Most people live as if they will stay here forever...

 

An old story tells of a merchant who traveled by camel to Cairo in the last century, intending to visit a renowned wise elder...

He finally met the wise elder after a long journey across a vast stretch of the desert...

Yet, he was surprised to find the elder living in a tent where the only furnishings were a mattress on the sand, a low table, two stools, and many books.

Turning to the wise elder, he asked in bewilderment:

"Where is your furniture...?"

The elder looked at the merchant and replied with a question:

"Where is yours...?"

"But I have none; I am just passing through...!"

"I, too, am just passing through...!"

Most people live as if they will stay here forever... They have forgotten to be happy!!!

The value of things does not depend on how long they last, but on the intensity with which they are experienced.

That is why there are unforgettable moments, inexplicable things, and incomparable people.

If you grasp this...

You, too, can be happy today... and every day!!!

The Ladder of Paradise!

What is this?

It is the holy virtues, the holy evangelical virtues:

humility,

faith,

fasting,

meekness,

patience,

goodness,

kindness,

mercy,

truthfulness,

love of Christ,

confession of Christ,

suffering for the sake of Christ.

These and many other holy New Testament virtues.

Every commandment of Christ, my brothers; this is a virtue...

Every virtue is a little paradise.

Every virtue nourishes your soul, makes it blessed, brings down to your soul divine, heavenly rest.

Every virtue is a golden and diamond step on the ladder of your salvation, on the ladder that unites earth with Heaven...

Saint John of the Ladder

Do not fear trials and temptations.

 

Do not fear trials and temptations. Without trials, you cannot acquire the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Without temptations and struggle, you cannot draw near to God.

Elder Ieronymos of Aegina

When the Bishop celebrates the Divine Liturgy

 When the Bishop celebrates the Divine Liturgy, he frequently blesses the people with the *dikirotrikiron*—a pair of liturgical candlesticks, one holding two candles and the other three.

The two candles symbolize the two natures of our Lord Jesus Christ—the God-Man—namely, the divine and the human. The three candles, naturally, symbolize the Holy Trinity.

During the chanting of the Trisagion Hymn, the Bishop offers a special prayer to the Lord, invoking a blessing from on high upon the Church and blessing both the clergy and the laity with the *dikirotrikiron*.

He refers to this body of the faithful and the clergy as the "Vine," drawing upon the imagery Christ used to liken the relationship and unity between believers and Himself to a vine (see John 15).

The act of blessing the faithful in the shape of a cross while this prayer is intoned follows the precedent of the cross-shaped blessing Jacob bestowed upon his grandsons—Joseph’s children, Ephraim and Manasseh (see Genesis 48)—which serves as an Old Testament prefiguration of the grace of the Precious Cross.

And at some point, I felt an incredible freedom within me.

 

 And at some point, I felt an incredible freedom within me.

I felt that I have no enemies—that even those who fought against me were simply sick people, just like me.

I felt that I can love you even when you do not love me, respect you even when you do not respect me, and appreciate you even when you do not appreciate me.

And then I am free; then I dance to my own rhythm and not to yours—and that is why I am free.

And I felt this, firstly as a gift from God, and secondly as a revelation of what lies hidden behind His commandments.

Freedom lies hidden there, blessing lies hidden there, joy lies hidden there...

+Pavlos, Metropolitan of Sisaniu and Siatista