Holy Unction during pandemic is one of the most necessary services, however it seems that it is performed much less than it should. Below you will read some miracles tied to the mystery of Holy Unction.
When will the trial we go through be over? When will the good news come? The answer is in us.
Give doctors the honor they deserve, for the Lord gave them their work to do. Their skill came from the Most High, and kings reward them for it. Their knowledge gives them a position of importance, and powerful people hold them in high regard.
The Akathist Hymn is the most widely used hymn to honor the Virgin Mary. The word “Rejoice” is the most widely used word in the akathist hymn and this, according to the spiritual law, is due to the fact that sadness was the most present in the life of the Virgin.
First of all, we must understand that the idea of patron saints or protectors is not fixed or predetermined. Over time, people have seen that certain saints have helped, either during their life or after death, in a certain area of interest and, therefore, based on this experience, people again seek the help of that saint.
Apart from its usual dedication to the Menaion (the commemoration of the lives of the Saints) and the early custom to celebrate Kontakia (a type of hymn) during the Pannychis (festive night vigil celebrated at the Blachernae chapel), the Akathist had also the function to celebrate military victories or to ask, during wars, for divine protection intermediated by prayers of the Mother of God, the Invincible General.
Do not think that knowing the beginning of the gospel is a minor thing. God is perfect and does not leave to chance a thing like the beginning of the gospel.
In times of trial, people draw closer to God, which is why God also has to allow such trials, in times when mankind settles onto the wrong path.
The demon of fear that tempts you, saying „Where can you flee? You have no repentance; you have no escape”, belongs to the enemy who is trying to make you lose self-control, whereas godly sadness does not attack you, but says, „Do not be afraid; try again”, for it knows that humanity is weak, and strengthens us.
“…… I learned from the internet that the journalist Angel Bonchev was preparing a book about the unknown for us Saint Nikephoros the Leper, at a critical moment when the world was covered by the coronavirus pandemic and thousands died, killed by this new plague.
Why do we need to pray? For this, we need to understand that the first thing we need is the healing of the distortion of our will and, connected to this, the healing of our loneliness.
In fact, what is normal in a world in which one flies East, another flies West and another flies over the cuckoo’s nest?
There are many ways in which we can categorize the types of prayer. A simple one is the following:
The Archangel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you amongst women.” Hidden meanings in the words of the Mother of God
The Mother of God was the purest being created as all the holy fathers confess together. Her basic virtue was and is virginity, the gift of shyness – the full purity of her entire existence, not only from the bodily but also from spiritual (mental) point of view.
Holy Communion does not make people sick because the Holy Communion is truly the real Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the giver of life. Let us not forget that this teaching is basic in the Church which has passed through the history of pandemics much harsher than the one which we pass today.
Many ask us what the causes of the pandemic COVID-19 are, if it is a natural phenomenon, or if there are state-level actors who generated this epidemic.
Those of us who wish to start the spiritual life, to go out of the wordly things, to go out of Egypt and to fly from Pharaoh, certainly need some Moses as a mediator with God and from God, who, standing between action and contemplation, will raise hands of prayer for us to God, so that guided by Him we may cross the sea of sin and rout the Amalek of the passions.
In the 3rd Century, a pandemic swept across Italy, Africa, and the Western Roman Empire. In retrospective examination, some scholars believe it was the Ebola virus. At its height, this pandemic killed more than 5,000 people every day in Rome. Some cities had their population wiped out by more than 60 percent.
We must embrace the change. It is pointless to continuously resist. We must cut off our will in front of others.
The services are not held for the saints and the churches are not raised for them.
We must consciously realize that we are eternal. Here you have all the stages of eternal life with a short description of each one.
Many times I regretted that I spoke; I have never regretted keeping silent. Enjoy the Silence!
There was a child who was somewhat illiterate and could not learn his lessons and keep up with his classmates.
He who drives away the carnal thought by prayer is like someone fighting with a lion; he who subdues him by his resistance is someone still pursuing his enemy; but he who has once for all reduced its appeal to nothing, even though he is still in the flesh, is as one who has already risen from his coffin.
Only the foolish think that suffering is evil. A sensible man knows that suffering is not evil but only the manifestation of evil and healing from evil. Only sin in a man is a real evil, and there is no evil outside sin.
How did Saint Joseph the Hesychast live his life and reach holiness? Read a fragment from one of his letters:
When we have a serious illness, it does not mean that this is a revelation from God that we will die. Or, to express it more exactly, we don’t know the outcome. However, such a serious illness can be used as a revelation from God that we must prepare ourselves more intensely for death.
The essence of the church is synodicity (synergy). The biggest problem of mankind today is that they have forgotten the Jesus which is God-Man, and therefore our heavenly purpose.
Today, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate officially included in the calendar of the Church the Saints Joseph the Hesychast (Elder Joseph), Ephraim of Katounakia and Daniil of Katounakia.