The important thing is for us to be with Christ. For our soul to wake up and love Christ, to become holy. To surrender to burning divine love. Then he’ll love us, too. Then our joy will never be taken from us. This is what Christ wants most: to fill us with joy, because he’s the source of joy. Saint Porfyyrios Kavsokalyvitis
The feast of the Ascension seems not to present any particular interest, but rather a certain sadness in our hearts that the Lord is departing from us. Nevertheless, the following points emerge from the Gospels and from our lives as Christians: 1. Each of us, in the person of Christ as God and human, is in the Holy Trinity and, indeed, in a place of honor- on the right hand of the Father. This is an indication of the esteem and honor which surround each of us. Even if other people denigrate us, reject us or are hostile towards us, we have a God who loves us and accepts us as we are, raising us up to the glory of the ...
People fall into delusion either though inexperience or pride. If it’s out of inexperience, then the Lord quickly heals those who’ve gone astray. But if it’s out of pride, their soul will suffer for a long time, until they learn humility. And then the Lord will cure them. Saint Silouan the Athonite
Hesychasm isn’t only for monastics and those who’ve renounced the world; it’s for every true Christian. Hesychasm is an inner state. It’s ‘dwelling constantly in God and in purity of mind’. Hesychasm is the way in which the space of the heart is revealed, the center of human existence, what we call the person. Elder Efraim Vatopaidinos
Try to look back calmly, make a critique and reassess the whole of your life, in an effort to see it in the way God does. Then carefully root out every wickedness which such an investigation will inevitably reveal. And avoid judging others, even in your innermost thoughts. Sanctimonious thoughts kill our inner peace, without serving any other purpose. Saint Makarij of Optina
When you react to anybody at all, before you judge and answer, put yourself in their place. At that precise moment, see why they’re cursing you, why they’re angry with you, even why they’re saying something nice about you. Put yourself in their place. Never be in a hurry to draw a conclusion. Elder Amvrosios Lazaris
People who submit to God, subject everything to him, because he engenders peace in their heart. If we don’t humble ourselves, God will humble us. Real humility is the product of knowledge of temptations. Saint Isaac the Syrian
Let’s not be flexible as regards our conscience. Let’s pass strict judgment on ourselves and then we’ll see that we ourselves are the cause of our estrangement from God. Let’s repent, weep over our wretched condition and strive now to clothe ourselves in the ‘heavenly image’. Saint Symeon the New Theologian
The main task for us people is prayer. We were made to praise God. That’s the task to which we’re best suited. It’s the only thing that explains our spiritual hypostasis. It’s the only thing that justifies our preeminent role in creation. We were made to worship God and to share in his goodness and blessedness. Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis
Some people who don’t keep the commandments think they believe correctly. Others keep the commandments and expect the Kingdom as a reward owed to them by God. Both of them are far from the truth. Saint Mark the Ascetic
Take care to guard the joy of the Holy Spirit in your heart and not to allow the evil one to pour out his poison. Take care! Be careful, lest the paradise which is within you be transformed into hell. Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis
Sitting at ease in comfortable rooms, talking about ascetic accomplishments and the gifts of the elders, but at the same time insisting on retaining your own will is a waste of time. Wanting to wander off here, there and everywhere probably leads to greater confusion and vacillation. Elder Moisis the Athonite
Those people for whom sin’s an everyday need and who live in wickedness aren’t bothered by the evil spirits, because they belong to them anyway, since they live carelessly and pay no heed to the salvation of their soul. But if they recognize and confess their sin and turn to God, that’s when war breaks out and its merciless and relentless. Saint John Kronstadtskij
There are many times when we don’t receive what we want from God. This is to keep us close to him, for our faith and endurance to be tested, so that we’ll appreciate what we’re given. God doesn’t act as we want him to, but as he wants to. And his guiding principle is always our best interests. Dimitrios Panagopoulos
We have to learn that our relationship with God isn’t one of sinlessness. In other words, it’s not that, from the outset we’re going to be sinless beings and perfect moral personalities, so that, out of this will emerge joy, though this will be based on egotism and pride. Our relationship with God is one of love, a relationship of children with their father. To put it in Patristic terminology, it’s a relationship of repentance. In the Orthodox Church there’s no sinlessness; there’s repentance. Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
Don’t look at the sins of other people, just watch out for your own wickedness. Because you won’t have to answer for other people, only for yourself. There’s no need to pay attention to other people, how they live and what sins they commit. Look to yourself: are you pleasing to God? Is your life like that of the saints? Are you following the same path in your life as they did in theirs? Are your works satisfactory to God? Saint Dimitri of Rostov
When do we celebrate the feast of the Ascension this year? The feast of the Ascension of our Lord, is an important day in the Orthodox Christian calendar, as it marks the completion of Jesus’ mission on Earth. Naturally, icons of the feast are a great blessing for every household. The feast is celebrated on the 40th day after the Resurrection of Christ. This year it falls on 10th June. On this day, we also celebrate the female name Analipsis (Ascension, in Greek). The event of the Ascension of Christ is described by the Evangelists Mark (6, 19), Luke (24, 50-52) and John (6, 62 and 20,17), as well as in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (1, 2-9), in the ...
We shouldn’t despair when we’re not as we should be. Of course it’s bad to sin. But why do you disrespect God and, in your ignorance, think him weak? Is he who made this great world for you unable to save your soul? And if you say, ‘That’s probably a condemnation of me, as is his acceptance’, repent and your repentance will be accepted, as was that of the Prodigal (Luke 15, 20) and the Harlot (Luke 7, 47-48). If you can’t even do this, but continue to sin when you don’t want to, have the humility of the Tax-Collector (Luke 18, 13) and that’s enough for your salvation. Because those who sin without repentance, but also without despair, necessarily place themselves ...
‘In his private thoughts, the man blind from birth said to himself: Was I then born without eyes for the sin of my parents? Was I then born as a sign for the unbelief of the pagans? I am unable to ask whether it is day or night. My legs do not support me against the rocks they strike. I have not seen the sun shining, nor, in image, him who created me. But I entreat you, Christ God, look upon me and have mercy upon me’ (verse at Vespers on the Sunday of the Blind Man). ‘The miracle of the cure of the man blind from birth is the third successive wonder to be associated with water. The first was ...
On another occasion, there was a monk from one of the neighboring ‘Wallachian’ kellia who had taken ill and had found some relief from eating little, slightly bitter cucumbers. Winter came and he began to feel the same pains, from the same illness, so he went down to Saint Paul’s in the hope that he might find even some pickled cucumbers in the monastery to alleviate his pains. Unfortunately, there were none to be had. So, troubled and in pain, he started out on the climb from the skete of Saint Ann to Stavros. Even though it was winter and there weren’t even any pickled cucumbers anywhere, Father Daniil suddenly appeared before him and handed him six or seven fresh little ...
