The lie in modern life

by

I think that if a Christian says to himself that he is a modern Christian, he has already lost the battle. He must realize that he is a CHRISTIAN and that he is fighting the same battle that has been ongoing for 2000 years – the struggle for knowledge of God, for that which remains forever, for that which shapes man and his relationship to the world, God and other people. If he realizes this – then he is on the right path to acquiring what he has been striving for.

Christ is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow and unto the ages of ages, as Apostle Paul said.

I think that in modern life this is how the lie that the devil presents to us manifests itself: that now there is a special situation for which there are no recipes, no rules, that now is the time of computers and modern technologies and the ways of salvation are different.

I believe that together with this lie, which he planted in us, he imposes a parallel religion, the religion of this world.

The fact that there are modern technologies, that we dress differently, and that social relations have changed, does not separate us from the Gospel. The Gospel remains the same, for it is timeless and was not written for the times when the Lord walked the earth, but for all times.

Archimandrite Luka (Anic) – for fifteen years has been the abbot of one of the largest monasteries in Serbia and Montenegro, the Cetinje Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary

Go deeper, father, go deeper

by

— How are we servants of Christ supposed to react to these challenges against the Church and Christianity? What should we change in ourselves? What should we do?

— We should do what I heard many years ago from a fool-for-Christ in the Smolensk Cemetery in St. Petersburg. She said to me then, “Go deeper, father, go deeper!”

Orthodoxy is the modern Job. You can take everything away from it, but you can’t touch its soul. God preserves the soul. Testimony to this is all that has happened over these thousand years since the time of Prince Vladimir…

Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic of Montenegro (+30.10.2020)
Source: https://orthochristian.com/81604.html

Marry him to labour

by

In the skete of the monastery Kutlumush lived an eminent spiritual father, to whom many elders of the Holy Mountain went for confession and spiritual advice. Once came an elder, who had a novice overwhelmed from despondency in his Kaliva. The despondency ate him from inside like a worm, the sadness and melancholy were changed by despair. The danger was big, because if the novice couldn’t find a way to get out of the trap of despondency, he could be exposed to the temptation to leave Mount Athos.

Because of this the elder of the novice took him to the divinely inspired father.

– My father – he said – say what I should do with him. He can fail. His mind is darkened, he doesn’t show interest in anything. He lives as if he is surrounded by a dark cloud, his thoughts are scattered. Very good conditions are created for him in our Kaliva. He’s not burdened with physical labour, his obedience is to read the services.

Continue reading →

St. Paraskeva heals woman of debilitating disease

by

Every year, tens or even hundreds of thousands of faithful Orthodox Christians flock to the Romanian city of Iasi for the extended pilgrimage in honor of St. Paraskeva, one of Romania’s most beloved saints.

Nearly 20,000 hierarchs, clerics, monastics, and laymen joined in the procession with her relics held on Sunday night this year. Though St. Paraskeva is loved throughout the Balkans, and her relics have had many homes, they have been venerated in Iasi since 1641, working countless miracles to this day.

And according to personal testimony, the beloved saint is working miracles during her pilgrimage this year. Fr. Alexandru Lungu, a priest in Falticeni, published an account that he received on Sunday, October 8, of a woman who traveled from afar and was miraculously healed of a debilitating disease by the relics of St. Paraskeva.

Continue reading →

The spirit of the Church and secular forecasts

by

All days, brothers and sisters, are beautiful days, don’t get confused by secular forecasts, what will happen tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The light of the new day shines, the light of the Resurrection. The Lord is with us today, He will be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and all the days until the end of the ages. That is the prognosis of the Church. But the world (says): “Maybe, I don’t know, we’ll see, let’s push it until the end of September, then in October… some viruses, some circuses…” That’s, be careful, that’s also secularism. What are you talking to me… I am not interested in that. It is not the spirit of my Church. It is the spirit of fear, children of this world… We here feed on the Heavenly Bread and drink from the Cup of Salvation, singing to our God… “Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.” Do you want to sing with us? Sing. If you don’t want to… go back to the one who sent you.

Igumen Raphael Bolevich
Source: Youtube

Matushka, the Light of the Risen Christ is seen only from the Cross

by

Before the church at the Holy Resurrection-Novodevichy Monastery was returned, we would go see Fr. Nikolai Guryanov on the island of Talabsk. The monastery churches were still in a state of desecration, and there were even latrines there, and some machine tools were installed. We would sometimes take pictures of this disgrace to show Batiushka.

One day he said: “What a beautiful monastery! It’s your monastery! Matushka, stand by it.” And he began to sing the hymn: “Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.”

We thought then: Here’s the Elder praying to the Cross of Christ, and the monastery is on its own Golgotha, ruined… Could such fulfilled hope really have quietly made its way into him in some miraculous manner? When would we glorify the Resurrection? It is the Monastery of the Resurrection…

Continue reading →

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy spoke about the importance of patient prayer

by

“That prayer with which Joachim and Anna asked God for the Blessed Virgin Mary lasted almost 50 years – with patience, with hope, – said Metropolitan Onufriy . – They had already become elderly, and, of course, there are laws of nature, there is a certain age when people can no longer give birth to children. But they… prayed to God, and God listened to their prayer”.

He noted that “from this holy story we learn how to pray.”

“We pray, we ask God for something, and sometimes God gives it to us immediately, or sometimes after a certain period, or at other times we can’t wait and give up praying. Prayer, if we ask God for what is useful for salvation and not for perdition, is always fulfilled by God. But the greater the gift we ask from God, the more patient the prayer should be,” the Primate explained.

According to him, “prayer is spiritual gold; a person today may not have anything worthwhile, but he will pray, and tomorrow he may receive very much.”

“May the Lord help us, give us courage, so that our prayers, which we offer to God, are done with patience and humility. These are the two virtues that make prayer strong. The more a person humbles himself before God, the stronger his prayer is, and the more a person prays patiently, the greater the gift he can ask God for,” His Beatitude noted.

Source: www.spzh.news

My Father Saw Heaven and hell

by

For a child, there’s no such thing as bad parents, and for parents—bad children. Our father and mother had nine of us, but the Lord took one of us away from this life during infancy. We had a Christian upbringing and had a very religious mother and grandmother on my mother’s side. However, our father was a Protestant. Although we were born in such a family, all of us were baptized in the Orthodox Church eight days after our birth. Our father never forbade us to go to church, although he himself only prayed the “Our Father” and never made the sign of the cross. He was strict in our upbringing and always said, “One that’s been caned is worth two that haven’t”. We would also remember the following words that he used to say: “I’d rather endure pain once than be ashamed of my children for the rest of my life.”

When I was about sixteen or seventeen years old and was in high school, then, out of interest, I visited some Protestant congregations a few times. I wanted to understand their perception of the faith, what kind of spiritual state they were in, and what they do during their so-called services. But there I saw the absurdity and emptiness of these people. Truly: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me (Mt. 15:8). If a person pulls out the bricks holding together his house, it will surely fall. The same happens when people abolish the dogmas of the Church, the structure of the services, the Holy Tradition of the Church and the Apostles.

Continue reading →

Metropolitan Jovan Enthroned as Metropolitan of Kruševo-Demir Hisar

by

Macedonian and Serbian hierarchs concelebrated on September 3, 2023 the Divine Liturgy and enthronement of His Eminence Metropolitan Jovan as the ruling hierarch of the newly created Diocese of Kruševo and Demir Hisar in North Macedonia.

The Liturgy, in which Met. Jovan was joined by Their Eminences Metropolitan Petar of Prespa and Grigorij of Kumanovo, and Their Graces Bishop Joachim of Deljadro, Marko of Del?evo, David of Dremvit, Kliment of Heraklej, and Jacob of Stobi of the Macedonian Church, and His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and His Grace Bishop Pachomije of Vranje of the Serbian Church, was celebrated in the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kruševo, reports tvhram.rs.

At the end of the Liturgy, Met. Petar of Prespa served the rite of enthronement of Met. Jovan. The newly enthroned hierarch then offered a sermon about life in eternity as “constant communion, without division, without schism, without self-satisfaction.”

Continue reading →