the task of the Church

Leave a comment August 17, 2020 nourishinggrace

The first and greatest task of the Church in our modern culture is just to be the Church.

Really be the Church in the fullness of all that this means.

We do not exist to prop up the claims of the state or the claims of the culture. We don’t exist in order to make the world a better place…

The modern challenge is the ancient challenge and that is to be an ancient Christian in the midst of a modern world : to live in union with God in small little and humble ways, moment by moment : loving : forgiving : lending : sharing and keeping Jesus’ commandments and it’s gonna work out. It’s gonna be fine.

That is what Pascha means. We can live like this because God has raised Jesus from the dead. I freely give you all things.

Christ is Risen.

Father Stephen Freeman excerpt taken from the video below. Watch it. It is worth your time.

Father Stephen Freeman : The Modern Challenge

make it shine

Leave a comment November 14, 2019 nourishinggrace

If we have a blackened pot and we scrub it over and over again until it shines, it gives us a sense of satisfaction. However when the pot is blacked and we leave it unattended, the copper tarnishes. Afterwards, we have to use a special cleaner of some sort to successfully clean it. This is how the souls is when we neglect it and don’t try to make it shine.

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

a garden in Heaven

Leave a comment November 7, 2019 nourishinggrace

Just imagine being all together in a garden in Heaven, hearing the angels and archangels chanting, while carrying the Panagia’s endless veil. Just think what it would be like for you also to carry the veil from behind and hear the angels. We hear a sister chanting and we say how beautiful it is. Just imagine what is going on in Paradise! Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Basile, Saint Katherine, Saint Barbara and all the martyrs, the hierarchs, the monastics… This is how it will be in Heaven, close to Christ. Oh, how magnificent!

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

love God abundantly

2 Comments November 6, 2019 nourishinggrace

Let us make a good beginning so that God may grant us repentance (turning to God), because the person who has repentance does not have pride or egotism. May God grant us awareness of ourselves so that we may have humility. When we humble ourselves, saying, “Forgive me,” and “May it be blessed,” the will of God will be done. The last shall be first and the first shall be last; whoever goes to the back, God will bring to the front. Therefore we should love God abundantly, because we all depend on Him…

Gerontissa Makrina

Words from the Heart

the mystery of Orthodox Christianity

Leave a comment October 26, 2019 nourishinggrace

It is paramount that the utmost care be taken to preserve these precious and beautiful flowers that have budded forth from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and find their fullest manifestation within the cycle of services in the Church. It is imperative to understand that he who cares for the Liturgy and ministers unto the Lord takes care of the Lord Himself. It must be stated and emphasized that Orthodox Christian life is, by definition, a liturgical life. To fail to recognize this is to fail to find the key to the mystery of Orthodox Christianity.

Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer)

Acquiring the Mind of Christ

what we did for Him

Leave a comment October 25, 2019 nourishinggrace

We are all going to leave this world – young and old, rich and poor, the king and the soldier. Regardless of the manner in w which one looks after his house, or his monastery, regardless of how brilliantly he polishes it, he will still depart this life. Our Christ will ask from us what we did for Him and how we labored for Him. These are questions God will ask of us. This is why we need to struggle spiritually.

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

by using the prayer rope

Leave a comment October 22, 2019 nourishinggrace

When we ceaselessly pursue the prayer, God will enrich us. Only the prayer cleanses the heart. Because we are full of passions, we should sympathize with one another and be careful of our tongue.

“The tongue has not bones but it crushes bones.”

If we use it for God, it will be all honey and sweetness. If we say words against each other, it will be all bitterness. The person who is obedient and says the prayer will receive abundant grace and will experience may things…

For this reason let us be careful. Let us help ourselves by using the prayer rope and asking for the Light of God to come and illumine our inner being.

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

imprinted on their souls

Leave a comment October 20, 2019 nourishinggrace

Let us have faith in our Christ, in our Panagia, and in the saints. We should love the Panagia fervently so that she will give us the joy of her Son. May the joy of Christ grow in our souls… my little soul, you gain nothing if you do not “love your God with all your mind, with all your strength and your neighbor as yourself.” We must learn not to judge that ye be not judged. If we keep these two commandments, we will go all together to Christ; we will go to Paradise with great ease. This is what the Fathers guarded so closely; they prayer that this Gospel message would be imprinted on their souls so that they could live it. We live our lives carelessly. The good years pass, the good days pass our good minutes slip by – even those slip between our fingers.

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

“*Trade your time for Eternity* “
said the Most Holy Theotokos to the Apostles prior to the Dormition

one person gives it to another

Leave a comment October 17, 2019 nourishinggrace

Let us be very careful. Be very careful of conversations, anger, harsh words, idle talk and grumbling, because all of these harm our soul. May your nous be Heaven and your heart the Throne of God, and your mouth a Church… let us struggle to have humility in our soul. Humility. Whoever humbles himself and becomes “dust and ashes”, is the one who will receive the majesty of God. He will receive the gifts of the All-Holy Spirit in his soul. Through humilty, our Christ was crucified. Everything was achieved through humility. Our Christ wants fervent love and immense faith. When we love Him, He will also love us. He will have compassion for us, have mercy on us and save us.

… What spiritual unity takes place when one communicates with another! This is how the grace of God is transmitted. One person has grace and he gives it to another. What grandeur! The spiritual person has so much joy at the moment he communicates with another that he can’t hold back; whatever he has, he transmits to the other. Does he have divine flame, heavenly consolation, fire, fragrance? Whatever he has, he will give. These are gifts from God.

Gerontissa Makrina

Words of the Heart

a constant offering

Leave a comment October 16, 2019 nourishinggrace

“We must always know and remember what it means to be Orthodox: our whole life is to become a Liturgy, and Anaphora; a constant offering up of our talents, our time, our hearts and our world to Christ. Our life can become a prayer, when we continually turn our hearts to Christ and His saints for help For what is prayer, if not the turning of the heart to dialogue with God…”