This is the Virgin Mary, who listens to the prayers of the silent ones,

 "This is the Virgin Mary, who listens to the prayers of the silent ones, who, while you don't speak, knows what you say, even when you don’t explain, knows what you feel and understands you.

To this Mother of silence I prayed, and today, we all prayed, even those who did not go to Church.

God heard our silences, felt our mourning and losses.

Our sorrows and anxieties, our fears and panics, our frustrations and disappointments.

And be sure of one thing, as long as people crucify you, God will resurrect you.

As long as people will hurt you, Christ will accompany you, as long as people will frustrate your dreams, the Virgin Mary will become the abide in your heart, that in her embrace we will all fit, traitors and betrayed" 

Saint Joseph the Hesychast

On Marriage, by Elder Emilian of Simonopetritis

“When you are about to choose the person of your life, make sure that he's not an uncommunicative type—in which case he'll have no friends. And if today he has no friends, tomorrow he'll find it difficult to have you as a friend and partner. Be on your guard against grumblers, moaners, and gloomy people who are like dejected birds. Be on your guard against those who complain all the time: "You don't love me, you don't understand me", and all that sort of thing. Something about these creatures of God isn't right. Also be on your guard against religious fanatics and the overly pious. Those, that is, who get upset over trivial things, who are critical of everything and hypersensitive. How are you going to live with such a person? It will be like sitting on thorns. Also look out for those who regard marriage as something bad, as a form of imprisonment. Those who say: But I've never in my whole life thought about getting married.

Watch out for certain pseudo-Christians, who see marriage as something sordid, as a sin, who immediately cast their eyes down when they hear anything said about it. If you marry someone like this, he will be a thorn in your flesh, and a burden for his monastery if he becomes a monk. Watch out for those who think that they're perfect, and find no defect in themselves, while constantly finding faults in others. Watch out for those who think they've been chosen by God to correct everyone else.

There is another serious matter to which you should also pay attention: heredity. Get to know well the father, the mother, the grandfather, the grandmother, the uncle. Also, the basic material prerequisites should be there. Above all, pay attention to the person's faith. Does he or she have faith? Has the person whom you're thinking of making the companion of your life have ideals? If Christ means nothing to him, how are you going to be able to enter his heart? If he has not been able to value Christ, do you think he will value you? Holy Scripture says to the husband that the wife should be "of your testament" (Mal 2.14), that is, of your faith, your religion, so that she can join you to God.”

ABOUT GUARDIAN ANGELS

 Saint Anastasius of Sinai teaches: “Every Christian is given by God an angel [guardian angel] to protect him throughout his life, unless he himself drives him away by his evil deeds. Just as a snake drives away bees and a bad smell drives away doves, so our sins drive away the guardian angel of our life: drunkenness, adultery, anger and the like. The angel of every believer leads him to every good deed, while demons try to scandalize believers and deprive them of the Kingdom of Heaven.”

That angels are close to people and that they care for them is testified to by the entire Holy Bible, and especially the New Testament.

Moreover, in the Orthodox Church there are many traditions of holy men and women, who testify to what Saint Anastasius affirms: that each of us in this world is accompanied by a good and powerful messenger of God, a soldier of the Kingdom of Heaven, the angel of light.

Who, except a madman, drives away a good friend from his presence? Truly, only the mad and the extremely ignorant drive away with their sins their best friend, their guardian angel.

From Saint Nicholas Velimirovich

The Guardian Angel:

“In Christian tradition it is believed that every person has a guardian angel, who is assigned to him at birth to guide and protect him throughout his life.”

Symbolism:

“The angel is often depicted holding a scepter or rod, symbolizing his role as a messenger and the authority he has been assigned, as well as a sphere, which symbolizes the authority granted to him by God.”

The infant within the sphere:

“The infant held within the sphere symbolizes the soul or person under the angel's protection.”

If you brought me here to incense me with the devil's incense, I prefer that you take me to the Turk's butcher shop!

 During the Ottoman Empire, there was a Turkish butcher who had a board on which he cut meat for his customers. One day, a Christian customer saw that the board was the back of an icon of the Virgin Mary!

He then said to the butcher:

- If I bring you a nice trunk to cut the meat on, will you give me that board?

The Turk agreed to the Greek's proposal and in a few days the Turk took the butcher and the Christian took the board, on which was beautifully painted an icon of the Virgin Mary. The Christian took the icon, cleaned it and put it in his living room.

One day he invited some friends to his house. His friends, like him, were smokers and they were smoking one cigarette after another.

At one point, one of his friends raised his head and said:

- What a masterpiece this is! Where did he find this most beautiful icon of the Virgin Mary!

And he began to tell how and where he acquired it.

- His friend said, what a great blessing!

And at that very moment, the icon speaks and says:

- If you brought me here to incense me with the devil's incense, I prefer that you take me to the Turk's butcher shop!

He and his friends were shocked by this miracle of the Virgin Mary and they "knocked down" their smoking...

Dimitrios Panagopoulos

Why Did Jesus Fast After His Baptism?

Without fasting, neither pure prayer nor chaste virginity can be attained; nor can a Christian who does not subdue his body through the proper means of fasting be able to take up the cross of our Savior Jesus and follow Him.

He, our Savior Jesus, fasted for forty days and nights as an example for us. And when? After His baptism. This shows us that all baptized Christians are obligated to fast according to their abilities.

From *Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos* (Volume 1) by Archimandrite Cherubim, p. 313.