Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior

The monk who strives to give the Lord a strong love, as He has shown us, and who tries to invent ever new ways of finding a closer connection with Christ, so that his heart can confess this deep love for Him, will certainly grow spiritually. Monasticism is indeed about love. I once told Father Sophrony that without the love of Christ, it is better for a man not to live even a day on earth. He took this thought further and increased my spiritual tension, answering me: “Without the love of Christ, it is better for him not to have been born on earth.” In the hymns of the Church, it is said: “You have shown us Your great love unshakable, O Lord, for You gave Your Only-Begotten Son to death for us. For this, with thanksgiving we cry out to You: Glory to Your power, O Lord!” In other words, Christ has begun a bond of love with us, a love that He has already manifested, but which He also expects from us. He who enters into this bond of love and does everything to keep this love strong will gr...

One thing is inferiority complex and another is humility; one is repentance and another is melancholy.

The Christian must guard against sick conceit, that is, both the feeling of superiority for his virtues and the feeling of inferiority for his sinfulness. The inferiority complex is one thing, and humility is quite another; repentance is one thing, and melancholy is quite another. A psychiatrist once came to me and began to condemn Christianity because, he said, it creates complexes of guilt and melancholy. I replied: “I agree that some Christians, because of their own mistakes or those of others, are trapped in the guilt complex, but you must also agree that those in the world often fall into an even more serious disease – pride. The religious consciousness of guilt, along with Christ, disappears, finally, through repentance and confession, while the pride of those who live far from Christ does not disappear at all.” Through these explanations, many of my doubts regarding the psychological problems of Christian life were dispelled. I understood that the Elder wanted us to guard agains...

It is good to be a lover of services, but not to go to church just out of habit

As for the holy services of our Church, they are not despised by those who replace them with mental prayer. The holy services are written with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In them, you can find wisdom, the dogmas of our faith. Through them God is glorified. It is a garden of spiritual delight. But, unfortunately, this garden, for most people, is locked. It is good to be lovers of services, but not to go to church only out of habit. That is, not to like only to read, sing, and spend a few hours pleasantly, but to seek to understand and delight in the divine words. Otherwise, we too will hear: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). God sent Philip to the Ethiopian to interpret the scriptures, but to us He sends the Holy Spirit Himself, when the mind is cleansed by unceasing prayer. Once, a very pious monk came to Burazeri and said to me: – Elder, I am not against prayer, but I do not agree with Your Holiness, because you give more importance to mental prayer and ne...

Let us choose the Life He gives us, as He gives it to us

Let us be as the Creator intended and desires us. And we can be like that only if we receive Him and let Him work in all of our things: in fatigue, in anger, in disappointments, in fears, in desires, in joys and achievements… Let us choose the Life that He gives us, as He gives it to us, and the rest comes by itself and is completely and utterly different because it springs from Life. And all that was, or was leading us to death, becomes places of encounter with Him, God, with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with everything around us. And life ceases to be a series of events and experiences, becoming living water, flowing and consciously sensitive to His Presence in everyone and everything. And what is most wonderful is that neither fatigue, nor illness (which also have their purpose in this world), nor troubles disappear, but they become encounters of love. Everyone knows how terrible the fatigue is when we hate, and how wonderful it is when we love! And everyone can taste the good...

I will fly to him and tell him about the life of the world

An eagle was flying high, enjoying the beauty of the world and thinking to himself: "I fly over vast distances: valleys and mountains, seas and rivers, fields and forests; I see a multitude of animals and birds; I see cities and villages and how people live. But the country rooster knows nothing outside the yard in which he lives and sees only a few people and a few animals. I will fly to him and tell him about the life of the world." And the eagle came to sit on the roof of the farm and saw how cheerfully and cheerfully the rooster walked among the hens and thought: "It means that he is satisfied with his fate; but, nevertheless, I will tell him what I know." And the eagle began to talk to the rooster about the beauty and wealth of the world. At first, the rooster listened attentively, but did not understand anything. Seeing that he did not understand anything, the eagle became sad and found it difficult to talk to the rooster. In turn, the rooster, not understandi...

Every man is a mystery

Man today has expanded his knowledge frighteningly. However, although he knows what is happening in the four corners of the earth and in the infinite universe, he remains completely ignorant regarding his own self. We have information from the galaxies, from the five continents, and we have difficulty communicating with our neighbor. However, undeniably, what we know is certainly much less than what we do not know. Technology is developing excessively and unimaginably much, yet it is impossible for us to prevent evil from occurring. Today, we know only 1/10 of the functions of our brain. Man is as small as he is, so great, as wise as he is, as foolish as he is, as rich as he is, as poor as he is, as good as he is, as bad. We know a lot, but we ignore even more. Every man is an untold and bottomless mystery. Why does he choose this and why does he like one and not the other, why does he hate something so mortally, why does he cry, how does he suffer, why does he express himself in this ...

Great souls owe their greatness to the heavy blows of suffering

The path of our life is full of suffering and tears, of thorns and thistles. Everywhere are crosses, agony, and pain. Every step is a Gethsemane garden, every climb, a Golgotha, and every moment, a spear. If we could absorb the earth like a sponge, blood and tears would flow from it afterwards – man is like grass, his days like a flower of the field, so he will flourish, says the Psalmist (Psalm 102:15). Beautiful things are gathered with pain, but pain afterwards brings joy. The rose brings forth thorns, and these, in the end, the flowers. Usually, the rainbow rises after the rain, and the starry sky is preceded by storms. The discernment of faith and Christian philosophy, helped by inspiration, has the ability to penetrate beyond phenomena. Through suffering, he sees joy and hope, as well as the victory of Christ, which sprang from the pain of passion and the cross. The most wonderful statues receive the most blows, and great souls owe their greatness to the heavy blows of suffering....

He who does not believe in the Son of God is condemned already

"He who does not believe in the Son of God is condemned already." Why? Because when there is light around, he remains in darkness, out of love for it. The love of darkness, the hatred of light, makes him entirely guilty, even if he does not know what the truth is, because the one who has an unfeigned love for the truth, the truth takes him out of the darkness of error and brings him to the light of truth. An example is the Holy Apostle Paul. He was a true lover of the truth, fighting with all his soul for what he considered to be the truth, without any kind of interest. Therefore, as soon as Jesus showed him that the truth is different from what he considered to be the truth, at the same moment, he rejected the old opinion, shown not to be the truth, and he attached himself wholeheartedly to the new discovery, proven in a felt way to be true. The same thing happens to anyone who loves the truth without hypocrisy. The truth about Christ is as clear as daylight: seek, and you w...

If I make peace within myself, I can understand the heart of the other

If you ask what culture is, I could say in one word: harmony! If someone were to ask me what Scripture is, I would answer, “Harmony, sir!” That is, to always be in a position to maintain peace, because the ratio between justice and peace is two to eight. So, you do justice, and you gain two, but you lose eight. You make peace, you gain eight, but you lose two. So, peace is four times greater than justice. Only then can you make harmony. So, you must be a hero of harmony, a hero of peace, in any form. In this way, you can develop the discernment to be able to understand someone’s heart. Any person who has peace of mind has an incredible value in his soul and harmony in the unity in which he lives. – How do we reach this much-desired peace in our days, in urban agglomerations? – Yes, these things are very important. Well, peace means giving up your opinions, giving up your tastes, your sinful callings, or giving up making a gratuitous war, as someone says: “He told me, I told him, and I ...

The devil will throw a person into two extremes

"The devil will throw a person into two extremes: either he will put his conscience to sleep - so that nothing interests him. And if he is a sensitive person, he will exaggerate his conscience, which will torment him every moment with the question "why?". "Why should I tell him this? Why should I do this? Why should I think like that? Why did I do that?" And the person does not calm down. You tell him: "Okay, my child, calm down! You said those things, can you take back your words? Say "forgive me" and stop!" But you do not: "why"?, "why"? You do not calm down, you do not eat, you do not sleep, you have no peace, and then you need calming pills! You cannot calm down. This state leads a person there. I think that the problem of our times is not so much a lack of conscience, as a scrupulous conscience. I remember that Saint Paisios often said to many young people: "My children, don't be too sensitive ! Be a little ...

He had stolen his own wheat

Two peasants had a common threshing floor where they threshed their grain. One of them was dishonest, the other, honesty itself. Both had threshed their crops on the same day, and each had left his grain in the threshing floor until the next day. The dishonest one wanted to steal his neighbor's grain the next night and, to recognize it, spread a blanket over him the night before. By chance, the other peasant also came to the threshing floor that evening, and seeing the covered grain, he said to himself: "What a good man my neighbor is! He covered my grain so that it wouldn't rain and spoil it. But I don't want to be less honest either. My grain should spoil than that of this man, who is so kind...". Then he took the blanket and covered the other's pile. At night, the thief went there, felt the blanket, and filled his bag from the covered pile. The next day, coming to the field, he found with shame that the neighbor's pile was intact and that, in fact, he h...

My dear soul, do not postpone holy repentance

Remember, my soul, the terrible and terrifying miracle of your Creator, Who for you became man and suffered for your salvation; His angels tremble, the Cherubim are terrified, the Seraphim are terrified, and all the heavenly powers glorify Him unceasingly, and you, unhappy soul, are lazy, at least from now on do not postpone, my dear soul, holy repentance, sorrow of heart and atonement for your sins. But postponing year after year, month after month, and day after day, you will no longer want to repent with all your heart, and you will not find anyone to pity you; oh, with how many torments you will begin to repent, but to no avail. Having the opportunity to do a good deed today, do not postpone, my beloved soul, do not postpone holy repentance, because you cannot know what today may bring, any misfortune may befall you tonight, because you do not know what day or night will bring you: a long life or a hard and sudden death awaits you. Today, my dear soul, is the time of holy repentanc...

How do souls travel to Heaven?

Once, while he was praying and his gaze was fixed on heaven, divine light shone upon him. Then an angel appeared to him, dressed in white, in the vestments of a deacon. He held a golden censer with which he incensed first to heaven and then to Niphon. Suddenly, the gates of heaven opened, and the angels of God ascended and descended like bees, carrying the souls of dying people. The cunning spirits in the air strove to catch them and throw them down, but the angels resisted strongly, striking them and saving the souls. When that holy soul reached heaven, a multitude of angels gathered around him, who embraced and kissed him with love, saying with joy: “ Glory to God, Who has delivered this soul also from the fearful and unclean devils !” Father Petroniu Tanase

There is no fear in love

There is no fear in love, because true love comes from God and carries within it eternal peace and security . This is what the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John, the beloved disciple of the Savior, who knew more than anyone the mystery of divine love, teaches us. He does not speak from hearsay, but from experience: he stood next to Christ, bowed his head on His chest at the Last Supper and felt the love that heals all fear. This love is not human and fleeting, but is the work of God in the heart. It leaves no room for fear, because where God is, there is light, and darkness cannot remain . Fear comes from insecurity, from distance from God, from lack of faith. But when man draws near to Christ and tastes of His love, the soul begins to calm down, to gain courage and hope. Saint John shows us that perfect love not only drives away fear, but heals it from the root. The man who truly loves no longer lives for himself, is no longer possessed by anxieties, but entrusts himself entirely to G...

Very often we are inattentive in prayer

The words of prayer are like an arrow. But having an arrow is not enough. If you want to hit a target, then you need a bow with a strong string, and you also need a strong arm to draw it. If you have a good bow, but you cannot draw it, your arrow will fly only a few meters and will not reach the target. We need the bow, the string, and the strong arm. Now, assuming that the arrow represents the words of prayer, we will aim at the deepest point where God could be found within us; we must point the bow within ourselves to strike ourselves at that place of maximum depth. Then we must provide all the conditions for the arrow to fly with power. Very often we are inattentive in prayer, our heart is not present in prayer and thus it is not supported by our life. Here is found, if you will, the analogy with the bow, the string and the power. Metropolitan Anthony of Suroj

Love is the key that opens all human doors

“God is Love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him,” says the apostle of love, Saint John the Evangelist (1 John 4:17) with force. Love is the most beautiful flower in the crown of virtues. Love is the strongest color in the rainbow of the evangelical sky, it is the most precious pearl in the crown of faith. Love is the key that opens all the gates of human conduct. It is the medicine that heals all the diseases of the soul and body, it is the evangelical sign of Heaven. Love must be strong towards the brothers, sincere, devoid of guile. It is shown only by the fact that we are patient with them, that we help our brothers, that we show them mercy. If we have love for God, we have fulfilled the whole law. The Lord said: whatever you give to the least of men, you give to Me… Indeed, it is a great thing to give alms to a man, for you will be rewarded in Heaven. And how great it is to have mercy on a soul that is eternal and incorruptible! Abba Ephrem the Philothe...

The coming and going of grace also has a redeeming character.

" The coming and going of grace also has a redeeming character. It comes for a while, cleanses man of one passion, then leaves. It comes again to cleanse him of another passion, and so on, until man succeeds in purifying his will with the help of divine and life-giving grace. After much struggle and many sacrifices, a time comes when grace becomes established, more or less, within the heart, and then peace reigns undisturbed. Only silence and sweetness! Then the soul becomes a Thavor, Heaven descends to earth! The Kingdom of God descends into the heart! The Holy Trinity makes its home! Thus man becomes in the image and likeness of God! I thought: how great is the love of God! I recently read something that fits perfectly with what the Elder said: "If you are not tested in works, snares, and the attacks of the devil, you will not understand and will not be able to appreciate the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives you . If you do not recognize the spirit that kills, you will not...

Christ is our peace