“Just as a child within its mother’s womb kicks and makes its presence known, so too does God move about within me. Sometimes He makes my eyes sparkle with joy, and sometimes he fills them with tears. Sometimes I cry aloud and other times I say to myself “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”
Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra : The Way of the Spirit
Let us have confidence in God, remembrance and love toward Him The Holy Mountain has shown us that the Grace of God is active everywhere Do you know what Saint John Damascene calls Divine Grace : a vault of God
There where you are sitting, where for years you have been expecting God and not found Him… He all of a sudden leaps and enters you, embraces you, kisses you and fills you with the breath of His nostrils, with His love, His being, His Trinity!!
It is as easy for God to leap and come into our lives as it is for anyone to jump.
just as He leaps on the peaks of Athos, as Ge gets into the boats, the caves, the crannies… everywhere comprehending the tears and the pains of Athonites, so He comprehends the least cry of your soul, of the souls of all of us.
Elder Aemilianos
of Simonopetra Monastery
Prayer is the most divine element that exists within man It transports us to God and is the means by which we are bound to Him Through prayer the communion of the Persons of the Trinity is made available to us and becomes the form of our own communication with God
Thus it is not a question of reciting this or that prayer, but rather that everything within us should become a prayer, that we should be praying in everything through all prayer
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elder Aemilianos of simonopetra monastery
the way of the spirit (p 224)
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“True self discover occurs only within the consciousness of the Church. Becoming one with the Body of the Church, and living within its assurance and certitude enables you to be free from changes, anxiety and sadness.
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Troubles simply come come and go, passing by like waves, but they will never be able to drown you. You have become like the shore, unmoved by the pounding of the sea. The waves will come and crash all around but you no longer fear them. Instead they remind you of the endless waves of the Holy Spirit rising and falling within you.”
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the Way of the Spirit
(p. 137-138)
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What food is for the body, the Spirit is for my life. The Spirit is the foundation of my very existence, He gives life to all flesh. “By the Holy Spirit every soul is given life”
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the Way of the Spirit (p. 122)
“Love isn’t something that comes from our hearts,
but rather from the heart of God.
And this love penetrates our hearts and minds,
from where it flows out to others,
ultimately returning to God”
Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra Monastery
the way of the spirit (p.90)
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Thine own of Thine own.
“Turning to God means I stretch forth to Him with perseverance. Why? Because I’m down here on earth and He’s in heaven above. Can I reach Him? No, I can not ascend. He must descend in order to find me.”
Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
Way of the Spirit (p. 74)
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The quote above recalls the image of the icon of the Resurrection. Repentance – turning to God – is a gift God offers us. We, each of us, falls every day. We have not the strength to walk this life of repentance without Him. He knows this, condescends, outstretches His Hand, and lift us up.
Repentance is His goodness emptied into the deep heart of man, which in turn, man then offers back unto Him. It is a never ending cycle of stretching forth and giving. His self emptying and our self emptying. The hope of the faithful : God has set His nebulous self-emptying Heart upon man (Job 7:17).
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In The Way of the Spirit, Elder Aemilianos, speaks of the timeless wisdom of the Orthodox Faith and the Orthodox experience of God. He reminds the reader that God is the initiator, speaking to the deep heart within each of us – and the enduring steadfast love of our loving God – our pursuing God – our jealous, humble and self-emptying God.
Truly, He is mindful of us!
And just as the soul goes beyond its proper limits in order to encounter God, so too does God bend down toward the soul, abandoning its proper limits in order to give Himself to me, to surrender Himself to me.
Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the way of the spirit (p. 35)
And why do I pursue God?
Because God pursues me.
Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the way of the spirit (p. 33)
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To enter the Church means to leave aside all those things that make up our life in the world. That which exists is God (cf. Ex 3.14), but that which is ours, which alone belongs to us is our sin, our self will, and our desire. Apart from God, the self is something non-existent, even though it is and remains, the creation of His Hands, the breath of His first blessing (cf. Gen 2.7)
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
the way of the spirit
p. 56
gladsomelife.com 