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

International Workers' Day is a celebration of workers, the working class in general, and their historic struggle to obtain social and economic rights, and is marked every year on May 1. In many other countries, however, International Workers' Day is the perfect opportunity used by unions of several professional categories to make their social or professional demands known. The Advice of Venerable Cleopas The recommendation of Venerable Cleopas of Sihăstria is to take Christ with us to any work, for growth and peace of mind. "Brothers, let us work with love; let us work, but let us have God in mind. No one can stand idle. But in our sweat and toil, in the fields and in the factories, in the offices, in the enterprises and wherever we may be, let us have God in mind. Let us have Christ, and with Him we can do all things. Hear what the Apostle Paul says: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me! And without Him, we can do nothing!". "When you go to pl...

You wrote to me about the wonderful thing that happened to you during the war. Someone was handing out the New Testament to the soldiers on the battlefield. Small, tightly bound books. You took one too. And you remarked ironically: “Here steel and lead are needed, not books; and if steel does not save us, books certainly will not save us!” You made such a remark because until that day, you had not laid any foundation for your faith in God. You looked at it as an old cloak, which the human caravan has been dragging behind it since the beginning of time without any benefit. You nevertheless received the little book and put it in your pocket, on your left. What happened? You say: “ A miracle of God ”, and I agree. That very day, a fierce battle broke out, and the wounded were falling around you. Suddenly, you too fell. A bullet hit you. You grabbed your left side with your hand. You expected blood to flow. When you undressed, you found the bullets in that little book, right in front of yo...

It was Monday, a winter morning. In the church of the Holy Archangels, the Holy Mass had been celebrated. A young lady, holding a little girl by the hand, came forward with great reverence to receive the anaphora. Kissing the priest’s hand, she said to him in secret: ‒ Father, I would like to speak to you for a moment. Is that possible? ‒ Yes. I will be at the office in a moment. Come there. Indeed, in a moment, a lady entered the office with her husband and their child, accompanied by another couple. ‒ Father, I can’t hold it in any longer. I want to speak. I think I did wrong not to speak until now. But I feel a weight inside me, and I want to be relieved. ‒ I am listening to you, my child. Speak. ‒ My name is Milona Eleni. My husband and I are military. On April 8th, my sister came from Germany with her little daughter, who had undergone heart surgery in that country. An undesirable effect of this intervention on the little girl was that she became deaf and mute. The child was then...

– When we sign ourselves with the Holy Cross, are we also making a confession of faith? – Without a doubt. By making the sign of the Holy Cross, we confess faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the One crucified on the Cross, and faith in one God in three hypostases. Indeed, when we make the sign of the Holy Cross, pronouncing the names of the three hypostases: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we confess one God in three divine faces; and the sign of the Cross reminds us that the Son of God, made man, saved us by crucifying Himself on the Cross. Therefore, the sign of the Holy Cross is, in a way, a brief teaching of the Christian faith. The Church honors the Holy Cross with great devotion: three days a year (September 14, the third Sunday of Lent, and August 1) are dedicated to the honoring of the Holy Cross. The Cross, made of wood or metal, beautifully crafted and decorated, is never missing from any holy table, from any church where the Holy Liturgy is served. It is al...

Those who come to the "Pious One", as her friends call her, pray to her for the solution of everyday problems, ask her for comfort for the troubles that have befallen them, health, prosperity in the home, and joy. And the Saint listens to each one and does not delay in coming to the aid of those who put their hope in her power and pray to her with faith. The miracles of the Pious Paraskeva are countless. Many are known from the stories of those who received them, but many have remained the secret of those who experienced them. Saint Parascheva of Iași, Romania, enjoys a special cult in the country, as if different from all the other saints who have relics in Romania. Every day at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași, from morning until late evening, a small continuous pilgrimage is made, with believers of all ages and from all places, who come to pray. Especially, on holidays, during fasts and every Friday (considered the day of the Venerable Parascheva), many believers come an...

On September 30, 1990, Hieromonk Evdochim, the spiritual father of the Vatopedi Hermitage of Saint Demetrius, after venerating the icons with the other monks during the Vespers, sat down in his place in the pew in front of the Pantanassa icon. Suddenly, he clearly saw countless rays of light emanating from the icon. He then asked the hieromonk sitting next to him if he also saw the light and rays emanating from the icon of the Mother of God. The latter replied that he did not, and immediately the radiance of the rays ceased. “Those rays and the light emanating from the icon of the Mother of God Pantanassa made my heart glad, for after 60 years on the Holy Mountain the Mother of God has made me worthy to see such a miracle,” confessed Father Evdochim. Elder Andrula Papahristodulu from Nicosia, Cyprus, tells us the following incident that occurred towards the end of 1990. One night, while she was sleeping, she let out a loud groan, lay down and, with her eyes open, fell into a coma. Fami...

We, the Korobitsin family, testify to a clear miracle: the resurrection of our little girl Xenia from the dead by the venerable Kuksha of Odessa. This happened in 1995, that is, on the night of the second day of the Nativity of Christ [in the old style, that is, on the night of January 7-8]. My little girl, who was then two years old, named Xenia, unexpectedly fell ill. Her temperature suddenly rose to 39 degrees Celsius and continued to rise, despite all my efforts to bring it down. She began to have convulsions. My mother, Xenia's grandmother, who was a doctor by profession, took Xenia by the hand and, seeing her extremely serious condition, asked me to call an ambulance. I called the ambulance. Suddenly, Xenia calmed down in her grandmother's arms. The grandmother began to consult her granddaughter. Her heart stopped beating. Life had left the child. When I returned, my mother said to me, “There is no need for rescue. It is already too late…” Realizing that my little girl ha...

This is how we will know how much the Lord loves us: if He gives us hard trials and we have many troubles in life! The Holy Fathers say: “If you see that you have undisturbed peace, be careful that you are not on the right path!” You are, therefore, somehow giving the enemy free rein; he does not touch you because he has you in his power. If you have a good time and do not have many temptations, it means that he holds you, and you do not even understand that you are in his power. Behold, these spiritualists of ours are in the power of fallen spirits, but they do not understand it. They do not want to come to their senses at all. They never want to listen, to renounce this evil, for they are under the rule of the spirits of cunning. The enemy tempts the pious on the right. He will not strike suddenly from the left, for he knows that he will be rejected, but like this (that is, from the right). And then he stands aside and seeks to see if they will receive what will be shown to them. He ...

O Most Holy Lady, have mercy on all who honor your holy name and show all your almighty protection and support. Keep in goodness those who until their very end live in the right faith and show honest entertainment, make the wicked good, guide those who have gone astray on the right path, help them in every good and pleasing thing to your Son; destroy everything evil and contrary to God, send them from heaven unseen help and wisdom to those who are in perplexity, save them from temptations, deceit and perdition; defend and guard them from all evil people and enemies seen and unseen, travel with those who travel together; be a nourisher to those in need and hunger; to those who have no shelter and shelter, be a shelter and refuge, give clothing to the naked, be a support to those who are unjustly insulted and persecuted; those who endure slander, mockery and blasphemy, correct them in secret, rebuke slanderers and blasphemers before all, to those who are fiercely hostile, grant peace wit...

Once, after struggling with acedia in this way, I stood for five or six hours straight as a candle. But it is clear that this greatly angered Satan. Suddenly, while I was praying, I heard some wailing, which resembled that of a woman who cries when her child dies. When I turned around, what did I see? A black and frightening arap was standing outside my cell. For a moment, I was frightened, but immediately God helped me to recover, and I asked him: “Who are you and what business do you have here at this hour?” And he answered me angrily: “I am the demon of acedia. I'm leaving, monk! I'm leaving! You have burned me! I will not get through with you!” And having said this, he immediately disappeared. My son, I tell you this so that you understand who we are dealing with in monasticism and take the necessary measures. – Elder, I confess that I am amazed by these things I hear. But where do I get such zeal to sit in prayer for five or six hours like a candle? – Well, I did not say t...

The Holy New Martyr Arghira was born in Prussia of Bithynia (today the city of Bursa in Turkey) around 1692. The saint's parents, George and Susanna, raised her in the Orthodox faith, and Saint Arghira thoroughly assimilated, from childhood, the love of God. Arghira married a young Greek man, but after the Holy Marriage, she was subjected to much pressure from a pasha, the eparch of Bursa at that time. He forced her to abandon her husband and faith in order to take her into his harem. On the advice of her parents, Arghira, accompanied by her husband, left her native city for Constantinople, to her relatives and acquaintances of the family. From the testimonies of contemporaries, it is known that the persecutor who was pursuing her did not give up and, using the power and persecution of the relatives of the young Arghira, learned of her departure and sent soldiers to bring her by force to the ranks of his women. At that time, the neighborhoods inhabited by the Orthodox Greeks of Con...

Many have certain expectations from Holy Communion ahead of time, and then, not seeing what they desired, they feel disturbed, and their very faith in the power of the Sacrament is shaken. The weakness is not in the Sacrament, but in the frivolous desire. I promise you nothing. Leave everything to God , asking Him for one mercy – to strengthen you in all kinds of good deeds so that you may be pleasing before Him. Most often, the fruit of communion has a taste of sweet peace in the heart ; sometimes it brings enlightenment of thought and the gift of piety towards the Lord, at other times, almost nothing is seen, but afterwards, in the affairs of man, great strength and determination in his diligence are observed. I will also say that we do not see clear fruits from Holy Communion because we take communion rarely. Make it a rule to receive communion as often as possible, and you will see the comforting fruits of this Sacrament. I pray all the time and will continue to pray that God will ...

Don't worry that things don't always come to you in life the way you want them. It is not possible, nor is it to your advantage, for everything to happen according to your thinking, according to your desire, according to your will. Your thinking is often misguided, your passionate desire, and your will are completely selfish. And the Almighty God naturally knows this, even if you don't realize it. That is why He does not allow all your desires to come true, so that your soul, the greatest treasure you possess, is not harmed. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). Therefore, entrust yourself to God, abandon yourself completely to His will . Did something happen as you wanted? Thank Him . Didn't it happen? Praise Him . You need nothing if it is not given to you by God. Nothing, except one thing: do not alienate yourself from Him and His grace. Therefore, “Cast your care on the Lord, and He will su...

The Holy Apostle James was the son of Zebedee and the brother of the Holy Evangelist John, the Spokesman of God. And he was one of the twelve apostles, who, together with his brother, leaving his ship, his father and his net, went after Jesus at His divine call and followed Him everywhere, paying attention to the teachings that came from His Most Pure mouth and seeing the miracles that were done by Him. The Lord loved these two brother apostles so much that He gave one of them His breast to lean on, and to him He promised His cup, which He drank on the Cross. But they also loved their Lord so much and showed such zeal for Him that they wanted to call down fire from heaven on those who did not believe in Christ, to destroy them. And they would have done this, if the long-suffering Christ had not stopped them. The Lord never left these two brothers, James and John, and the Holy Apostle Peter without saying anything to them; and especially He revealed to them more than to the others His d...

The Church on earth is called a warrior, because here, under its guidance, the members of the community have to fight a threefold battle, which lasts a lifetime: the battle with themselves, with passions against nature, according to the flesh and according to the spirit; a battle with the indifferent and unbelieving "world"; and the battle against the wiles of the wicked one. The priesthood of the Church seeks that none of the Father's sons should be at enmity within themselves, or should break away from the community and the spirit of Christ's love. For He is the One who unites the community together, therefore no one is saved by separating himself from the Church, no matter how much he may believe that the Spirit of Christ dwells in him. Saint Arsenius of Prislop

For man, the greatest punishment is for God to leave him to his own will. In our age, which has rejected Christ, no one understands this seeming slavery. Pure prayer presupposes the absence of worries. It is achieved when, in everything we do, our mind is free to think and live only through the holy name, the grace of the Holy Spirit. I did not come to impose my will on others, but, following the example of Christ, to serve them. Try to live this way, and you will see that the grace of God will be with you. Then adopt this attitude in every moment of your life. If we do not come to understand the meaning of serving others, our lives will be useless. If we want to renew our nature, to make ourselves similar to God, our life must be dominated by the desire to serve others. Service to our neighbor has a saving power, infinitely greater than any theological theory. How can we know God as He is? Christ shows us the way, asking us to live in holiness so as not to harm our neighbor, to value ...

Well, we have briefly examined the situation from the parents' point of view; now, a few words about how the younger generation sees it. They, of course, have their “right”. In the Holy Scripture, it is written: “A man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). People mature, leave their parental home, and start their own family. For them, at the moment, this is the most important thing. Husband and wife are even closer than children and parents – although, of course, no one can abolish respect and love for father and mother. The older generation should remember that now it is more important for children to build harmonious family relationships with their other half, because in relation to them they will still remain loving children. Sometimes it seems to parents that young people will never manage without them, and, guided by blind love, they begin to babysit them and interfere in every way in the life of the yo...

– Father, when I see my misfortune, I pray a lot for others. Is it better to pray for others or just for myself? – With humility? If it is in humility, tell God humbly: "My God, this is how I am; you don't have to listen to me. Maybe it's not fair that others suffer because of me. to suffer because of me? It depends on how you relate to others. You feel that you are not worthy; if it happens, you see them in pain, you grieve, suffer, and pray. When I see a blind man, I feel pain, because if I had a spiritual state, I could heal him. God gave us the opportunity to become saints, to perform miracles, as some have done. We recognize our great or small spiritual illness and humbly ask for physical health for our neighbor, considering ourselves guilty for his illness. Because if we had spiritual health, we could have brought healing in time, and there would be no need for trials. When we sit correctly, considering ourselves guilty for the entire situation of the world, and we s...

This message applies clearly to all countries, as the scourge of gambling is more and more present in many lives, easily destroying them. The Romanian Patriarchate expresses its deep concern regarding the growing scale and impact of the gambling phenomenon in Romanian society, a phenomenon that affects not only personal life but also the balance of families and communities. Gambling practices promote the illusion of quick and effortless winning, cultivating a mentality that can lead to addiction, as well as the loss of inner freedom and moral values. Gambling addiction is not just a behavioral problem, but a complex disorder, characterized by neuroplastic remodeling and dysfunctions of brain systems, similar to those described in substance addictions. The Romanian Patriarchate calls for responsibility on the part of all the factors involved – individuals, families, institutions, and public authorities – in order to limit the expansion of this phenomenon, protect human dignity, and enco...

The widow threw two small coins into the treasury of the Temple, and the Lord said that she put more than all, even though the others were throwing money in mercilessly. So, what did she value her small coins? The state of mind with which she brought her offering. Do you see the difference between a soulless good deed, done because "that is the custom", and a good deed in which a person puts his heart and soul? It is not the way it appears on the outside that gives value to a deed, but the state of mind of the doer. This is how it happens that a wonderful deed in all respects may have no value before God, and another, insignificant in appearance, may find high esteem in Him. What follows from this, anyone can see. However, let no one think that he can abandon the externals, limiting himself only to the internal ones. That widow would not have been praised if she had said to herself: "I would also like to give, but what should I do? I have only two small coins. If I give ...

Again, I bring you, faithful son of the Eastern Church, a word of unfalse and good advice. This word is not mine: it is the word of the Holy Fathers. From them comes all my advice. Guard your mind and heart from false teaching. Do not speak about Christianity with people infected with false teachings; do not read books about Christianity written by false teachers. Truth is found in the company of the Holy Spirit: He is the Spirit of Truth. Lies are accompanied and aided by the spirit of the devil, who is a liar and the father of lies. He who reads the books of false teachers undoubtedly enters into fellowship with the cunning and dark spirit of lies. Do not let this seem strange and unbelievable to you: thus say the luminaries of the Church, the Holy Fathers. If nothing is written in your mind and soul, let the Truth and the Spirit write in them the commandments of God and His spiritual teaching. If you have allowed yourself to completely scribble the tablets of your soul with various ...

In the Lives of the Saints, we find an example of steadfast repentance and its fruit: A brother, often sinning, immediately ran to the Icon of the Savior and, throwing himself face down on the ground, with bitter tears cried out: “Have mercy on me, Lord, and remove this cunning temptation from me!” But not long after, he sinned again and, without losing hope, again ran to the Icon of the Savior and asked for forgiveness and help to correct himself. But one day, when he was in sobs and tears before the Icon, the devil, seeing that he could not completely gain control over him, appeared to him in his face and said to the honest Icon: “You are not just, Lord, that you receive this sinner who every day promises himself before You, although he still sins!” And a voice was heard to him: “O most cunning loser, are you not satisfied with having encompassed the world, but do you also strive to win the one who has come to the unspeakable mercy? When he comes to sin, you do not chase him away, bu...

Many of the things that happen to us happen to us for our guidance, or for the extinguishing of past sins, or for the correction of present inattention, or for the avoidance of future sins. He who therefore thinks that the trial has come to him for one of these does not rebel when he is struck, especially if he is conscious of his sin, nor does he blame the one through whom the trial came to him, for either through that or another, he had to drink the cup of divine judgments. But he looks to God and thanks Him who permitted the trial, and blames himself and receives the rebuke with a good heart, behaving like David with Shimei, or like Job with his wife. The fool, however, asks God to have mercy on him; but when mercy comes, he does not receive it, because it did not come as he wanted, but as the Physician of souls thought it would be useful. And therefore he becomes careless and troubled, and sometimes he fights fiercely with demons, at other times he blasphemes God; thus showing him...

If you want to overcome vainglory, do not love praise, nor honors, nor expensive clothes, nor leading places, nor primacy, but, on the contrary, rejoice when you are insulted and dishonored, and rebuke yourself that you are more sinful than all sinners. If you want to overcome pride, do not say about anything you do that it is done by your labors or your powers, but whether you fast, or spend time in vigil, or sleep on the bare ground, or engage in singing psalms, or make many prostrations to the ground, say: "Only with the help of God and with the protection of God is this done, not by my power and not by my effort"

Regarding the future life, the Lord said that there they do not marry, nor are given in marriage, that is, there will be no place for earthly ties; there will be no place, that is, for the ordinances of earthly life. There will be no sciences, no arts, no governments, and nothing of the like. But what will it be? God will be all in all , and since God is spirit, unites with spirit, and works spiritually, the whole life there will be a continuous series of spiritual movements. From this one thing emerges: since our goal is the future life, and life here is only a preparation for it, to live all our life only for what is suitable only here and has no place in the future life, means going against our purpose and preparing for ourselves a bitter, unspeakably bitter fate for the future. I do not mean that we must now abandon all earthly pursuits, but that, while working as much as is necessary for this life, our chief concern must be preparation for the next, striving, as much as we can, to...

We meet God when He Himself seeks us. The Savior said: “ Knock, and it shall be opened unto you ” (Matthew 7:7). We will sometimes knock for a long time, because Christ knows that we are not yet ready for the encounter, we are not ready to look the Living God face to face; for to meet God always means to come to judgment; it is the same as to meet an unconditional beauty, an unconditional truth, an unconditional justice. And in the face of this beauty, this justice, and this truth – in the face of divine holiness – we stand without an answer. For this reason, God awaits the time of maturity, of maturation, when we ourselves will be able to pronounce our judgment upon ourselves and when we will be able to receive His unconditional, just, impartial judgment, in which we will not see condemnation, but a call from God to a growth towards the dignity of man in its full sense. Metropolitan Anthony of Souroj