Sorrow

There never was and there never will be a place on earthfree from sorrows. The only sorrowless place possible is the heart, when the Lord is present there.

Saint Nicon of Optina,
Living Without Hypocrisy,
Spiritual Counsels of the Holy Elders of Optina,
page 109

Humility

An angel fell from Heaven without any other passion except pride,and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven byhumility alone, without any other of the virtues.


St. John Climacus

"The Ladder of Divine Ascent" (Step 23)

The Chosen Flock

Christians are members of the Church, and the Church is the Body of Christ, with the Head being Christ Himself, and the Enlightener, the Holy Spirit. "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for It, ... that He might present It to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that It should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. v. 2 '-27). You are the holy and chosen flock, you are members of the holy catholic and apostolic Church. What indeed is demanded of you! What holiness, what truth! What attention to yourselves! What spiritual contemplation and activity in secret! What morals, virtues, what faith, what hope, what love! What abstinence, compassion, care for one another, what urging of one another to virtue!




St. John of Kronstadt

Discernment

...And so our life here is a time of ceaseless bodily and spiritual labors, and the future life of recompense according to our works. But we must find out for certain what kind of works will yield a blessed eternity and what kind will yield a bitter one, so as to shun the one and always hold to the other.




Elder Moses of Optina

On Receiving Communion

To receive communion even daily and partake of the sacred Body and Blood of Christ is good and beneficial, for He said clearly: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54). Who would doubt that partaking regularly of life is anything else but living continually?




St. Basil the Great

Saints of Wales

Personal Martyrdom

Enduring unpleasant things cheerfully, you approach a little to the martyrs. But if you complain, you will not only lose your share with the martyrs, but will be responsible for complaining besides. Therefore, be cheerful!




St. Theophan the Recluse

Love for God

The whole of life, in all its manifestations, must be permeated by prayer. But its secret is love for the Lord. As the bride, loving the bridegroom, is not separated from him in remembrance and feeling, so the soul, united with God in love, remains in constancy with Him, directing warm appeals to Him from the heart. 'He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit' (1 Cor. vi. 17).


St. Theophan the Recluse

Knowledge and Action

Strong is the man who has combined knowledge with action, for by the latter he withers lust and tames excitation, and by the former gives wings to his mind and goes forth to live with God.



St. Maximus the Confessor

Acknowledging Love

In the relationship of a pastor with his flock, it is not sufficient for the pastor to express his love for them; he must acknowledge their love for him. There is a kind of pride in the pastor who shows great warmth and generosity to those in his charge, and yet is blind to the warmth and generosity which they show in return. It is as if he is claiming a monopoly of love. But when a pastor expresses gratitude for the love which they have showered upon him, he is affirming their virtue, and thus encouraging them in their Christian journey. The same is true in all personal relationships. The person who just expresses love for his friends but fails to acknowledge their love for him is not a true friend. Loving friendship requires both parties to love each other, and each party to affirm the other's love. Jesus, as both a pastor and a friend, not only poured out love but also made Himself dependent on others. He possessed nothing, so for His very survival He had to rely on the kindness of His friends and disciples. And in His gratitude for all He received, He affirmed them as true friends and true disciples.



St. John Chrysostom
"On Living Simply"

One Thing Needful

St. Basil the Great says: One cannot approach the knowledge of the truth with a disturbed heart. Therefore we must try to avoid everything that disturbs our heart, that causes forgetfulness, excitement or passion, or that awakens unrest. We must free ourselves as much as possible from all fuss and flutter and ado over vain things. Yes, when we serve the Lord we shall not be troubled about many things, but always keep in mind that one thing is needful (Luke 10:41).




Tito Colliander
"Way of the Ascetics"

On the Divine Liturgy

Why are the beatitudes read or sung at the Small Entrance at the beginning of Liturgy? Because the Liturgy is the recollection of the earthly life of Jesus Christ from His swaddling clothes to the grave, from His Resurrection to His Ascension into heaven. The alter signifies the kingdom of heaven, or paradise; the royal doors - the gates of paradise; the opening and closing of these doors during the service - the opening and closing of the kingdom of heaven. The beginning of the liturgy represents the beginning of our Lord's Jesus Christ's redemptive service to humankind, and the Small Entrance with the Gospel represents both His going forth to preach the Gospel and His first sermon on the Mount, in which He beatifies those who fulfill His commandments and promises various rewards in heaven for those who struggle in this world for His sake. When we look at the opened Royal Doors as if they were the gates of the kingdom of heaven, and when we gaze with the eyes of our heart at the Lord, Who comes mystically in the Small Entrance to us, who are earthly wanderers and outcasts from heaven, it becomes natural for us to implore the Lord like the wise thief, Remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.




St. John of Kronstadt
"Ten Homilies on the Beatitudes" (2nd Homily)

All Struggle

...Do not think that even here any of us constantly enjoys consolation. No: here, as everywhere, flesh and mind are at war; here as everywhere, there is falling into pride and purification through humbling: here, as everywhere, we long for consolations but must learn to carry a weighty cross. This cross tests our love. Can we, do we love God even under the weight of the most bitter adversities?



Staretz Macarius of Optina

Overcoming the Passions

The Elder placed great emphasis on the need of becoming aware of your "passions" and proceeding to struggle to overcome them, to free yourself from them to attain passionlessness, which means purity. This high spiritual state can only be attained, he stresses, by persistent struggle and Divine grace.

"Passion" (pathos) in Orthodox Patristic writings, is a term used in two senses: (a) to denote bad thoughts charged with emotion, and (b) vices (kakiai), that is, such thoughts become habits, settled dispositions of the soul, bad traits of character. All the "passions" are viewed by Father Joseph as diseases of the soul in need of therapy. Removing them from the soul is a process he calls - as do the Holy Fathers of the past - purification. This restores the soul to a state of health and peace. "The more you are purified from the passions, the more peace you have, the wiser you are, the more you understand God" (Letter 65).



Dr. Constantine Cavarnos
"Prolegomena" to Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Holy Baptism

Baptism gives us what nothing else on earth can give us: It unites and combines with our natural Divine grace. Thus, a person comes away from the baptismal font like an article from some workshop. As an example, take a bell in which silver has been added to copper. A similar copper bell without silver may outwardly resemble the bell with silver, but their composition is different, their sound is different, and they are regarded differently with respect to quality and value. That is the difference between a person who has been baptized, and one who has not. The difference is that the grace of the Holy Spirit combines with the baptism, since the person receiving baptism is being baptized with water and, along with it, the Holy Spirit. By appearance, he is the same person as the unbaptized person, but in actual fact, in their composition, they are quite different.

Thus, during Holy Baptism, some new element, a supernatural one, is added to our composition, and it will remain inside us hidden and secretly acting. We receive baptism as children, and although we do not know what is happening within us, the grace nonetheless combines with us and then begins to act with us apart from our consciousness, according to the singular goodness of God, and for the sake of the faith of godparents and parents.



St. Theophan the Recluse
"The Spiritual Life"

Love thy Enemy

Show the fullness of your mercy by the good with which you repay those who have done you injustice.



St. Isaac the Syrian
"Ascetical Homilies' (Homily 6)

Orthodox Struggles

When an Orthodox Christian ponders something, he does so prayerfully, with fear and trembling, since he knows that the choir of angels and the entire church participate mystically with him in his struggle. The Orthodox Christian does not belong only to himself, but to all the saints and, through them, to the holy Lord Jesus. When he examines his own spirit, the Orthodox Christian reflects: my spirit is nothing unless it is filled and perfected by the Holy Spirit.



Archimandrite Justin Popovich
"Orthodox Faith and Life in Christ"

St Maximos of Constantinople

If everything that exists was made by God and for God, and God is superior to the things made by Him, he who abandons what is superior and devotes Himself to what is inferior shows that he values things made by God more than God Himself.

St. Maximos the Confessor
The Philokalia Vol. 2; Faber and Faber pg. 53

The Wise Thief

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The Greatest Battle

As warriors are awarded medals and crosses for repeatedly proving their readiness to sacrifice their lives, so we - soldiers of the spirit - can only reap our reward after fighting valiantly and long. The greatest fight of all is the fight against pride, with all its symptoms of anger, vainglory, rage, hatred. When we have overcome this, we receive our best reward: the beautiful peace of the soul.



Staretz Macarius of Optina

Humility

...Christ comes to teach men the humility they had forgotten and the obedience they had transgressed. He gives us a perfect example in His humility and obedience towards His heavenly Father. And His Forerunner teaches us by his example of humility and obedience - in his sinless humility and obedience to Christ.

Men who have no humility or obedience, have no wisdom or love. And he who does not have these does not have God. And he who does not have God does not have himself, but is as if he did not exist, being in darkness and the shadow of death.

If any among us were to say: Christ is too high an example for me; I cannot look to Him - then here is John the Forerunner who is, as an ordinary man, closer to mortal men. Let him look to John's humility and obedience. But, alas, if a man does not want to do good, he will always find an excuse to flee from it.



Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic
"Homilies"

As Flowers of the Field

As for man, his days are as the grass; as a flower of the field, so shall he blossom forth.

For when the wind is passed over it, then it shall be gone, and no longer will it know the place thereof.

But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity, even unto eternity, upon them that fear Him.

And His righteousness is upon sons of sons, upon them that keep His testament and remember His commandments to do them.

The Lord in heaven hath prepared His throne, and His kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless the Lord, all ye His angels, mighty in strength, that perform His word, to hear the voice of His words.

Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts, His ministers that do His will.

Bless the Lord, all ye His works, in every place of His dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

The Purpose of Man

Man's purpose, from the moment he is born, is to find God. However, he cannot find Him unless God finds him first. "In Him we live and move." (Acts 17:28) Unfortunately, the passions have shut the eyes of our soul and we cannot see. But when our very loving God turns an affectionate eye towards us, then we awake as if from sleep and begin to seek salvation.



Elder Joseph the Hesychast
"Monastic Wisdom" (Letters...)

On Baptism

When you come to the sacred initiation, the eyes of the flesh see water; the eyes of faith behold the Spirit. Those eyes see the body being baptized; these see the old man being buried. The eyes of the flesh see the flesh being washed; the eyes of the spirit see the soul being cleansed. The eyes of the body see the body emerging from the water; the eyes of faith see the new man come forth brightly shining from that sacred purification. Our bodily eyes see the priest as, from above, he lays his right hand on the head and touches [him who is being baptized]; our spiritual eyes see the great High Priest as He stretches forth His invisible hand to touch his head. For, at that moment, the one who baptizes is not a man but the only-begotten Son of God...




St. John Chrysostom
"Daily Readings... " (What Happens at Baptism)

St. John the Forerunner

How to Follow Jesus Christ

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:23-26

Scriptural Knowledge

You must make it your endeavor, if you wish to attain to true knowledge of the Scriptures, that first of all you acquire steadfast humility of heart to lead you to that knowledge which does not puff up, but enlightens, being made perfect in love. For it is impossible that an impure mind should acquire the gift of spiritual knowledge... Next, in every way must you strive to drive out every distraction, and all earthly thoughts, and give yourself assiduously or rather constantly to sacred study until constant meditation imbues your mind and, so to say, forms you after its own likeness.



St. John Cassian
"Selected Writings"
(Of the Use of the Scriptures)

Saint Basil

Know Thyself

The first and foremost step is to know thyself. That is, to know who you really are in truth, and not what you imagine you are. With this knowledge you become the wisest man. With this awareness, you reach humility and receive grace from the Lord. However, if you don't obtain self-knowledge, but consider only your toil, know that you will always remain far from the path.




Elder Joseph the Hesychast
"Monastic Wisdom; Letters..."

The Circumcision of Jesus Christ

The Power of Prayer

You may judge how great the power of prayer is even in a sinful person, when it is offered whole-heartedly, by the following example from Holy Tradition. When at the request of a desperate mother who had been deprived by death of her only son, a harlot whom she chanced to meet, still unclean from her last sin, and who was touched by the mother's deep sorrow, cried to the Lord: 'Not for the sake of a wretched sinner like me, but for the sake of the tears of a mother sorrowing for her son and firmly trusting in Thy loving kindness and Thy almighty power, Christ God, raise up her son, O Lord!' And the Lord raised him up.



St. Seraphim of Sarov
"A Conversation with N.A. Motovilov"

Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

"We should not desire the death of a sinner but his repentance. Nothing so grieves the Lord, Who suffered on the Cross for sinners, than when we pray to Him for the death of a sinner, thereby to remove the sinner from our path. It happened that the Apostle Carpus lost his patience and began to pray that God would send down death upon two sinful men: one a pagan and the other an apostate from the Faith. Then the Lord Christ Himself appeared to Carpus and said: 'Strike me; I am prepared to be crucified again for the salvation of mankind.' St. Carpus related this event to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, who wrote it down as a lesson to all in the Church that prayers are needed for sinners to be saved and not for them to be destroyed, for the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9)."

The Prologue of Ohrid, by Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

Flight into Egypt

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Matthew 2:13-15

Moving Mountains

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Matthew, 21:21

Holy Innocents

Troparion for the Holy Innocents (Tone 1)

As acceptable victims and freshly plucked flowers, as divine firstfruits and newborn lambs, you were offered to Christ who was born as a Child, O most pure children. You mocked Herod's wickedness: now we beseech you, unceasingly pray for our souls.

C.S. Lewis

"God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form...The perfect surrender and humiliation was undergone by Christ: perfect because He was God, surrender and humiliation because He was man."

The Case for Christianity

"God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense."

The Problem of Pain

"To play well the scenes in which we are 'on' concerns us much more than to guess about the scenes that follow it."

The World's Last Night

"The dangers of apparent self-sufficiency explain why Our Lord regards the vices of the feckless and dissipated so much more leniently than the vices that lead to worldly success."

The Problem of Pain

“Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in His great campaign of sabotage”

Mere Christianity

The Lamp of the Body

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew, 6:23-23

Orthodox Christmas

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

"And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

Matthew 2:21

The Nativity of Christ

9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Matthew 9-12

The Philippians

The Holy Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Philippians wrote that they shone as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (Phil. 2:15). A lofty spiritual disposition and irreproachably clean, strictly, chaste life; these were the characteristic traits of the Philippian Christians, for which the Apostle Paul praised them. We live in later times; nineteen centuries separate us from those days in which the Apostle Paul wrote his epistles. But now, just as the Christians of the first centuries, we are encircled by an environment full of shamelessness and perversion. May the high and holy example of the ancient Christians teach us to be as steadfast and firm in the observance of the laws of Christian morals, and not accede to the temptations which surround us.



St. Philaret of New York

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

The Rich Young Ruler

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Mark 10:21-22

True Peace

You long for peace of mind, peace of soul, but cannot find it? Of this peace - always a great reward - our Lord Himself says where and how we are to seek it: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matthew 11:29).

None can achieve this except through battling with temptations and through suffering great sorrows. Our Lord, too, fought, suffered, and sorrowed much before the time of His death on the cross. He was reproached, vilified, humiliated, and tempted. And He laboriously built up for us a picture of His own life on earth, which all of us must strive to follow.


Staretz Macarius of Optina

Happy New Year!

The Empty Tomb

The Rich Fool

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and all my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'

But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'

Luke, 12:16-20

Pearl

A sorrowless earthly life is a true sign that the Lord has turned His face from a man, and that he is displeasing to God, even though outwardly he may seem reverent and virtuous.


Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov

Be of Good Cheer

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Gospel of Thomas

Jesus said, "Be passersby."

The Gospel of Thomas

Confessing Christ

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew, 10 32-33

Mother of God

Jerusalem

Foundations of Sand and Rock

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.

And great was its fall.

Matthew 7:24-27