Pay attention carefully. After the sin comes the shame; courage follows repentance. Did you pay attention to what I said? Satan upsets the order; he gives the courage to sin and the shame to repentance.
In any society there are richer people and poorer people. People who find a job, people who can’t find a job for a variety of reasons. All of this God has left on earth in order to need each other and to learn to love one another and not to judge too much why. In any case, Jesus does not want the sinner’s death but to return and be alive.
The mind (νους) is the finest attention, the human focus, the eye of the soul. If someone is focused on God and His rays – that is on God’s uncreated energy called grace, then the human mind has the property to receive light, to be enlightened like a pure parabolic mirror on which these rays fall.
A nation without faith in God does not become free, neither advances further as a civilization. Only in this way we can assure for our children the heavenly inheritance, the only one true inheritance which truly remains even after death.
The disciple’s question Father, I suffer terribly from rheumatism, and I am afraid that it is from demons. Tell me if this is so. What is it, then, that I see in dreams, on the wall, some wild beasts? I am very upset because I cannot fast and I am forced to eat a lot. What should I do? The answer of the Elder
The state leadership called the greatest doctor in China and asked, “Are you the greatest doctor in China?“
The man who has come to hate the world has escaped sorrow. But he who has an attachment to anything visible is not yet delivered from grief. For how is it possible not to be sad at the loss of something we love?
The nous (mind, intellect) which has rebelled against God becomes either bestial or demonic and, after having rebelled against the laws of nature, lusts after what belongs to others.
You ask, will the others be saved… Why do you worry about them? They have a Savior Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins and not so much how to preach to others.
One of the most delicate—yet important—issues in the Church is the distinction between the essence of God and His energies.
A complete guide on how to resist the devil, especially if you are under demonic attacks and there is a danger of demonization is outlined below. We must be always aware of this danger and must take the precautionary measures, especially if we have grave sins or we are targets of concentrated demonic attacks because of Spells or curses cast against us.
Often, husbands come and ask us how to behave toward their wives. Of course, this topic is, in the last analysis, a personal theme between you and your spiritual father (priest) but some general problems can be explained which, if resolved, we could avoid a lot of quarrels. The wife must know that she is loved The wife needs to be assured by first hand that she is loved dearly and for this she needs concrete evidence. When was the last time you told her you loved her? No, it is not enough for her to “guess”. You have to […]
Etymology The orthodox priest is the presbyter from the Bible. Presbyter is, in the Bible, a synonym for bishop (episkopos), referring to a leader in local Church congregations. In modern usage, it is distinct from bishop and synonymous with priest. Its literal meaning in Greek (presbyteros) is “elder.”
Those who have not yet obtained true prayer of the heart, can find help in violence in bodily prayer—I mean stretching out the hands, beating the breast, sincere raising of the eyes to heaven, deep sighing, and frequent prostrations. But often they cannot do this owing to the presence of other people, and so the demons especially choose to attack them just at this very time.
We must never forget that reality is our game. Do not say: ‘I do not know what is right, therefore I am not to blame when I fail to do it.’ For if you did all the good about which you do know, what you should do next would then become clear to you, as if you were passing through a house from one room to another. It is not helpful to know what comes later before you have done what comes first. For knowledge without action ‘puffs up’, but ‘love edifies’, because it ‘patiently accepts all things’ (1 Cor. […]
Asceticism is the branch of medicine that aims at healing the human soul which is eternal and reaching eternal personal perfection.
Know that there are eight evil thoughts that bring about all that is vile: those of sensuality, lechery, love of money, anger, inappropriate grief, despondency, vainglory and pride. All these wage warfare against every person.
Avarice (“the love of money”) is the worship of idols, the daughter of unbelief, a lying excuse for illness, a foreboder of old age, a harbinger of drought, and a herald of hunger. The lover of money sneers at the Gospel and is a willful transgressor. He who has attained love scatters his money. But he who says that he lives for love and for money has deceived himself.
An ordinary Christian who has a morally dignified behavior becomes a symbol of the Truth manifested on earth and is a censor for the consciences of others. Honest souls will seek him to share his wisdom. The dishonest soul will bypass him and mock him or slander him. Through this treatment, he resembles the Crucified One.
As enticing as is the temptation of a sinful life, it ultimately leads to the disgust of sin, and then we seek the true path which we find in faith.
The tradition tells us that on the icon of Paramythia, the original expression on the faces of the figures and the position of the bodies of Christ and the Blessed Virgin changed when the following strange miracle occurred, January 21, 1321 in front of the Abbot – Saint Ghennadios of Vatopedi – which went there to take the keys of the Monastery’s main gate which were at the icon in order to give them to the monk which was responsible in opening the gates:
While praying to Christ, I felt a certain difficulty. The Mother of God – She was just like my own Mother to me. The same was with St. Euphemia. “My dear Saint Euphemia”, I addressed to her… But it was difficult to pray to Christ. I venerated His icons with fear. When during the Jesus Prayer my mind began to distract from prayer, I did not upset me at all. “Who am I to constantly keep Christ in my poor mind?” – I said to myself. And then something happened what I want to tell you about.
Just as parents have a special affection for the children who are the fruit of their own bodies, so the mind naturally clings to its own thoughts.
He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins, which are truly heavier than a great lump of lead; nor does he know why a man becomes heavy-hearted when he loves vanity and chases after falsehood
Self love, as has often been said, is the cause of all impassioned thoughts. For from it are produced the three principal thoughts of desire; those of gluttony, avarice and self-esteem. From gluttony is born the thought of unchastity; from avarice, the thought of greed; from self-esteem, the thought of pride.
Patiently accept your falls and, having stood up, immediately run to God, not remaining in that place where you have fallen.
Many believe that the Philokalia is a book written by Saint Nicodemus the Athonite. In fact, this book—as that understand of the book—does not actually exist.
Grief will succeed joy, and joy, grief, just as night follows day. This is how the Father of lights has established the path of God for those who are being saved. Just have patience and hope: engrave these in the depths of your heart and all adversities will be faced.
The science on how to clean out our heart before praying is very important because of the importance of prayer in our life.
In the last 3 decades, the concept of ‘Children’s Rights’ has emerged to define their interests in international law. Although the intention is, theoretically, to be praised, ‘Children’s Rights’ is an abstract, meaningless notion, in a world separate from God.