When faith wanes, the heart becomes uneasy, weak, like a straw blown in the wind, lifeless. Don’t pay any attention to this darkness of Satan. Cast it far away from your heart by making the sign of the life-giving Cross. » Saint John of Kronstadt
Knowledge, sensation, understanding, contemplation, insight and every movement of the intellect, everything in all things, should be directed towards God. >Blessed Joseph the Hesychast
The subject of the iconic approach of the Holy Trinity has especially preoccupied me here. And specifically the question whether, religiously wise, the depiction of the Holy Spirit in the classic icon of the Holy Trinity (in the past 350 years), as a pigeon, is correct or at least not harmful, that is the symbolic depiction of the non-built actions of HIM (as in the icon of Baptism) and not, of course, the existential depiction of the Embodied Son. (Besides from the non-built actions of HIM The Father as THE OLD OF DAYS is portrayed in the vision of DANIEL. Also the question arises, whether it is more correct the labeling of the Byzantine Icon of the three angels as ...
The most striking proof that the devil’s at work in the world is the fact that people hardly recognize, if at all, the mercies granted to them by God through the creation, His providence and salvation. The devil is frenzied in his opposition to any good and holy work. » Saint John of Kronstadt
In 1902, he wrote and set to music a service for Saint Efraim the Syrian and supplied other missing material, such as services for Saints Neofytos and Ioannikos, after whom his own elders were named, Saint Sofronios, the 99 saints in Crete, Saint Ieronymos, and Saint Mary Magdalene. His hymn-writing activities continued with a supplicatory canon to Saint Anthony the Great, Salutations to Saints Minas, Victor and Vicentius, Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Sergius and Bacchus. He made additions to the services of other saints whose holy relics are kept at Simonopetra, and wrote verses of prayer and entreaty to the Lord, Our Lady and various saints. Many of these works remain unknown or are inaccessible. His main contribution, however, ...
To fall under the sway of your passions and abandon yourself to them is the ultimate slavery, because it’s the worst submission to the worst master. » Clement of Alexandria
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the philanthropy of the first Church of Jerusalem. With the election of the seven Deacons, the Holy Apostles demonstrated their care for the poor and the sick. Despite the daily persecution, they never lost sight of love for those who were hungry and destitute. As a result of this focus, the Christian faithful were moved to solidarity, and shared their belongings with each other held in common (see Acts 2:44-45). In doing this, those who were hungry or destitute were able to find relief. As the number of Christians increased, the Apostles found that more help was necessary in serving the people, in order to maintain their mission of spreading the Gospel. ...
The purpose of the Christian life is for our intellect to be united with our heart, because then we’re cured. We’re made whole and we can turn to God with our whole being, fulfilling His commandments in a manner well-pleasing to Him. > Elder Zacharias of Essex <
We have to pray for the departed. The poor people are awaiting trial, and if you give them an orange juice, it gets them out of prison. » Venerable Païsios the Athonite
On the morning of 9 May 2019, Archimandrite Elder Aimilianos, former Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras on the Holy Mountain fell asleep in the Lord at the Holy Convent of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Ormylia, Halkidiki. Biographical details by Hieromonk Serapion Simonopetritis (†2019). You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy with your countenance (Ps. 15, 11) Abbot of the Great Meteora and multi-faceted activity in the Metropolis of Trikka At the end of 1961, the Metropolitan of Trikka, who shared Fr. Aimilianos’ desire for the monastic life, called him back from Dousiko and made him Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration at the Great Meteora. Initially he ...
His courtesy, perfect obedience and respect for the monastery and its overseers continued throughout his long life. His great progress in the monastery, the felicitous conclusion of all the tasks assigned to him and, particularly, his modesty, gentleness and virtue in general made him, on the one hand, well-liked and respected, but on the other, as is often the case, also made him the object of jealousy, envy and pettiness. His answer was always silence and forbearance. At the monastery they would see his lamp burning all evening long. The older monks used to say they never saw him lying down. Whatever time you went to see him, you’d find him on his feet or sitting. He slept in his chair. ...
Fr Jonah from Taiwan speaks on the real meaning of the Resurrection of the Christ.
This morning, 9 May 2019, Archimandrite Elder Aimilianos, former Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras on the Holy Mountain fell asleep in the Lord at the Holy Convent of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Ormylia, Halkidiki. Biographical details by Hieromonk Serapion Simonopetritis (†2019). You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy with your countenance (Ps. 15, 11) Elder Archimandrite Aimilianos, born Alexandros Vafeidis, was Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras from 1973 until 2000. He was born in Nikaia, Piraeus, in 1934, to devout parents, though by ancestry he was from Asia Minor. His grandmother on his father’s side, Evdoxia, was Constantinopolitan, while his grandfather was from Silivria in ...
Since the matter of salvation is the most important in our lives, this is precisely why it’s also the most difficult. This is why it requires a struggle. Fight for the Lord and you’ll soon see the fruits. » Saint Theophan the Recluse
You have to get your mind used to swimming in the Law of the Lord, under Whose guidance you’ll regulate your life. » Saint Seraphim of Sarov
John was a son of Zebedee, a fisherman, and Salome, the daughter of Joseph, the Betrothed of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God. When the Lord Jesus called him, John immediately left his father and their nets and, together with his brother, James, followed Him. From then on, he was never far away from his Lord, until the end. He was present, with Peter and James, at the raising of Jaïrus’ daughter, as well as at the Transfiguration. At the Last Supper, John reclined against Jesus’ chest. When all the other apostles had abandoned the crucified Lord, John and the Mother of God remained at the foot of the cross. Later, at the Lord’s behest, he took Our Most ...
When you were praying and you received divine enlightenment, you felt joy and ineffable sweetness. Immediately, a robber – the arrogance – comes and murmurs quietly to you: ‘Ah, now you’re a saint’. >Blessed Joseph the Hesychast
Elder Ieronymos as a monk on the Holy Mountain (1888-1920) Young Ioannis arrived on the Holy Mountain, made the sign of the cross and thanked Our Lady. Here his love for the Mother of God grew, to such an extent that, to his dying day, he would weep at saying or hearing her name. At the time when he arrived, there were more than 10,000 monks on Athos. Praising God, the seventeen-year-old Ioannis entered that holy location and passed through the gates of the Monastery of Simonopetra, in order to imitate the achievements of the saints of God. This was on 3 October 1888 and, on the 28th of the same month, his name was entered in the book of novices. As ...
Don’t express them in words. Let them quieten down within you and they’ll soon disappear. We’re human, and often enough we have wicked, inappropriate or disgusting thoughts. But let’s prevent those thoughts from becoming words. Push them down and they’ll weaken and then disappear. Just as, if you cast wild animals into a pit and cover it up, they suffocate easily, by the same token, if you leave an opening so they can breathe a little, it refreshes them and prevents them disappearing. On the contrary, it makes them even fiercer. This is the way it is with wicked thoughts. When they arise within us, if we block off their way out, we get rid of them quickly. But if we externalize them ...
Uncharitable people are unhappy because their heart has never felt the joy of doing good works and or giving alms. They haven’t understood that real enjoyment lies in loving your neighbor. They haven’t realized that, in giving to others, you pile up eternal riches, cost free and genuine, which are the only thing with which we can buy the Kingdom of Heaven. » Saint Nectarios of Pentapolis
