounding pagan neighboring nations (Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites, etc.), often tried to wipe out God’s covenant people, Israel, from the “map of the earth” (Ps. 83:5). It was therefore reasonable for the Psalmists to call upon God for their salvation and for the just punishment of their enemies. For if they were destroyed as a nation, the pure monotheistic faith in Yahweh, the true God, would be in danger of being destroyed along with them, and the coming and recognition of the Messiah, the liberator of the whole world, would also be in danger. The invocation for God’s justice is particularly emphasized in Psalm 7:4 ff. where David, when he wants to be justified by his adversary, says:

“Lord, my God, I have not done what they accuse me of… I have not repaid evil to him who treated me peacefully… Otherwise, let my enemies persecute me… Come, Lord… Defend me in the judgment you have appointed… You, Lord, who judge the peoples, judge me and understand my right, my innocence. Let the wickedness of the wicked cease now and establish justice for man, you who know all their thoughts and desires in their depths, righteous God… God is a righteous judge, he condemns the guilty forever… I will praise the Lord for his righteousness.”

We should not forget that the psalmist David, while in some Psalms he seems to seek the punishment of the enemy and self-justification, did not himself cease to be merciful and generous, as in the case of King Saul who was furiously pursuing him (1 Sam. 24:4-12, 26:10-11, 21-25) in the case of Shimei, Absalom, but also in other cases (see 1 Sam. 30:23-25).

What may not have been understood by critics of these Psalms and the Bible in general, but sometimes even by believers themselves, is that, for the writers of the Bible, good and justice will never triumph unless “iniquity is first crushed and injustice is justly punished.” What we pray for, according to the words of our Lord, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” means that the divine kingdom cannot come without necessarily passing away the will of the wicked!… The wicked must be crushed, so that justice may triumph and there may be lasting peace (Ps. 92:6-12, 110:5-6, Isa. 11:4, 63:1, Matt. 24:30, Rev. 2:26, 27, 19:11).

There is no doubt that in some of the Psalms, there is a kind of seeking of revenge as we have analyzed above. The morality of the Psalms under the power of the Mosaic Law covenant and the law, and the regulations of war (Deut. 20), is not of the same height as the morality in the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus, and of the Apostle Paul. However, let us not forget that even within the framework of the theology of the New Testament, and in the spirit of its morality, there is also hatred against injustice, and curses, even, on the part of Jesus against the unrepentant wicked! The Apostle Paul, referring to Christ, applies Ps. 45:7, 8 to himself, when he says: “You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness” (Heb. 1:8). Christ, therefore, hates lawlessness just as God Himself hates six things (Prov. 6:16-19) and curses the lawless! (Gen. 12:3). Jesus Himself, in the parable of the sheep and the goats, curses the unrepentant goat-like ones, with these terrible words: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…” (Matt. 25:41). In the mouth of Jesus there is the curse and condemnation of the unrepentant wicked. In the spirit of the New Testament, vengeance, i.e. the dispensing of divine justice, is not absent, just as it happens in the Psalms with the curses (see Luke 18:7, 8, 21:22).

Finally, something else noteworthy is that the writers of the New Testament did not hesitate to quote verses and passages from these “annoying” Psalms for the critics and, specifically, from Psalm 109:8 “and his bishopric was taken by another” (O’), which the apostle Peter applied to Judas who fell from his position as a traitor (Acts 1:20). Also in the Gospel of John 15:25, we have a quote again from Psalm 109:3. The apostle Paul, in Romans 11:9-10, quotes from Psalm 69:22-23, to demonstrate that prophetically and theologically, “a deliverance has come from Israel, the beginning of the fullness of the nations” (v. 25). Also, in Romans 15:3, he quotes from Psalm 69:9. We see, then, that the apostles not only know the so-called Psalms of retribution or rebuke, but they do not hesitate to quote from them, considering them as part of the word of God. The latter, in relation to all the previous ones, I think, gives a convincing answer as to why these Psalms are in the Bible, and what purpose they serve. They express the psalmist’s holy indignation against injustice and the invocation of God for help and justice. This is what Christians today should do. By forgiving their personal enemies, and praying for them, they can pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom, which will crush and destroy all human, unjust governments and will permanently eliminate wickedness, corruption, and opposing satanic forces (Dan. 2:44, Matt. 6:33, 1 Cor. 15:25-28, 2 Pet. 3:10-13, Rev. 20, 21:3-4 et seq.).

 

Much struggle is needed, therefore, and much inward and unseen travail, much scrutiny of our thoughts and training of our soul's enfeebled organs of perception,

 13. As has been said, love for God can be attained through the intellect's great struggles and labors in holy meditation and in unremitting attention to all that is good. The devil, on the contrary, impedes our intellect, not letting it devote itself to divine love through the remembrance of what is good, but enticing the senses with earthly desires. For the intellect that dwells undistractedly in the love and remembrance of God is the devil's death and, so to say, his noose. Hence it is only through the first commandment, love for God, that genuine love for one's brother can be established, and that true simplicity, gentleness, humility, integrity, goodness, prayer and the whole beautiful crown of the virtues can be perfected. Much struggle is needed, therefore, and much inward and unseen travail, much scrutiny of our thoughts and training of our soul's enfeebled organs of perception, before we can discriminate between good and evil, and strengthen and give fresh life to the afflicted powers of our soul through the diligent striving of our intellect towards God. For by always cleaving to God in this way our intellect will become one spirit with the Lord, as St Paul puts it (cf I Cor. 6:17).

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

He who wants to be stamped with the virtues should pursue before everything else and at all times fear of God and holy love, the first and greatest of the commandments

 

11. He who wants to be stamped with the virtues should pursue before everything else and at all times fear of God and holy love, the first and greatest of the commandments (cf. Matt. 22:38). Let him continually beseech the Lord to send this love into his heart, and thus let him advance and grow, augmenting it by grace day by day through the ceaseless and unbroken remembrance of God. Through diligence and effort, concern and struggle he becomes capable of acquiring love for God, given form within him by the grace and bounty of Christ. Through such love the second commandment, love for one's neighbor (cf Matt. 22:39), can easily be attained. Let these two primary commandments take precedence over the others and let him pursue them more than the others. In this way the secondary commandments will follow naturally on the primary. But should he neglect this first and great commandment, the love for God that is formed with divine help from our inner disposition, our clear conscience and our life-giving remembrance of God, then in consequence of this neglect he cannot soundly and purely accomplish the second commandment, that requires simply the outward diligence of service. For the guile of evil, finding the intellect void of the remembrance of God, and of love and longing for Him, will make the divine commandments appear harsh and laborious, kindling in his soul grumbling, resentment and complaints about having to serve the brethren; or else it will deceive him with the presumption of self -righteousness, filling him with arrogance and making him think that he is of great importance and worthy of esteem, and that he has entirely fulfilled the commandments.

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

Which virtue is the most important?

 16. Where outward ascetic practice is concerned, which virtue is the most important? The answer to this is that the virtues are linked one to the other, and follow as it were a sacred sequence, one depending on the other. For instance, prayer is linked to love, love to joy, joy to gentleness, gentleness to humility, humility to service, service to hope, hope to faith, faith to obedience, and obedience to simplicity. Similarly, the vices are linked one to another: hatred to anger, anger to pride, pride to self-esteem, self-esteem to unbelief, unbelief to hardheartedness, hardheartedness to negligence, negligence to sluggishness, sluggishness to apathy, apathy to listlessness, hstlessness to lack of endurance, lack of endurance to self-indulgence, and so on with all the other vices.

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

15. The patriarch Abraham, when he was receiving Melchisedec, the priest of God, made him an offering from the firstfruits of the earth and so obtained his blessing

 

15. The patriarch Abraham, when he was receiving Melchisedec, the priest of God, made him an offering from the firstfruits of the earth and so obtained his blessing (cf. Gen. 14:19-20). Through this incident the Spirit indicates that the first and highest elements of our constitution - the intellect, the conscience, the loving power of the soul - must initially be offered to God as a holy sacrifice. The firstfruits and the highest of our true thoughts must be continually devoted to remembrance of Him, engrossed in His love and in unutterable and boundless longing for Him. In this way we can grow and move forward day by day, assisted by divine grace. Then the burden of fulfilling the commandments will appear light to us, and we will carry them out faultlessly and irreproachably, helped by the Lord Himself on account of our faith in Him.

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

The virgin soul that desires to be united to God must keep itself pure

 5. The virgin soul that desires to be united to God must keep itself pure not only from overt sins like unchastity, murder, theft, gluttony, backbiting, falsity, avarice, greed and so on; but to an even greater degree it must keep itself pure from sins that are hidden, such as desire, self-esteem, love of popularity, hypocrisy, love of power, wiliness, malice, hatred, unbelief, envy, self-love, affectation and other things of this kind. According to Scripture, these concealed sins of the soul are just as pernicious as the overt sins. 'The Lord has scattered the bones of those who seek to please men', it says (Ps. 53:5. LXX); and: The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man' (Ps. 5:6), thus making it clear that deceitfulness is just as abhorrent to God as murder. Again, it numbers among the 'workers of iniquity' those who 'speak peace to their neighbor but have evil in their hearts' (Ps. 28: 3), and elsewhere it speaks of those who commit lawless acts in their hearts (cf. Ps. 58:2). It also says: 'Woe to you, when men speak well of you' (Luke 6:26) - that is to say, when you want to hear people say good things about you and when you hang upon their glory and praise. It is true that those who do good cannot escape notice altogether. Indeed, the Lord Himself says: 'Let your light shine before men' (Matt. 5:16), though here it is understood that we do good for the glory of God and not for our own glory or because we desire men's praise. If this is not the case, then we are lacking in faith, as the Lord makes clear when He says: 'How can you have faith when you receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?' (John 5:44). St Paul bids us to do everything, even to eat and to drink, for the glory of God; 'for.' he says, 'whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do it for the glory of God' (1 Cor. 10:31). And St John equates hatred with murder when he says: 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer' (1 John 3 : I 5).

St Symeon Metaphrastis: Paraphrase of the Homilies of St Makarios of Egypt: I: Spiritual Perfection

A saintly Fool for Christ in the heart of Athens (Part 1)

This excerpt was taken from the newly-circulated book about Crazy John, a modern-day ”Fool for Christ”

"Foolishness for Christ" was always appreciated as one of the most moving chapters in the voluminous Book of Saints of our Orthodox Church. One more pebble that was added to this chapter is the history that a humble levite of the Gospel who lives in the blessed mountains of Agrafa in Northern Greece narrated to us.

His narration pertained to a contemporary "fool for Christ", who lived in one of the many faceless, inaccessible and remote neighborhoods of Athens.

Crazy John - who is the central character of his narration - lived in a tiny, humble apartment that he had inherited from his mother; one of 20 apartments that comprised the condominium building.  He worked at the neighborhood bakery and began work at daybreak. From that bakery where he worked, he would customarily fill two bags with loaves of bread and bread rolls every day, and would rush to distribute them to the elderly men, women and students in his neighborhood.

«Here you are - I thought I might give you some freshly-baked bread, a gift from mister Apostoly the baker, so that you will commemorate him in your prayers" he would say.

The truth was that Crazy John would use up a large part of his wages to provide bread to the poor of his neighborhood.  He would tell mister Apostoly that he was only helping out some sick friends, and that he was being paid for his trouble...

But how did he know who the poor in his neighborhood were?  

Well, he made it a habit to indiscriminately ring the doorbells, not only in his own condominium, but also in neighboring apartment buildings. He would introduce himself to everyone and would ask them if they needed anything that he could help them with:

Some mornings, my brothers, we wake up in a bad mood

 

Very Rev. Ananias Koustenis

Some mornings, my brothers, we wake up in a bad mood and with bad thoughts!

Let us get out of bed immediately.

Let us light our candle!

Let us burn incense.

Let us kiss our Icons.

Let's say "Our Father".

Let's fight bad thoughts with good ones!

It matters, my brothers,

to rise up,

to fight,

For there are no depressed Christians.

Only fighters!

Gregory of Sinai: Further Texts

 1. Everyone baptized into Christ should pass progressively through all the stages of Christ's own life, for in baptism he receives the power so to progress, and through the commandments he can discover and leam how to accomplish such progression. To Christ's conception corresponds the foretaste of the gift of the Holy Spirit, to His nativity the actual experience of joyousness, to His baptism the cleansing force of the fire of the Spirit, to His transfiguration the contemplation of divine light, to His crucifixion the dying to all things, to His burial the indwelling of divine love in the heart, to His resurrection the soul's life-quickening resurrection, and to His ascension divine ecstasy and I the transport of the intellect into God. He who fails to pass consciously through these stages is still callow in body and spirit, even though he may be regarded by all as mature and accomplished in the practice of virtue.

2. Christ's Passion is a life-quickening death to those who have experienced all its phases, for by experiencing what He experienced we are glorified as He is (cf Rom. 8:17). But indulgence in sensual passions induces a truly lethal death. Willingly to experience what Christ experienced is to crucify cracifixion and to put death to death.

3. To suffer for Christ's sake is patiently to endure whatever happens to us. For the envy which the innocent provoke is for their benefit, while the Lord's schooling tests us so as to bring about our conversion, since it opens our ears when we are guilty. That is why the Lord has promised an eternal crown to those who endure in this manner (cf. Jas. 1:12). Glory to Thee, our God; glory to Thee, Holy Trinity; glory to Thee for all things.

 

123. These demons were once celestial intelligences; but, having fallen from their original state of immateriality and refinement, each of them has acquired a certain material grossness, assuming a bodily form corresponding to the kind of action allotted to it. For like human beings they have lost the delights of the angels and have been deprived of divine bliss, and so they too, like us, now find pleasure in earthly things, becoming to a certain extent material because of the disposition to material passions which they have acquired. We should not be surprised at this, for our own soul, created intellectual and spiritual in the image of God, has become bestial, insensate and virtually mindless through losing the knowledge of God and finding pleasure in material things. Inner disposition changes outward nature, and acts of moral choice alter the way that nature functions. Some evil spirits are material, gross, uncontrollable, passionate and vindictive. They hunger for material pleasure and indulgence as carnivores for flesh. Like savage dogs and like those possessed they devour and relish rotten food; and their delight and habitation are coarse, fleshy bodies. Others are licentious and slimy. They creep about in the pool of desire like leeches, frogs and snakes. Sometimes they assume the form of fish, delighting in their brackish lubricity. Slippery and flaccid, they swim in the sea of drunkenness, rejoicing in the humectation of mindless pleasures. In this manner they constantly stir up waves of impure thoughts, and storms and tempests in the soul. Others are light and subtle, since they are aerial spirits, and agitate the soul's contemplative power, provoking strong winds and fantasies. They deceive the soul by appearing sometimes in the form of birds or angels. They fill one's memory with the forms of people one knows. They pervert and deform the contemplative vision of those pursuing the path of hohness who have not yet attained the state of purity and inner discrimination; for there is nothing spiritual but that they can secretly transform themselves into it in the imagination. They too arm themselves according to our spiritual state and degree of progress, and substituting illusion for truth and fantasy for contemplation they take up their abode within us. It is to these evil spirits that Scripture refers when it speaks of beasts of the field, birds of the air and things that creep on the ground (cf. Hos. 2:18).

St. Gregory of Sinai.

It is to these evil spirits that Scripture refers when it speaks of beasts of the field, birds of the air and things that creep on the ground (cf. Hos. 2:18).

 

Monastery of Bethlehem

123. These demons were once celestial intelligences; but, having fallen from their original state of immateriality and refinement, each of them has acquired a certain material grossness, assuming a bodily form corresponding to the kind of action allotted to it. For like human beings they have lost the delights of the angels and have been deprived of divine bliss, and so they too, like us, now find pleasure in earthly things, becoming to a certain extent material because of the disposition to material passions which they have acquired. We should not be surprised at this, for our own soul, created intellectual and spiritual in the image of God, has become bestial, insensate and virtually mindless through losing the knowledge of God and finding pleasure in material things. Inner disposition changes outward nature, and acts of moral choice alter the way that nature functions. Some evil spirits are material, gross, uncontrollable, passionate and vindictive. They hunger for material pleasure and indulgence as carnivores for flesh. Like savage dogs and like those possessed they devour and relish rotten food; and their delight and habitation are coarse, fleshy bodies. Others are licentious and slimy. They creep about in the pool of desire like leeches, frogs and snakes. Sometimes they assume the form of fish, delighting in their brackish lubricity. Slippery and flaccid, they swim in the sea of drunkenness, rejoicing in the humectation of mindless pleasures. In this manner they constantly stir up waves of impure thoughts, and storms and tempests in the soul. Others are light and subtle, since they are aerial spirits, and agitate the soul's contemplative power, provoking strong winds and fantasies. They deceive the soul by appearing sometimes in the form of birds or angels. They fill one's memory with the forms of people one knows. They pervert and deform the contemplative vision of those pursuing the path of hohness who have not yet attained the state of purity and inner discrimination; for there is nothing spiritual but that they can secretly transform themselves into it in the imagination. They too arm themselves according to our spiritual state and degree of progress, and substituting illusion for truth and fantasy for contemplation they take up their abode within us. It is to these evil spirits that Scripture refers when it speaks of beasts of the field, birds of the air and things that creep on the ground (cf. Hos. 2:18).

St. Gregory of Sinai.

About humility

+Very Rev. Nikodimus Pavlopoulos

Saint Gregory of Sinai on humility - Chapter 115 of the Philokalia.

Those who say or do anything without humility are like people who build in winter or without bricks and mortar. Very few acquire humility and know it through experience; and those who try to talk about it are like people measuring a bottomless pit. And I who in my blindness have formed a faint image of this great light am rash enough to say this about it: tme humility does not consist in speaking humbly, or in looking humble. The humble person does not have to force himself to think humbly, nor does he keep finding fault with himself. Such conduct may provide us with an occasion for humility or constitute its outward form, but humility itself is a grace and a divine gift. The holy fathers teach that there are two kinds of humility: to regard oneself as lower than everyone else, and to ascribe all one's achievement to God. The first is the beginning, the second the consummation.

Those who seek humility should bear in mind the three following things: that they are the worst of sinners, that they are the most despicable of all creatures since their state is an unnatural one, and that they are even more pitiable than the demons, since they are slaves to the demons. You will also profit if you say this to yourself: how do I know what or how many other people's sins are, or whether they are greater than or equal to my own? In our ignorance you and I, my soul, are worse than all men, we are dust and ashes under their feet. How can I not regard myself as more despicable than all other creatures, for they act in accordance with the nature they have been given, while I, owing to my innumerable sins, am in a state contrary to nature. Truly animals are more pure than I, sinner that I am; on account of this I am the lowest of all, since even before my death I have made my bed in hell. Who is not fully aware that the person who sins is worse than the demons, since he is their thrall and their slave, even in this life sharing their murk-mantled prison? If I am mastered by the demons I must be inferior to them. Therefore my lot will be with them in the abyss of hell, pitiful that I am. You on earth who even before your death dwell in that abyss, how do you dare delude yourself, calling yourself righteous, when through the evil you have done you have defiled yourself and made yourself a sinner and a demon? Woe to your self-deception and your delusion, squalid cur that you are, consigned to fire and darkness for these offences.

This sheep dog is covered in his own blood after fighting off wolves protecting his flock, while the sheep gently comforts him.

 

This sheep dog is covered in his own blood after fighting off wolves protecting his flock, while the sheep gently comforts him.

Regardless of how physically strong or emotionally tough someone is, showing them how much you appreciate their efforts goes a long way.

The dog is willing to die for his sheep, and the gesture of the sheep comforting him is all he needs.

Never take someone for granted who is willing to fight for you or stand by you in your time of need. Appreciate their efforts, and show them that you are grateful.