SIDEBAR

We were replacing a donkey

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Oct 31 2015
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Oh, our most holy and blessed elder and father, why did you leave us so soon, alone in the struggling arena, you who have been such a unique instructor? We are being overcome by your loss! Why did we meet you at such an early age, where we had not been mature enough to recognize who you really were? Why did you conceal yourself from our youthful eyes and we are now flooded with regret? Is it not possible for you to come back to us even for a week? Blessed were those days when even though we had been […]

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One body

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Oct 30 2015
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Through prayers and acts of charity for the departed, Christians demonstrate the relationship between this world and the world to come. The Church in this world and the Church in the next is one and the same – one body, one being- just as the roots of a tree, below ground, constitute a single organism with the trunk and the branches above ground. From this it’s obvious that we who make up the earthly Church can be given help by the saints and the righteous in the heavenly Church, in the same way as departed sinners in the next world […]

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A Christian must not be fanatical

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Oct 29 2015
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A Christian must not be fanatical; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm. I once met a theologian who was extremely pious, but who had the habit of speaking to the secular people around him in a very blunt manner; his method penetrated so deeply that it shook them very severely. He told me once: “During a gathering, I said such and such a thing to a lady.” But the way that he said it, crushed her. “Look”, I said to him, […]

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An Icon of Human Freedom

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Oct 25 2015
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The arduous, sacrificial character of freedom is evident equally in Dostoevsky’s parable “The Tale of the Grand Inquisitor” in The Brothers Karamazov. The inquisitor reproaches Christ for making humankind free, and thereby imposing on them a pain too sharp for them to endure. Out of pity for human anguish, so the inquisitor claims, he and his fellows have removed this cruel gift of freedom: “We have corrected your work,” he says to Christ. He is right: freedom is indeed a heavy burden, as Mary understood only too well when standing at the foot of the Cross. Yet without freedom there […]

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Christ’s Little Flock is Impervious to any Propaganda

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Oct 23 2015
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I’m aware that many of you have been deeply upset by the sudden rise in anti-religious propaganda and that this saddens you. But don’t worry… Tell me please. You remember the words of Christ from Saint Luke’s Gospel: ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom’. Our Lord Jesus Christ has repeatedly told us about His little flock. His little flock has been holding up since the Apostles. And then it grew more and more… The little flock is everywhere, despite the outbreak of anti-religious propaganda. And it still exists in […]

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The Church without Saints isn’t the Church

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Oct 17 2015
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The greatest spiritual capital the Church has, its greatest, inconceivable and inviolate riches, are the Saints. This demonstrates that it isn’t merely the ark of salvation for our souls, that is souls who are saved simply by avoiding eternal hellfire, but is, rather, for souls who are glorified in the Kingdom of God, even before the final judgment, before the Second Coming, as long as the Church Militant continues to exist. They’ve been glorified because they were perfectly well-pleasing to God through their lives and reached the state of deification, that is they became gods by Grace, they acquired boldness […]

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Putting yourself in the place of others

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Oct 16 2015
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Putting yourself in the place of other people is a great aid in acquiring internal kindness, because then love comes naturally, as do pain, humility, and gratitude to God through continuous hymns of praise and prayer of the heart for our neighbor. Then our prayer is both well-pleasing to God and helps our fellow human beings. “Saint Païsios the Athonite”

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A visit from the Lord

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Oct 15 2015
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Whether the sword is sent, or sickness, famine, death, or something else that’s considered appalling, they’re all sent to earth for our regeneration and correction, and so that we can concentrate our minds  on devotion to God. Because every generation needs to be educated by a visit from the Lord. “Saint Ephraim the Syrian”

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Time to open the door to Him

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Oct 14 2015
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Christ comes lots of times and knocks at your door. You ask Him into the sitting-room of your soul and then get involved with other tasks and forget all about the great Visitor. He waits for you to appear and when a long time’s passed He gets up and leaves. Next time, you’re so busy, you answer Him from the window. You haven’t got time even to open the door to Him. “Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos”

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Passions show most freely in family life

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Oct 11 2015
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Watch yourself, especially your passions in your family life, because that’s where they show themselves most freely. Outside the house, some of these are usually covered up by other, more ‘respectable’, behavior. But at home, you can’t conceal those passions that undermine your spiritual integrity. “Saint John of Kronstadt”

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Saddening temptations

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Oct 10 2015
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Temptations in their various forms sadden people, so that they seek divine assistance all the more, and with tears. This is a dispensation of Divine Providence, in order to strip us bare. “Saint Joseph the Hesychast”

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His place is in peace

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Oct 08 2015
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When people try to have a humble heart and peaceful thoughts, then none of the plots of the enemy can be implemented. Because where the thoughts are peaceful, that’s where God Himself finds peace: ‘His place is in peace’ (Ps. 75, 3). “Saint Seraphim of Sarov”

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Freedom involves sharing: An Icon of Human Freedom

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Oct 06 2015
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Freedom involves sharing. Mary’s first action after the Annunciation is to share the good news with someone else: she goes with haste to the hill country, to the house of Zechariah, and greets her cousin Elizabeth.8 Here is an essential element in freedom: you cannot be free alone. Freedom is not solitary but social. It implies relationship, a “thou” [You] as well as an “I.” The one who is egocentric, who repudiates all responsibility towards others, possesses no more than a seeming and spurious freedom, but is in reality pitifully unfree.

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Orthodoxy isn’t a national ideology

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Oct 05 2015
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The struggle of asceticism, repentance, prayer and fasting cannot be brought to a conclusion unless it’s founded on proper faith. The Orthodox Church of the East has the privilege of having preserved the truth of the faith in God, the human person and the world. And this truth doesn’t equate to any ideology, but is an experience of life in the Holy Spirit. The prophets, apostles and holy Fathers experienced the presence of God and thereafter described it in their God-inspired texts.

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Elder Paisios of Mount Athos: The children, their joys and their difficulties

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Oct 04 2015
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Q.: Elder, why does God give people a guardian angel, when He can protect us Himself? A.: That’s God looking after us especially carefully. The guardian angel is God’s providence. And we’re indebted to Him for that. The angels particularly protect little children. And you wouldn’t believe how! There were two children once, playing in the street. One of them aimed at the other to hit him on the head with a stone. The other one didn’t notice. At the last moment, apparently, his angel drew his attention to something else, he leapt up and got out of the way. […]

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Insignificant troubles

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Oct 03 2015
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Always bear in mind what Moses had to put up with –the two million grumbling people– how greatly he prayed with so much love for his people. How he was tormented for years on end in the desert, until he brought them to the Promised Land. If you recall this, it’ll give you abundant courage and you’ll never complain about your troubles, which are insignificant compared to those of Moses. “Saint Païsios the Athonite”

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Multi-Faith Europe and Orthodoxy

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Oct 01 2015
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The problem of the relations between Christians and people of other religions is much more complicated. In general it has two facets. The first is practical: the need to co-exist with people of other religious persuasions. In this case, we have a “dialogue of life” where the only appropriate attitude is one of peaceful co-existence, respect for religious freedom and, broadly speaking, for the human rights of others. But there can also be co-operation on matters of social harmony and progress. The second is theoretical: understanding other religions from a theological standpoint. Just as the life of Christ, the new […]

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