I have a friend who is a taxi driver. He worked on Sunday mornings and did not go to church.

 

I have a friend who is a taxi driver. He worked on Sunday mornings and did not go to church. One day I approached him and asked him how much he earned per day, and he told me about 1,700 drachmas. So I suggested that the following Sunday morning, he go to church and then go to work, and whatever he earned less than 1,700 drachmas, I would give him the difference. My friend thought about it and finally accepted my proposal. He went to church on Sunday and then worked as a taxi driver until evening. That evening, he called me and said:

"Dimitrios, something amazing happened! I was so busy I couldn't keep up with all the customers! I made 2,000 drachmas!"

 Since then, my friend has been going to church every morning. People who work on Sundays and don't go to church, the money they make is not blessed and one day they will lose it one way or another. Because whoever collects money away from God, scatters it. That is why we see many families who work from morning till night but are unable to put any money aside. Sunday money is fire, said Saint Kosmas of Aetolia.

 

 Dimitrios Panagopoulos († February 13, 1982)

If we count the entire Bible, ```which``` commandment do we find written more times than the others?

 If we count the entire Bible, ```which``` commandment do we find written more times than the others?

The answer can change the way we live and think.

It is neither the commandment "Thou shalt not steal", nor the commandment "Thou shalt not kill".

The most frequently repeated commandment is: "Thou shalt not be afraid".

```Do not be afraid!```

_Do you know how many times it is written?

_ 365 times.

One for each day of the year.

Start your day with prayer and entrust it entirely into the hands of your Creator.

And when the day is over, say: "```Have I endured today? Tomorrow belongs to God```!"

Every day, you will try to do the best that is humanly possible,

without insecurity and anxiety.

And above all, follow this commandment:

"Believe and do not be afraid".

Saint Eumenios Saridakis

In life, you don't demand, you claim...

 In life, you don't demand, you claim...

 you don't wait, you try...

you don't fear, you conquer...

 you don't hate, you love... And because life is short, break the rules...

Laugh, dare, dream, hope, and love truly...!!! A drop of love and everything around us becomes beautiful...!! And don't be afraid of TOMORROW...

GOD is already there...!!

The drunken monk

 Once upon a time on Mount Athos there was a monk who lived in Karyes.

He drank every day, got drunk, and caused pilgrims to be scandalized.

At some point he died, and some believers relieved,went to Elder Paisios and, with particular joy, told him that at last this huge problem had been resolved.

Fr. Paisios replied that he already knew about the monk’s death, because he had seen an entire host of angels come to receive his soul.

The pilgrims were astonished, protested, and some tried to explain to Elder Paisios exactly whom they were talking about, thinking that he hadn’t understood.

Then Fr. Paisios told them the story:

“This particular monk was born in Asia Minor, shortly before the catastrophe, when the Turks were rounding up all the boys.

So that he wouldn’t be taken from his parents, they would take him with them to the harvest, and so that he wouldn’t cry, they would put a little raki into his milk to make him sleep.

As a result, as he grew up he became an alcoholic.

At some point, after discouraging advice from various doctors telling him not to start a family, he went up to the Holy Mountain and became a monk.

There he found an elder and told him that he was an alcoholic.

The elder told him to make prostrations and prayers every night and to beg the Panagia to help him reduce the number of glasses he drank.

After one year, through struggle and repentance, he managed to reduce the twenty glasses he used to drink to fifteen.

The struggle continued over the years, and he reached two or three glasses but even with those he would still get drunk.”

People, for years, saw an alcoholic monk who scandalized pilgrims; but God saw a fighter, a struggler, who with great effort fought to reduce his passion.

Without knowing and since each person is trying to do what they are able to do, by what right do we judge their effort?

God asks three things of every baptized person:

 God asks three things of every baptized person:

From the soul, true faith;

 From the tongue, truth;

And from the body, moderation.

Saint Gregory   the Theologian