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

The devil quickly finds work for lazy hands, and the Angel of the Lord quickly finds the right occupation for the hands of the diligent. In this world in constant movement and constant change and transformation, man must always be busy, whether he wants to or not, either with good things or with bad things. For the lazy man never sits idle. He is a diligent worker in the service of the devil. A lazy body and soul are the most suitable field for the sowing and harvesting of the devils. Saint Anthony the Great says: “ The body needs to be subjected to work, without idleness. ” Saint Ephrem the Syrian says: “ Let us learn by work, so that we do not need to learn by begging. ” All the other Holy Fathers, without exception, always teach us about the necessity of work for the salvation of the human soul. The Holy Apostles together with all the Saints are for us living examples of continuous and concentrated work, both physical and spiritual. That the idle man on earth, by his idleness, not o...

As it was in the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man be; and as it was in the days before the flood: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be (Mt. 24:37-39).  Will everything be just as it was in the days of Noah? No, not everything - but the Lord said this wanting to show us that His Second Coming will be just as sudden, just as unexpected as the flood: like lightning, like lightning The Son of Man will appear in His glory with all His angels to execute His Judgment. Saint Luke of Crimea , At the Gates of Lent

We have become very accustomed to a lot, we have become accustomed to everything, we have become very comfortable, we have become accustomed to not fasting, we have become accustomed to not working hard, and then we no longer have joy for the little things. Just like before, a man who fasted until Christmas and worked hard, when the Christmas meal came, well, it was an incomparable joy, it was the Christmas meal! And the days after Christmas were a great joy, because until then he had not rejoiced, had not partied, had not been to I don't know how many discos, but had waited with hope and order for the day. And after keeping a month and a half of fasting and order, the joys had a different substance and the unity between people and the connections between them and the visits from one to another were different. Today, people have become very accustomed, constantly, to having everything, to eating everything, to being without any lack – and then they begin to no longer be satisfied w...

- Elder, how is patience acquired? - Patience is based on love . Love endures all things, says the Apostle. To endure the other, you must love him, to hurt for him. If you don't hurt for him, you feel him as a burden. - Elder, when the mother I work with is agitated, I sympathize with her and am patient with her. Does this behavior have love in it? - And how do you know that you are not the reason why she is agitated and that she is not patient with you? If you believe that you are in a better spiritual state and that you endure her, then you must pity yourself. When there is true love and patience, then you justify the other and accuse only yourself. “My God, I am guilty! Do not consider me! Cast me aside and help the other!” This is the correct attitude, the one full of humility, and as a result of which a person receives the Grace of God in abundance. I will pray that you will become spiritually like a lion cub, like bronze lions, who support the candlesticks of the church with ...