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

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

Christ is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished the enmity in his flesh (Ephesians 2:14-15). It seemed fitting to us to begin with this apostolic word the letter that we send to your piety, because our soul, like the contents of this letter, yearns for the attainment of peace. Certainly that peace which is not of this world, as the Lord said (John 14:27), of the peace which is not judged by the things that fall under our senses; of that peace which He Himself brought from Heaven, which, at parting, He gave to His disciples, which, finally, He wants us to keep with the Almighty Father, as He Himself said in His prayer to the Father: “I pray not for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). He makes Himself an example to His believers,...

Hell is full of souls who hoped to go to Heaven

Let us not deceive ourselves that if we have done some alms, we can cover up fornication, theft, slander or laziness! The Lord Christ, in a Gospel, says: “These things it is lawful for you to do and those you should not do”. Hell is full of souls who hoped to reach Heaven . This hope without works of repentance is false, and this is from the enemy. God does not listen to someone who only says: “Lord, I have sinned, forgive me”, because repentance means restraint and humility . Therefore, God knows our heart, and if it is defeated and humbled He has mercy on it. Blessed Augustine said of David that he sinned once and wept all the days, and you sin all the days and never weep. If you have lost your soul, you have lost everything. If you win it, you win everything. Just cut the connection of your sins with the great sword of sincere repentance. Archim. Arsenie Papacioc

Fulfilling the commandments brings people the highest happiness

Life is happiness . These words may seem strange. How can you call this life happiness, if at every step we encounter failures, disappointments, bitterness? How much pain do people suffer. Life, some say, is work, and often thankless work - where can there be happiness? And yet, I repeat, life is happiness... Life becomes happiness for us when we learn to fulfill the commandments of Christ and love Christ. Then it will be a joy to live, it will be a joy to endure troubles, and before us will shine the unspeakable light of the Sun of Righteousness - the Lord. All the Gospel commandments begin with these words: “ Blessed, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers …”. From this follows the truth that the fulfillment of the commandments brings people the highest happiness. Elder Barsanuphius of Optina

I thank these hands, because through them I go to the Kingdom of Heaven!

The Fathers said about a brother who lived near a great elder, that, entering the elder's cell, he stole. And the elder saw and did not rebuke him, but worked harder, saying that perhaps the brother was in need. And the elder had much hardship, hardly earning his bread. When the elder was about to die, the brothers surrounded him and, seeing the one who stole from him, he said to him: - Come near to me. And he kissed his hands, saying: - I thank these hands, for through them I go to the Kingdom of Heaven! And that one, humbling himself and repenting, also became a skilled monk, from the deeds he saw in that great elder. Extract from the Egyptian Patericon .

One thing let us ask: The incorruptible Kingdom of God

Elder, is it bad to strive to rise to certain high social positions? The love of glory is a great plague for man – this mania for acquiring dignities, positions, makes man resort to means condemned by his conscience and by the law of God. He may end up in a situation where he slanders his rival, in order to hinder his ascent and to raise himself. In addition to this reprehensible attitude, the person in question ends up unhappy himself. The anxiety of waiting appears: “When will I arrive, when, when?! The term has passed, and another has become a professor, and I have not; when will I arrive, what will I do now?!”. And if it happens that the dream becomes a reality as a result of his efforts and perseverance, he will be so attached to his new position that he will be ready to sacrifice any principle or belief, everything, lest someone take the place that he has achieved with so much effort. But if he fails to reach the coveted place, then he is unhappy, he considers himself a loser, an...

Freedom is in Jesus Christ, and not in the rulers of this world

Search the Holy Scriptures, where everything is salvific. Read more of the New Testament than the Old Testament, because through them Christ speaks to us, who replaced the old Law with a new one, the Law of grace . But do not give up either the prophets or the psalms, which are of extraordinary beauty. What sounds more beautiful than: “ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the work of his hands proclaims its power ” or “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy and according to the multitude of your compassions, blot out my transgressions. Thoroughly wash me from my transgressions and cleanse me from my sins. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me”? Have you ever heard anything more beautiful than this psalm of repentance? The entire psychology of humanity is here, in Psalm 50. It encompasses the depths of our hearts. This psalm takes us to the depths of our hearts, where we see that we were born in sins and in iniquities; our mother conceived us...

Prayer is the mirror of life