We learnt enough in order to have confidence in what we think we know but we did not learnt enough in order to accept something else which might contradict our narrow views.
Do you fast? Then feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the imprisoned, have pity on the tortured, comfort those who grieve and who weep, be merciful, humble, kind, calm, patient, sympathetic, forgiving, reverent, truthful and pious, so that God might accept your fasting and might plentifully grant you the fruits of repentance.
Someone asked me if he could use a gun to protect his house. Well… I don’t know about guns. But I know about locks to protect the houses: A very old hermit monk here had a kelli dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Even though he was alone in the wilderness, he not only didn’t have a lock at his cell, but he left the door largely open even if he went some distance away (Karyes, a monastery etc.). In the many years he behaved like this, no unfortunate accident occurred. This went on for years till once a group of pilgrims […]
The delicacy and the knowledge of the saints is above anything we can concieve. In fact, without God’s grace, we are just barbarians—without God’s grace, we humans are wolves among other humans.
The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together. Men will take up arms and even sacrifice their lives for the sake of this love. St. Paul would not speak so earnestly about this subject without serious reason; why else would he say, “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord?”
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female, he created them. (Genesis 1: 26-27)
God is the source of every virtue, as the sun is of daylight. So, when you have done something good, remember the words ‘without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
Struggle with all your power to gain Paradise. And do not listen to those who say that everyone will be saved. This is trap of Satan so that we would not struggle.
Many today are wondering how to behave in the case of aggressive behavior, starting with those at school or playing between children ending with aggression at national level.
Loneliness – voluntarily or not – is your time for prayer and knowing God better. This knowledge comes mainly via prayer because prayer is the union of the mind with God.
Saint John Chrysostom was renowned for his explanations of the Holy Scriptures. He also interpreted the Epistles of Saint Paul, whom he admired greatly. In order to assure himself that the interpretation of the Epistles were correct, he asked God to offer him a sign.
After fulfilling a commandment expect to be tempted: for love of Christ is tested by adversity. So, never belittle the significance of your thoughts, for not one escapes God’s notice.
Saint Paul says that „Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established” because our first aim is to perfection ourselves and not to fight with others, so for this we need to have a stable and peaceful environment.
We shouldn’t think, judge, and act, having faith in our way of seeing things—but on God.
Having a peaceful and serene mind depends entirely on you. It does not depend on temptations or your fellow struggler’s behavior. You yourself will be responsible for your salvation; whether you will be saved or not depends entirely on you. When you long for your salvation and struggle hard, then the outcome will be according to your wish.
Everyone has a cross to carry. Why? Since the leader of our faith endured the cross, we will also endure it.
A person cannot choose the time in which he is born or lives; it is not up to him, who his parents are, or the nation he will be born into, but what he is responsible for is how he will act in that given time: will he be human or inhuman, no matter his nationality nor parents.
When you dispute a problem with someone, remember that it isn’t you and the problem against the other but you and the other against the problem.
How can we put up with these things unless it is because we have no true love? If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor’s shortcomings.
All vices grow feeble when conquered, and when beaten are day by day made weaker, and lessen and subside both in place and time—or at any rate, as they are unlike the opposite virtues, are more easily shunned and avoided.
The day-by-day spiritual life of an orthodox layman should be settled between him and his priest, in accordance with the Holy Tradition of the Church. This is the norm and the best way to do so.
When we focus on good, good grows. When we focus on bad, bad grows.
The whole planet wants the freedom of eternal happiness, but most people seek it where it is not and seek it in an inappropriate way.
Any addiction is a bad habit, an illness of the soul, a brain disorder characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, in the causes of sin, despite the adverse consequences.
After giving the wronged person the good advice, Saint Paul goes on to give him advice of a higher tone, telling him not to be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. For he knew that even if the enemy was a brute he would not go on being an enemy once he was fed.
If a man has some spiritual gift and feels compassion for those who do not have it, he preserves the gift because of his compassion. But a boastful man will lose it through succumbing to temptations of boastfulness.
God made us in His image and likeness—that is, just a single created god—a single Human in many persons of two kinds (man and woman), as He is a single God in three persons. God created a giant mind, a created god, in which all persons would cooperate flawlessly through their minds in real time to accomplish the same goal, even if each person would keep his specificity.
So he who desires to come to the rest of the Lord and not be defeated by the evil one, lovingly withdraws from people in all things, so as not to criticize them or praise or justify, or bless another or to upset someone else in any respect, or to observe his downfall, and to leave no needle of enmity in his heart against him, and to submit to those who are demented.
Few words, much love. To all. No matter who they are because every one of us is ‘sent’, every one of us is created with a purpose, every one of us is unique in his own way.
It’s not that God overrode Pharaoh’s free will; that is, it isn’t that Pharaoh was inclined to let the Israelites go but then God stopped him from doing so. It’s that Pharaoh was not inclined to let the Israelites go, but the miracles worked by God through Moses made him timid; God gave Pharaoh the strength of will to follow through on what he really wanted to do: keep the Israelites enslaved in Egypt. In that sense, God didn’t suspend or override Pharaoh’s free will; actually, God enhanced it, so Pharaoh could make the choice that was in his heart.