Nun Porphyria, a former taxi driver in Athens and Piraeus for ten years (1997-2007), tells us:

 Nun Porphyria, a former taxi driver in Athens and Piraeus for ten years (1997-2007), tells us:

"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

If you have lost everything – Lord have mercy

 

If you have lost everything – Lord have mercy

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

 

They once asked the great Saint Barsanuphius if our Saints are infallible and if they can make mistakes and he answered:

 “They once asked the great Saint Barsanuphius if our Saints are infallible and if they can make mistakes and he answered:

“YES. IT CAN”!

And when they asked him again, “why does God allow such great men and saints to err and make various mistakes”? he answered:

a) Because they did not ask him about this specific issue, nor did they pray as much as they should before asking God for an answer.

b) Because they received them from older Elders and Saints and did not sit down to investigate whether they were true or not, having confidence in them.

c) So that God could show that all people, even the Saints, are always finite and imperfect and could not in any case understand all the depths of God. That is why the Apostle Paul says that, “we know in part and we prophesy in part.”

d) So that God may show again that our Faith is alive, our Church is alive and the Holy Spirit never ceases to enlighten whomever He wills ("the Holy Spirit breathes where He wills") and whenever He wills, about the truths of our Faith. Thus, whatever escapes someone or is left out by one Saint, may be found and completed by the next; and whatever the next leaves out, may be found by the next, until the end of time. And with a word, whatever the first say and is not clear or correctly formulated, the last come and explain or correct it, so that God may always be glorified through His Saints. For He is the God of both the first and the last, and to Him belongs glory forever and ever. Amen.”

(“The Bible of Barsanuphius and John”, pp. 285-288)

 

The demons, when they approach to fight you, do not go where you will easily defeat them,

  

The demons, when they approach to fight you, do not go where you will easily defeat them, but they test where you are weak. Where you do not expect them, there they besiege the castle. And, when they find a weak soul and a weak place, there they always defeat and make him responsible for his defeat.

Do you ask God for grace? Instead of grace, He leaves you temptation. You cannot endure the war, you fall? No addition of grace is given to you. Do you ask again? Again temptation. Again defeat? Again deprivation for life.

So you must emerge victorious. Endure temptation until death. Fall down like a corpse in battle, crying out paralyzed: I will not leave you, sweet Jesus! Nor will I forsake you! Inseparable I will remain for eternity, and for Your love I will die in battle. And suddenly he appears in the battle and shouts loudly:

Here I am! Gather all your strength and follow me!

Saint Joseph the Hesychast.

The Gifts of a Woman…

 The Gifts of a Woman…

A little boy asked his mother:

—Mom, why are you crying?

—Because I’m a woman, she said.

—I don’t understand, said the little boy.

His mother just hugged him and said:

—And you never will…

Later, the little boy asked his father:

—Dad, why does Mom cry for no reason?

—All women cry for no reason!

That was all his father could say.

The boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

One day, he had a conversation with God.

He asked Him:

“God, why do women cry so easily?”

And God said:

—When I created woman, I needed her to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, and gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that sometimes comes from her own children.

I gave her the toughness to keep going when everyone else gives up, and to care for her family through illness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her sensitivity to love her children under any circumstances, even when they hurt her.

I gave her the strength to stand by her husband despite his faults, and I shaped her from his side to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a husband never truly hurts his wife — he merely tests her strength and her resolve to stay by his side without doubt.

You see, my son, said God, the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she has, or the way she does her hair.

The beauty of a woman is in her eyes…

Because the eyes are the gateway to her heart — the place where love lives.