“If we do even one extra knot on our prayer rope, our guardian angel will record it; a few prayers or good thoughts will be stored up for later. Christ saves up all these things, and when the time comes for us to depart for the next life, we will take them and go to Christ.”
Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou, Words of the Heart
Where can I go from Thy Spirit, and where can I escape from Thy presence? If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into hades, Thou art present there. If I take up my wings toward the dawn, and make mine abode in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand guide me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 138: 7-10)
These divinely inspired words of the Psalmist David should be particularly in our thoughts during these days, when the entire world is literally quaking, and from every direction comes news of all kinds of distress, shocks and calamities.
Before you can concentrate on what is occurring in one country, you are distracted by even more threatening events which have unexpectedly erupted someplace else; and before you can get a grasp on them, yet other news distracts your attention to still some other location, forcing you to lose track of the previous ones, even though they have by no means reached their conclusion.
In vain do “the representatives of the nations consult in order to find a remedy for the common affliction. They encourage one another and others, saying, ‘peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11)
Calamities in the lands where they are unfolding do not come to an end, when suddenly new ones begin in places which had been considered safe and calm.
Those who flee from troubles in one place find themselves amid troubles elsewhere that are even worse. “As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into his house and leaned with his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.” (Amos 5:19) Or, as another prophet says, “He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.” (Isaiah 24: 18)
This is what we see happening in our days.
A person sets out for his peaceful occupation and suddenly falls the victim of military action which erupted in a place where no one had expected it.
The person who escapes danger from military action, finds himself amid the horrors of natural catastrophes, of an earthquake or typhoon.
Many meet their death where some had escaped it, while other people are prepared to risk their lives rather than waste away in places considered to be secure, because they anticipate other catastrophes which could soon come upon those areas.
Continue reading
1) If you want to live a spiritual life, you should look after yourself. Every evening look at the good and bad things you did that day. Thank God for the good, repent in the bad.
2) When someone is praising you but you know that you have disadvantages, then this praising must be like a stab in your heart and must foster your desire to improve yourself.
3) Less philosophizing, more doing. In our life, we already devote too much time to the former at the expense of the latter.
4) Be especially careful with your impure thoughts.
5) If you feel any tendency to sin, make two prostrations to the Mother of God with prayer: “O Holy Theotokos, by the prayers of my parents, save me, a sinner”. The spirit of your parents will unite with yours in your prayer.
Continue reading
Endure the sorrows that happen, always repent. When preparing for Holy Communion, read the Rule*, and if you have not read it, tell the priest to whom you are confessing. Never judge anyone – and you will receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Do not despair – you are sinful, but you are God’s.
Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko)
* Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion
Blessed feast of the Ascension of Christ!
In order to experience Christ’s Ascension and comprehend its mystery as far as possible, we must keep the life-giving commandments, acquire the deifying virtues, especially humility and love, so that we can endure every tribulation and temptation which comes by reason of our being Christians, but even to have the desire for martyrdom for the glory of Christ’s name.
St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
Source: Holy Monastery of Virgin Mary the Consolatory, Quebec
When Penelope* reached adolescence, her parents began to think about her marriage. One night Penelope beheld the following vision: a dove entered the tower with an olive branch in its beak, depositing it on the table. An eagle also flew in carrying a wreath of flowers, and left it on the table. Then a raven flew in through another window and dropped a snake on the table. In the morning Penelope woke up and wondered about the meaning of the things she had seen. She related them to her tutor Apellian and he explained that the dove symbolized her superior education, and that the olive branch represented the grace of God which is received in Baptism. The eagle and the olive branch indicated success in her future life. The snake signified that she would experience suffering and sorrow.
Continue reading
Thousands of faithful Orthodox Christians braved inclement weather this morning to celebrate the feast of St. Basil of Ostrog, one of the most beloved saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Continue reading
Our Christ has allowed us once again this year to celebrate the great and light-bearing day of His Resurrection: “Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha.”
Pascha is translated as “passing.” The human race received the grace and blessing from God to ascend from the earth to Heaven; to pass from transient death into eternal life.
Our Christ was infinitely merciful to us. He felt sorry for us and came down to our earth in order to raise us to Heaven.
Every year we celebrate Holy Pascha. Every year we all eagerly anticipate it, so we can once again feel the special joy and light of the Divine Resurrection within our souls; in order to taste a “small sample” of the endless jubilation of the eternal Pascha; to get a glimpse of the light that illumines the other world; to experience a tiny bit of the eternal blessedness that is felt in Heaven above by the souls who already have the privilege of being saved and who now celebrate the never-ending, eternal Pascha.
Continue reading