But someone might say, “Then, if heaven is so great, why don’t you all just go and kill yourselves, and pass over to your God right away, and not bother us anymore?”
One may ask: Who wove the Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary? Well, She did, of course. Although the answer may be obvious, let us think a little more deeply about it. The Virgin Mary was full of Grace and spiritual knowledge – she was, after her Son, the most perfect being in the world.
Once, the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, “Reign over us!” But the olive tree said to them, “Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?”
There are some people who impress us more and help us more than others do, even if they say almost the same things as the others.
Every created nature is far removed from and completely foreign to the divine nature.
In the Christian context: by “mystery,” we do not mean merely that which is baffling and mysterious, an enigma or insoluble problem.
The Mother of God died, as all people die by the necessity of their mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world as the result of Adam’s fall.
You who have decided to strip for the arena of this spiritual confession, you who wish to take on your neck the yoke of Christ, you who are therefore trying to lay your own burden on Another’s shoulders, you who are hastening to sign a pledge that you are voluntarily surrendering yourself to slavery, and in return want freedom concretely written to your account, you who are being supported by the hands of others as you swim across this great sea — you should know that you have decided to travel by a short but rough way, from which there […]
Many are interested in solving “hot” topics in their minds. We are interested in how Elijah was lifted up to heaven with the chariot of fire, how is the vision of paradise, the angels, the creation of the world, and other things like this.
There is a lot of anxiety and distress about the famous 666 in some circles, which most of the time (if not always) distracts us from our main aim in life – the salvation of our eternal soul.
If you want to serve God, prepare your heart not for food, not for drink, not for rest, not for ease, but for suffering, so that you may endure all temptations, trouble and sorrow.
Even if the rules of iconography insist that the holy image depicted (the saints) should be with black hair and black eyes, however, from tradition and from visions, we are informed from the saints which saw the Mother of God that her hair texture resembles that of ripe wheat with blue eyes.
The almighty Christ was the only one which had the right, the power and the capacity to be a tyrant.
You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything he’s no longer in your power — he’s free again.
You have a spiritual nature. The soul is the image of the Creator. Honor the image of God by being in agreement with all humanity.
Perhaps you are saying, “Why are the wicked joyful? Why do they live in luxury? Why do they not toil with me?”
We struggle to learn various things and slowly try to understand their meanings in order to gain knowledge.
There may be some who, in the beginning, believed rightly and assiduously labored at virtue. They may have even worked miracles and prophesied and cast out demons.
I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna are scourged by the scourge of love.
Who killed Jesus? Many would say “the Jews” – however, if we look closely at the Gospels we will see that the answer isn’t correct and besides that, such forms of judgment of people based on their ethnic or cultural appurtenance of a certain group have dire consequences, as we saw in history.
A disciple once asked an elder: Well then, if a good man does not only suffer no evil by being killed, but actually gains a reward from his suffering, how can we accuse the man who has done him no harm but good by killing him?
Perhaps the greatest trial of Saint Paisios of Mount Athos happened when he was still a child.
Man is created in the image of God and he must reach His likeness. This is, I could say, the final aim and the mystical entelechy of man. As long as this yearning is not satisfied and man remains far from God, he suffers all the more.
We all sin and the effect of any sin is the increase of demonic energy upon us. Devils, like any angel, are spirits – noetic existences – so our minds can communicate with them but because the demons are very good “theologians” and very intelligent – even if their intelligence is distorted – that’s why we cannot escape from them when we are under their influence by using logic. We will just tangle more in their nets.
With Christ, the truth is no longer hidden. Now people are hiding from truth.
Now, it’s true that most people who don’t have much sense expect to be content with avoiding hell. But I say it’s a far worse punishment than hell to be excluded from the glory of the other world. I think that someone who has failed to reach it should be sorry, not so much because of the miseries of hell, but because of his rejection from heaven. For that by itself is more dreadful than any other kind of punishment.
The tree of knowledge of good and evil is the power of discernment by multiple vision, and this is the complete knowing of one’s own nature. Of itself it manifests the magnificence of the Creator and it is good for them that are full-grown and have walked in the contemplation of God for them that have no fear of changing, because in the course of time they have acquired a certain habit of such contemplation.
He showed me many trees that had no leaves; they were withered, and they all looked alike to me. And he said to me, “Do you see these trees?” “I see, sir, that they are all alike, and all withered,” I replied. “These trees that you see,” he answered, “are those who dwell in this world.”
Christ said: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
The main difference between heaven and hell isn’t the difference of place. There is also a place difference but the main difference is the difference in the existential response of an intelligent being – human or angel – to the same uncreated divine energy which is much more intense than here on earth, both in heaven and in hell.
