If
you do not have time, call out to her: “My Virgin Mary, my Virgin Mary has
arrived.” Her name has everything in it.
Say
“Rejoice O Bride Ever - Virgin” many times.
And
just say with your heart: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on
us”. It has such power that it can sustain you all day. It is enough to say it
as it is.
-
Mother Galaktia
2.
It symbolizes the plasticity of our soul, because anyone can easily carve
anything on it.
3.
It symbolizes Divine Grace, because the wax comes from fragrant flowers.
4.
It symbolizes Theosis, to which we are called to reach, as the wax unites with
the fire and nourishes the flame.
5.
It symbolizes the light of Christ, because it burns and illuminates in the
darkness.
6.
It symbolizes love and peace, which should characterize every Christian,
because the candle burns to illuminate, but also comforts man with its light in
the darkness.”
- Saint Symeon the New
Theologian
If
this man, who sinned and whom you condemned, cried at night and repented of his
error, and the Lord said:
“I
have forgiven him!” would you see this?
The
man you saw sin, did you see him when he repented?
Not
even these holy angels know how God will judge each man…
-
Saint Gabriel,
the fool for Christ.
"My shift is night, it's eleven o'clock at night.
I was going up Piraeus Street, towards Omonia. Inside the taxi, as usual, I was
talking to my sweet Jesus. I spontaneously said to Christ:
- The first person who signals me to stop, I will take
him without money, as long as I bring him to You.
No one stopped me until I reached Piraeus and
Menandrou.
There on the corner was a girl standing. I stopped and
looked at her. She was waiting for a customer, for the daily wage...
Without thinking about it, I got out and went to her.
- Good evening!
- Good evening!, she replied.
- You know, right now, I feel a lot of pain in my soul, and I want to share it with someone.
She looked at me in surprise and said:
- Well, you found me to talk to?
- Yes! My heart tells me, how will you understand
me...
- Do you know what work I do?
- I see it.
- And you want to talk to me?
- Yes! I want to talk to you. Are we both going to
lose our daily wages today? Maybe you can help me and save me...
- Let's go, she says hesitantly.
- Okay, let's go!
She glanced around and quickly got into the taxi.
I was happy, but worried; what would I say to her?
- My God! Come down and help me. What should I do now?
What should I say to her? I said to myself.
After we introduced ourselves, I said to her:
- Difficult professions, eh?
And so a very nice conversation began. At first, about
the taxi and its difficulties. And timidly - timidly I began to enter her own
life.
However, we arrived at Kavouri, I said to her:
- We will get off here, if you don't mind, to drink
coffee and continue our conversation.
She then said something to me, which moved me:
- Aren't you ashamed to go inside together?
As you can see, her outfit was different from mine,
but so was her whole appearance. I said to her:
- No! I am not ashamed! Those who brought you to this
situation should be ashamed! For me, you are a sweet and tender creature of
God!
We went inside; everyone's eyes fell on us. But that
didn't interest me at all, nor did the bruises on her legs make me feel
ashamed. For me, that hour was sacred. I had to, with God's help, resurrect
this girl at all costs.
I felt like it wasn't me speaking, but someone else
inside me! Someone else - the Lord - was pushing me to help this girl.
She told me her whole life, from her childhood to the
present, and how she came to do this profession.
A painful profession, not just difficult. This
profession destroys your personality, your dignity, you forget if you are a
human being, you forget your own desires, and you live and function with the
desires of others. You don't exist anywhere, because apart from your flesh, you
have nothing else for them. That's why you are obliged to obey their orders.
That is, you are in obedience to the Devil and not to God.
I heard about the difficulty of this profession for
the first time this evening. Believe me, a sword pierced my heart! This girl's
confession hurt me so much that I don't remember feeling such pain in my
life!...
Then I began to talk to her about Christ and the great
happiness that He gives us when we are close to Him; I talked to her about our
Virgin Mary and how sweet, tender and protective she is for Her children.
I talked to her about the miracles of our Saints and
about the miracles that I experienced in the taxi, but also many people with
me.
I talked to her about the power of confession, Holy
Communion, and about many other topics about God and faith.
I tried to convince her to change the life she was
leading, letting my tears flow continuously, non-stop, holding her hands
tenderly.
When I was tired of crying, I told her:
- It's time to go.
I paid, and we got up to leave.
When we got to the taxi, a big surprise awaited me.
She came up to me and said:
- Will you let me hug you?
- Of course, hug me, I told her with great joy.
She hugged me and then burst into sobs. Through her
sobs, she said to me:
- Help me, help me! God sent you! Help me change my
life, I'm tired of doing this job! I'm very young, although I feel a hundred
years old! Help me make a new beginning, to have a family, to have children...
Please, take me to Christ and tell Him to give me what He gave you. May I be as
happy and joyful as you are...
I promised her that I would help her. I hosted her for
a month in my home. A month of martyrdom and danger for me. Because these girls
also have someone who "protects" them. My life was in danger
sometimes.
However, I was sure that God would not allow anything
bad to happen to me; on the contrary, He would help me save this girl, because
He sent me on her way. And so it happened...
From that night, her life changed completely
And
if you have gained everything – Lord have mercy
If
you are alone – Lord have mercy
And
if you have friends by your side – Lord have mercy
If
you love – Lord have mercy
And
if they hate you – Lord have mercy
If
you have sinned – Lord have mercy
And
if you have many virtues – Lord have mercy
If
your hopes are lost forever – Lord have mercy
And
if life smiled at you – Lord have mercy
If
you fell madly in love – Lord have mercy
And
if you were mortally wounded – Lord have mercy
If
you were adorned with flattery – Lord have mercy
And
if you were insulted with irony – Lord have mercy
If
tears flowed from your eyes – Lord have mercy
Even
if cold filled your bowels – Lord have mercy
Even
if you breathe – Lord have mercy
Even
if you walk – Lord have mercy
Whatever
you think – Lord have mercy
Whatever
you have in your heart – Lord have mercy
May
your whole life be only
Lord
have mercy – Lord have mercy – Lord have mercy
(+) ATHENA
SIDERI
