It is a great deal to realize that your faith is reduced. And it is indeed always reduced. St. Iakovos (Tsalikis) used to tell me, “Never be satisfied with your faith. Always ask for more faith. If possible at dawn, early in the morning.” If possible early in the morning, at dawn. As soon as you rise from your bed. “A new day, my Christ, good morning! Please give me more faith than the one you gave me yesterday.” This is what it means, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)…
If we break our leg, [we say] “My Virgin Mary, let my leg heal and I will light a big candle for you.” Hey, your heart is broken, your nous is disabled! Why don’t you ask [help] for your heart and nous?
What are you waiting for? You can’t love [anyone], you can’t forgive your mother, your father, your children… You will tell Him, “My Christ, I don’t know how to forgive. Help me! Enlighten me! Send the Holy Spirit!”
We’ve said how, here in Greece, not only do we not read but we don’t even know of the existence of the mystical Fathers who enlightened Orthodoxy. For the theologians, Orthodoxy has become a hollow word, since its mystical essence is unknown to them, as is its tradition. Our theologians receive the light from the West, because their theology has become a science, and their vainglory is flattered by this thing. Faith, for them, has no significance. You’ll tell me, “Theology without faith? Can you do that?” I ask you, too, equally puzzled, “Can you have theology without faith?” Nevertheless, in the Western lands and in America, many people have turned towards Orthodoxy, out of thirst for the truth. In Greece, only a few people and some Old Calendarists read the books of the Fathers, besides Basil and Chrysostom, whom the theologians take for orators and philologists of the Ancient Greek language. The books of the mystical Fathers are no longer reprinted and have become rare. The official Church prints some rough drafts of various modernist theologians, without any essence, which only reveal the incredible nakedness of their authors. Only just recently have the Apostolic Ministry Publications started to print Migne’s Patrology.
One time, when I was reading the Gospel, I read the phrase: “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). I said, “What is this way?” Then I was taken in a spiritual manner to a place where there was a very narrow path, like a tube, and I had to go into it. I wondered, “How could a person fit through there? They would be squeezed.” Then I tried to go forward with unbearable difficulty, pulling myself forward with my hands and feet until I made it through that fearsome path. Only my elder and I were able to pass through this way.
Another time I found myself before a giant abyss, a bottomless chasm. Across this abyss there was a golden-white bridge that was no wider than a finger and I had to pass over this bridge to the other side. I made my way onto the bridge, walking very slowly and carefully, because if I fell into that chasm I surely would be lost. It was truly a struggle to do this; and then, suddenly, the golden bridge started to swing dangerously and to shake, putting me in danger of falling. I turned to see who was rocking the bridge, and what did I see? I saw the faces of some of the other fathers of the monastery rocking the bridge, and I asked them, “Fathers, why are you shaking the bridge? Don’t you see that if I fall into this abyss I will die?” In any case, I had passed over the great length of the bridge and had a only little bit left to get to the other side.
Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian activities, however good they may be in themselves, do not constitute the aim of our Christian life, although they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end. The true aim of our Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ’s sake, they are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. But mark, my son, only the good deed done for Christ’s sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ’s sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ said: He who gathers not with Me scatters (Luke 11:23). Not that a good deed can be called anything but gathering, since even though it is not done for Christ’s sake, yet it is good. Scripture says: In every nation he who fears God and works righteousness is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:35)…
Of course, every good deed done for Christ’s sake gives us the grace of the Holy Spirit, but prayer gives us it most of all, for it is always at hand, so to speak, as an instrument for acquiring the grace of the Spirit. For instance, you would like to go to Church, but there is no Church or the Service is over; you would like to give alms to a beggar, but there isn’t one, or you have nothing to give; you would like to preserve your virginity, but you have not the strength to do so because of your temperament, or because of the violence of the wiles of the enemy which on account of your human weakness you cannot withstand; you would like to do some other good deed for Christ’s sake, but either you have not the strength or the opportunity is lacking. This certainly does not apply to prayer. Prayer is always possible for everyone, rich and poor, noble and humble, strong and weak, healthy and sick, righteous and sinful…
“There is a blessing for a photographer or a camera to discreetly record during the service, even the most striking moments of the service. What has now become customary has exceeded every measure. We’ll come to some service, to some sabor or gathering, and everyone is holding up their cell phones and everyone is recording. It’s really too much. Are these people participating in the service properly? Everyone today takes out their cell phone and records. Can that which is the most important be captured by a cell phone? It cannot. That which is most important in the service cannot be captured by any camera or any sort of technology. And much attention is given to it which is the reason why people are moving away from the service. We should open our hearts, not our cell phones.
Let us open our hearts, receive God’s mercy and grace, which descends invisibly and elusively to open hearts, our souls and minds. Leave the things were are idle and trifling, we’ve gone too far, we must return to the right path. This path doesn’t lead anywhere. Not to mention all the temptations which occur as a result of these recordings, how it is nicely used against the Church, against Christians, against our faith, against priests. Have nothing to do with this. When you come to the Church, leave the phone in the car or turn it off, and put it in your pocket.”
Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Coastlands, Joanikije Source: Again and Again
St. Demetrius was a commander of Thessalonica during his life and remained so after his repose. People have felt his presence in Thessalonica, especially in times of great calamities. He protects the city, wards off misfortunes, repels invaders, and helps all who invoke his name. Here is a wonderful example of his unusual aid to people in need. Once, the barbarians attacked Thessalonica and were unable to overtake it. Infuriated at this, they pillaged the countryside and bound and carried off two beautiful maidens whom they gave as a gift to their prince. These maidens knew how to embroider well. When the prince saw their handiwork, he said to them: “I hear that there is a great god in your land, Demetrius, and that he works great miracles. Embroider his face on this linen.” The maidens told him that St. Demetrius was not a god but rather God’s servant and the helper of Christians. At first, they refused to embroider the face of the saint, but when the prince threatened them with death, they carried out the command and completed the task by St. Demetrius’s Day. On the eve of the feast, they looked at their embroidery and wept sorrowfully, as they had to spend the feast day in slavery and had to give that embroidered image of their beloved saint to an impious barbarian. Both maidens prayed to St. Demetrius to forgive them. Then St. Demetrius appeared to them and took them both away, as an angel had once taken the Prophet Habakkuk. He brought them to Thessalonica and set them in his church. A solemn all-night vigil was being celebrated, and many people were there. When they learned of the miraculous rescue of these Christian maidens, all glorified God and St. Demetrius, His great servant and commander.
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
— 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…
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.
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.
