Πεμπτουσία

Timid people, the great and wise Abbas Isaac the Syrian used to say, generally suffer from two spiritual illnesses: lack of faith and excessive concern for the body. If you struggle to overcome these two evils, it will be obvious that you believe wholeheartedly in God and that you’re ready to accept anything unpleasant that He may allow to happen to you. » Saint Isaac the Syrian

When I was abroad in 1987 I saw Geronda again in my sleep after finishing my vigil. He looked very happy and much younger than he was when he passed away. He said to me: “My child, know that when you are obedient, you help make my petitions and intercessions more accepted by God because I am praying for people who are forceful in their spiritual struggle.” “Yes, Geronda, we are trying to be obedient, and I try to do everything you told me. I have held on to everything you taught me, and. now I live—in a simple way—as you used to live.” He was delighted to hear that, and when I woke up I was thoroughly renewed. It is very ...

Jesus Christ calls upon all of us who love Him to be crucified with Him. Then will follow the resurrection of the soul and spiritual delight. The winter is harsh, the cold painful, but Paradise is sweet. Raise your eyes and look upon Jerusalem Above, where happiness, joy and bliss will reign throughout the ages. What joy, what delight to live with God forever… So let us love one another, my sons, because everything is love there and anyone who doesn’t have love, doesn’t enter. » Elder Ephraim of Arizona

(Edited by Stelios Koukos) I experienced great and wonderful things with that holy laborer of our Lord. I’ve left to the last the greatest and most wonderful  incident with Saint Païsios. It happened at the feast of the Monastery of Koutloumousi . During the course of the vigil I was inside the main church. By the light of the lamps and a few candles, the prayerful atmosphere in the church reached its peak. I wasn’t used to standing for such long services, though. About eight hours after the start of Great Vespers, around 4 o’clock in the morning, I felt exhausted. So I decided to leave the church for a bit and take a break. As I went out, when I was still ...

The second online Archontariki from Mount Athos, with the Elder Archimandrite Ephraim, the Abbot of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi, will be held on May 2, from 10 a.m. to noon, Athens time, or 08.00 to 10.00 GMT. If you’d like to participate, please register on a specific webpage form who will find on the Orthodoxia news agency’s website. Further information and directions for participation will be sent to you. Source: orthodoxianewsagency.gr

For about two years, a man called Anastasis Spyridopoulos put Saint George Karslidis up in his house, at the saint’s request. One night, Anastasis heard the hoof beats of a horse outside in the yard. He went to the balcony and saw a young horseman, all aglow, dismounting and going up the steps. He entered the house and was heard opening the door to the Elder’s room. Anastasis heard them talking all night long. The next morning, after the sun was up, he asked the Elder: ‘Did you have a visitor last night, Elder?’ ‘Yes’, he replied. ‘It was Saint George. Since you saw him, why didn’t you get up and light the censer, ask him for something, call upon him, and you’d ...

    We should see God in the faces of children and we should give them His love. Children, too, should learn how to pray. If they are to pray, children need to have the blood of prayerful parents.

Fr. Jonah from Taiwan speaks on the meaning of Christ’s Resurrection.