Let yourself be crucified,
do not crucify…
Let yourself be wronged, do
not do wrong…
Let yourself be slandered,
do not slander...
Be kind, do not repay evil
with evil…
Do not hate the sinner…
Remember that you too are a
partaker of earthly nature, and be beneficial to all.
- Saint Isaac the Syrian
He creates obsessions He calms down
He is filled with worry He comforts
He condemns He checks in
He discourages He encourages
He’s confusing He illuminates
He’s pressing He guides
He’s scary He reassures
He rushes things He calms down
During the time of Prayer, morning and evening and
noon, and when there is tension in the house - the house will change
atmosphere, change colour, become fragrant, serious, peaceful, loving, and the
souls will become rejuvenated.
I remember a child, a little boy who was 15 years old,
when he saw his parents fighting he would immediately go and light incense and
cense them. He would incense his dad and mom!
“Make peace”, he would tell them. “I am a child, what
examples will I take from you? Make peace, dad and mom”. With the presence of
our all Holy God, the Shelter of our Virgin Mary, the gentle fluttering of the
angels, along with the incense in the house, clearly misunderstandings and
disturbances disappear.
Temptations and demons have no place in this beautiful
house. So, do not fail to incense your house, and your shop and your work if
possible, and I will close with “Incense, incense, incense”.
While censing we should chant troparions, whatever we
remember, and when we are incensed we should bow our heads and make the sign of
the Cross.
Incense transforms the house into a Church at home.
And I repeat that it drives away demons and
temptations.
The souls of all the relatives are filled with Divine
Blessing through incense.
-
D. Papadaki
— “Elder,” he said, “the world is filled with evil.
Everywhere I see injustice, lies, and darkness. What can I do on my own?”
The Saint did not answer him immediately.
That evening he took him to a small room. He closed
the door and turned off the light. The room was plunged into absolute darkness.
— “Drive out the darkness,” he said.
The young man began to wave his hands, to blow, to
look for a way to drive it away. No matter how hard he tried, the darkness
remained.
Then the Saint lit a small candle.
Immediately the whole room was illuminated.
The Saint looked at him with love and said:
— “See? You don’t fight the darkness. You turn on the
light. That’s how it is in life. Don’t constantly dwell on evil. Make sure you
become light: with prayer, kindness, humility and love. A little light is
enough to defeat a lot of darkness.”
The young man left the cell with tears in his eyes,
having understood that the greatest change in the world begins in our own
hearts.
Do not let evil disappoint you.
Be an example of love and kindness.
The light of Christ, no matter how small it may seem,
is stronger than any darkness.
“Do not fight the darkness. Light the light of Christ
within you and the darkness will go away by itself.”
I will face the world with a smile, because everything
is in reality temporary!
When sadness weighs on my heart, I will console myself
by saying that this too shall pass!
When I am inflated with the joy of success, I will
warn myself that this too shall pass!
When poverty crushes me, I will tell myself that this
too shall pass!
When I am buried in riches, I will tell myself that
this too shall pass!
Really, where is the one who built the pyramid? Isn’t
he also buried under its stones? And won’t the pyramid be buried under the sand
one day?
Since everything will pass, why should I worry today?
From the magazine “TA KRINA”
For someone who wears worn-out ones, it is a new pair.
For someone who has new ones, an even more beautiful
pair.
But for someone who cannot walk, happiness is standing
on his feet, barefoot or not.
Measure happiness by what you have, not by what you
lose.”
Then, the faithful will not be able to accept safe
instructions from people, but their guide will be the writings of the Holy
Fathers. Especially in this era, each believer will be responsible for the
entire fullness of the Church...
+Saint
John Maximovich (+02/07)
Make him say, I am relieved, I am glad! Make others
boast of you, love you, jump for joy when they meet you.
Because all people in their lives, in their homes, in
their bodies and in their souls have pain, illnesses, difficulties, suffering,
and each one hides the pain in his secret pocket, in his heart, in his home, so
that others do not know.
So I do not know what pain you have and you do not
know what pain I have.
I can laugh and shout, play, but deep down I am
hurting, and I laugh and shout, to cover up my sadness.
Therefore, give the other first a smile, a prayer.”
+Elder
Emilian of Simonopetri.
SILENCE!
But silence is the way to avoid many of them!
Let yourself be crucified,
do not crucify...
Let yourself be wronged, do
not wrong...
Let yourself be slandered,
do not slander...
Be kind and not harsh with
evil.
Do not hate the sinner...
Remember that you too are a
partaker of earthly nature and be of benefit to all.
Saint Isaac the Syrian
You will see prostitutes
become saints.
You will see adulterous men become as gentle
as lambs.
You will see misers give away their
possessions in charity.
You will see murderers become monks. You will
see vagrants shine like the sun. You will see liars, thieves, and robbers
become ascetics. You will see men and women who have committed every kind of
shameful deed change their lives—become holy.
But there is one thing you
will not see—at least, not easily: A selfish person repent.
A selfish person will sooner
destroy themselves, and those who love them, than admit they were wrong.
The following are the relevant references and
theological perspectives arranged by category.
1. Old
Testament
In the Old Testament, the concepts of self-defense and
the defense of the community or nation against foreign invaders are strongly
emphasized and explicitly permitted.
Exodus 22:2
There is a clear legal provision concerning
self-defense during the night:
"If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so
that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him."
If a thief is caught breaking into a house at night
and is struck and dies, the one who struck him is not considered guilty of
murder, since the act is regarded as self-defense in circumstances where the
danger cannot be clearly assessed.
Nehemiah
4:14
When the Jews were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
and were threatened by hostile enemies, Nehemiah exhorted them:
"Fight for your brothers, your sons, your
daughters, your wives, and your homes."
The Example of Abraham (Genesis 14)
When Abraham learned that his nephew Lot had been
taken captive by invading kings, he armed his men, pursued the attackers, and
rescued him. His action was later blessed by Melchizedek.
2. New
Testament
The New Testament focuses primarily on spiritual life
and enduring persecution for the sake of faith, but it does not abolish the
responsibility to protect others.
Luke 22:36
Shortly before His arrest, Christ told His disciples:
"...and
let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one."
Although many Church Fathers interpret this passage
allegorically, referring to the spiritual trials that lay ahead, it
nevertheless indicates that the possession of means of protection was not
considered inherently forbidden in a hostile world.
John 15:13
The supreme expression of sacrificial love is found in
Christ's words:
"Greater love has no one than this, that someone
lay down his life for his friends."
In the event of an invasion, the soldier or citizen
who defends others does not fight out of hatred but out of love, seeking to
protect women, children, and those who are helpless.
Romans 13:4
The Apostle Paul teaches that secular authority,
including military and police institutions, is ordained by God for the
preservation of good and the restraint of evil:
"For he is God's servant for your good... for he
does not bear the sword in vain."
Civil authority is understood as a minister of God
charged with maintaining justice and restraining wrongdoing.
3. Writings of the Church Fathers and Saints
The Church Fathers distinguished clearly between
killing motivated by hatred or revenge and killing that occurs in time of war
in defense of one's homeland and the vulnerable.
Saint
Athanasius the Great
Perhaps the clearest statement preserved in the Church's
tradition is:
"It is not lawful to kill indiscriminately; but
to slay one's enemies in war is both lawful and worthy of praise."
Saint Athanasius explains that soldiers defending
their country protect the freedom and bodily safety of their fellow citizens.
Saint
Augustine
Saint Augustine formulated the theory of the Just War.
He emphasized that resisting violent aggression can be a moral duty. If someone
has the ability to prevent an innocent person from being harmed and refuses to
act, he becomes, in a sense, complicit in the evil.
Saint Cyril (Mission to the Saracens)
When Muslims asked Saint Cyril why Christians fight if
Christ commanded them to turn the other cheek, he replied:
"Christ commanded us to endure personal insults.
Yet He also taught us to lay down our lives for our brethren. When you invade
our country, you do not insult us personally; you take our brothers captive,
destroy their families, and compel them to renounce their faith. Therefore, we
defend ourselves."
Saint
Paisios of Mount Athos
Saint Paisios, who served as a radio operator during
his military service, would say:
"If someone comes to harm me personally, I ought,
as a monk, to forgive him. But if he seeks to harm my country or my neighbour's
family, I have a duty to take up arms and stop him, because this too is love
for one's neighbour."
Saint
Isidore of Pelusium (5th Century)
Saint Isidore, one of the Church's most distinguished
theologians and letter writers, wrote concerning warfare:
"Not to wage war is better, but to fight is
sometimes necessary, lest the innocent be slaughtered."
He explains that the purpose of the defending soldier
is not destruction but the restraint of evil.
The question of whether a Christian may defend
himself, even to the point of killing an attacker when his own life or that of
his family is under immediate threat, is a delicate matter with profound moral
and spiritual implications.
Orthodox tradition distinguishes between the calling
of the monk, who is expected to embrace complete non-violence and imitate
Christ's martyrdom, and that of the layperson, for whom the protection of life
is regarded as a duty.
The following passages, canons, and examples from the
lives of the saints shed further light on this issue.
Additional Testimonies
Exodus
21:12–13
The Law of Moses distinguishes premeditated murder
from accidental killing or killing committed in circumstances of conflict or
self-defense:
"But if he did not act intentionally, and God
delivered him into his hand, I will appoint for you a place to which he may
flee."
Thus, Scripture recognizes that not all killing
carries the same degree of moral responsibility.
1 Timothy
5:8
The Apostle Paul teaches:
"But if anyone does not provide for his
relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith
and is worse than an unbeliever."
Theological interpretation extends this duty not only
to material support but also to the physical protection of one's family.
Saint John
the Faster (7th Century),
Canon 21
Saint John prescribes spiritual remedies for various
sins and clarifies:
"Whoever kills in war, or while defending himself
against robbers, or in some other similar manner, is not regarded as a
murderer."
Saint John
Climacus (6th Century)
Although writing primarily for monks, Saint John makes
an important distinction concerning intention:
"It is one thing to defend oneself out of fear of
death, and quite another to act out of hatred."
Defending oneself because one's life is threatened is
fundamentally different from acting out of hatred or revenge. The former may be
excusable; the latter is sinful.
Look ahead . . . and trust God!
Look around you . . . and serve God!
Look within yourself . . . and you will find God! "
Elder
Ephraim Philotheus († December 8, 2019)
When one draws near to the
Lord, one immediately feels the need to pray. Church hymns and prayer books
help with this. However, as one prays, one realizes that one’s prayer is
disrupted and various thoughts occupy the soul. Then a struggle is required.
The more one struggles to
keep the mind focused, the purer the prayer becomes. The spiritual atmosphere
is not completely purified unless the spiritual flame is kindled. This is a
gift of divine Grace. When it is kindled, the incessant chatter of thoughts
ceases. What happens to the soul is the same as what happened to the woman with
the issue of blood as soon as she touched the Lord’s garment: “Her flow of
blood ceased” (Luke 8:44). In this state, prayer tends to become uninterrupted,
unceasing. Here, the prayer of Jesus is practiced systematically, the
continuous repetition of “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
This is as far as one can go through one’s own effort. From here on, divine
Grace intervenes more decisively.
Prayer is given by God and
does not flow from the person’s mental disposition. The spirit of prayer enters
within him and fills the innermost part of his heart. The soul then pours forth
the prayer of its own accord. It is under the influence of the spirit of
prayer. Here there are two stages:
In the first, the soul feels
and discerns everything. It looks around, senses its condition, controls
itself, and can even interrupt the visitation of the grace of the spirit of
prayer.
In the second stage, as the
Holy Fathers teach, and especially St. Isaac the Syrian, we have a completely
different state. It is characterized as ecstasy or rapture. The soul,
intoxicated by Divine Grace, ceases to perceive earthly and sensory things. It
is unable to control itself or influence the state in which it finds itself.
The patristic texts mention
that someone began praying at night, fell into this state, and came to in the
morning. For some, this state was accompanied by a glow on the face or a
radiance around them. For others, by levitation above the ground. The Apostle
Paul, in this state, “ascended to the third heaven.” And the holy prophets
conveyed God’s will in this manner. Marvel at the Lord’s mercy. One exerts a
little effort, and to what heights one is deemed worthy to ascend! That is why
we must encourage every brother: “Strive, it is worth the effort!”
“Never pray hastily. Pray
with the mind and heart fully engaged in the meaning of the prayer. Prepare
yourself before prayer by gathering your thoughts and striving with focused
attention to stand before the Lord. A basic prerequisite for good prayer is
repentance. We are all sinners, and God “will not despise a broken spirit, a
broken and contrite heart.” In every prayer, remember the sins you have
committed.
What am I trying to achieve
through prayer? To warm the heart with love for God and to keep the sense of
God’s presence alive. The Lord’s Prayer helps greatly in this: “Lord Jesus
Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Say this prayer often, until your tongue
becomes accustomed to repeating it on its own. To make progress in prayer, one
must strive to adorn one’s heart with all the virtues. Above all, with
humility, repentance, and self-denial. God sees everything and hears
everything. He knows all our secrets. That is why we must cleanse every stain
from ourselves. And whenever something impure comes to our mind or heart, let
us immediately cast it aside and immediately turn to prayer.”
Every turning of the mind
and heart toward God is true prayer. If, while you are working, you remember
God, that constitutes prayer. St. Basil asks the question: “How could the
apostles pray without ceasing?” And he gives the answer: “In all their
activities, their thoughts were on God, and they lived constantly devoted to
Him. This inner disposition of theirs constituted unceasing prayer.”
You who live in the world
must, on the one hand, remove every sinful thought from your heart and, on the
other hand, dedicate all your activities to God. This reference to God transforms
every action into prayer. The Holy Scriptures state that the blood of Abel
cries out to God. In a similar way, deeds dedicated to God cry out to Him.
Once, they offered a monk
some fine food. As soon as he took it, he said:
– “How awful it smells…”
They asked him:
– “How is that possible?”
And he explained to them
that it had been sent by a person without a good disposition or a good life.
Every deed is imbued with
the feelings with which it is performed. Those who have a pure heart can sense
this. Just as flowers give off a fragrance, so do deeds done with good
intentions. The fragrance of good deeds rises to heaven, just like incense.
Your trials have not ceased.
Do you think God allows this in vain? He allows it because He loves you.
Through your trials, He purifies you, making you shine like a diamond in the
sun. He even smooths the path for you to the Kingdom of Heaven. The chariot by
which one arrives there is patience. And patience can only be acquired through
trials. “That is precisely why they are sent.”
“May the Lord bless your
efforts toward unceasing prayer. It is an unbreakable spiritual law that God
grants us whatever beneficial thing we ask of Him. Divine help is always ready
to be given to us and is always near us. But we must ask for it. It is granted
to us in abundance when there is no help to be found anywhere else and we turn
to the Lord with all our hearts.
But as long as we rely
proudly on our own human strength, the Lord does not intervene. It is as if He
were saying:
– “You hope to succeed on
your own. You believe in the idol of your own self. So wait…”
May the Lord grant us “a
contrite spirit, a broken and humbled heart” (Ps. 50:19), so that we may always
take refuge in Him.”
“The quality and quantity of
our prayer reveal the state of our relationship with God and the level of our
spiritual life. That is why we see saints beginning their prayer at sunset and
continuing it all night long, until sunrise and even beyond. Their prayer lifts
them up to the heavenly Father and the saints, who comfort and gladden them.”
“You desire to know mental
prayer. You desire a good and wonderful work! However, it is difficult for
anyone to progress in the prayer of Jesus unless they are accustomed to
concentrating generally in every prayer. So follow this method: Focus your
attention on the words and meanings of certain psalms or other short prayers
that suit your inner state. Repeat them often with deep feeling, and
intersperse the Jesus Prayer among them. Later, add invocations to the Most
Holy Theotokos and the saints, as well as prayers for the living and the dead.”
“The prayer ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me’ is a powerful and
effective weapon. And this is because the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is
feared by the enemies of our salvation and blessed by the saints.”
“True prayer is a divine
gift. Pray fervently to God to grant it to you. Coldness in prayer is the
result of judgment, anger, and rage, worldly interests and preoccupations,
carnal gratifications and pleasures… Guard yourselves against all these things,
and it will subside.”
“Today is the hope of
salvation, today is joy for the world... Christ is Risen, and He has
resurrected us.”
Basil the Great:
“The Resurrection of Christ
is the Resurrection of human nature.”
Saint Porphyry of
Kavsokalyvite:
“Christ is life, joy, peace,
everything. Whoever believes in the Resurrection fears nothing.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite:
“When the soul recognizes
the Risen Christ, it is filled with such joy that it no longer wants anything
else on earth.”
That is why those who do not have Christ within them
do not have the strength to love truly. Because Christ
is the leader of love.
Dimitrios
Panagopoulos Preacher †
When God sees that your strength has been exhausted
and that you have despaired of yourself, then He intervenes. He does not want
your self-love as an accomplice.
I do not care at all. I have learned to rest in God,
and He acts. When you entrust your care to God, then your soul also rests.
Whatever You will, Lord, as You will, when You will. I trust in You. Grace
comes and the soul becomes light, it no longer wants anything other than the
will of God.
➕ Saint Joseph
the Hesychast
You see hearts that are barren, yet within them roses
bloom.
Young people, boys and girls, seeking out the priest
to speak with him, to find the truth their souls are searching for.
There are these young people, too.
These are miracles.
A young person stops you and says:
“I want to talk, Father, something is weighing on my
conscience and I want to tell you.”
Yes, that kid!
From the café, with an earring in their ear or
eyebrow.
With a tattoo of a forgotten love and headphones
blasting Iron Maiden.
You’re talking to a group of young people in a café
and you feel the table with the frappés turning into a little chapel of
Christ’s presence, because let’s not forget: “Where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I among them” (Matt. 18:20).
And to walk into the church and not have time to dodge
the jabs, especially from people who are “close to the priest” and “the
church.”
And to have a theological discussion with the rocker kid
you never would have imagined in your wildest dreams.
And yet, amidst this quagmire, baptism speaks within.
A prayer, perhaps, from a grandmother, a mother
kneeling before the icons, begging not for brides, grooms, jobs, or money, but
for repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven.
A candidate for sainthood in search of a spiritual
home.
These are miracles.
That little lamp in the heart that hasn’t gone out
yet—and is rekindled by a prayer.
And then it begins to illuminate the human heart, so
that the world may smell of truth.
And this “bad boy” of the world begins to see the
forgotten treasure within him and goes to the confessor to have it polished so
it shines again.
These are acts of repentance!
From those whom the world had already written off, but
who, in God’s eyes, are among the bravest.
It makes you see God’s presence as a “gentle whisper”
in thirsty souls.
And on the other hand, you see the lady in the suit, a
fan-shaped pastry in hand, begging Christ at every prayer for rabbits with
stone-hard hearts, just so the world can smell her selfishness.
And as soon as she sees the child with the earring,
she’ll say: “That little brat, eh, what do you expect from so-and-so’s son.”
And whenever she sees you, she’ll say with the
saleswoman’s smile: “Your blessing, Father.”
And after 30 years in the church, she hasn’t
understood a thing.
She feels that with a few donations and some Epitaph
decorations, she has a VIP spot in paradise.
Poor woman…
In the end, God is where He cannot be seen.
He hides and shines within the stillness of silence.
Something like the sun.
When the sun rises, it makes no noise; it does not
speak like the waves or the wind.
It simply reveals itself through its radiance and
warmth.
That almighty presence of His is enough.
That is how Christ acts.
He comes when those who are truly thirsty call upon
Him.
But when the self-righteous and the Pharisees provoke
Him, He withdraws,
because the space is closed to Him.
Let us not forget, my beloved, that Paradise was
opened by a thief with a single “I remember.”
A thirsty cry opened the gates of Paradise.
He who does not read the
Holy Bible will not be saved!
As soon as the grandmother
heard this word, she turned pale, became disappointed and, returning home, said
to her daughter:
My child, I will go to hell,
because I do not read the Holy Bible!
Her daughter tried to
reassure her, but in vain.
One day, the grandmother
decided to go to an enlightened elder, to help her.
As soon as the grandmother
saw him, she said to him:
My father, I will not be
saved, because I do not read the Holy Bible, because I am illiterate!
But the elder reassured her
and said to her:
And how were so many
illiterate people saved, grandmother? In fact, we also have Saints who were
completely illiterate! How were they saved? Letters do not save, but neither
does illiteracy bring damnation.
So, grandmother, you will do
this: You will take the Gospel, open it to the first page, put your palm on the
Gospel and then go to the iconostasis and say the following prayer: ''My
Christ, what you write in the Gospel, put into my heart!''.
The next day you will put
your palm on the second page and so on.
The grandmother applied the
elder's words to the letter for several months. One day at home, her
grandchildren were playing and began to speak badly and criticize.
The grandmother heard this
and observed them, telling them:
My children, do not judge so
that you will not be judged!
Her daughter is a bone!
Mother, what you said, where
did you hear it and say it? This is what the Gospel says, you are illiterate,
who told you?
My child, I did not hear it
from somewhere, but it came from my heart!
From that moment on, the
grandmother began to reproduce words of the Gospel, without understanding it!
Because the grandmother obeyed the elder with faith and simplicity, Christ
began to implant the words of the Gospel in her heart.
What will save us is faith
in Christ and not our education.
Besides, Christ chose
illiterate people as His Disciples, to show that He can make you all-wise, even
if you are illiterate, as long as one has faith and humility..
Elder Ephraim of the Skete
of Saint Andrew
