to stand as you are before Christ {repentance}

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from the altar of our homes to the Church

In this beginning of the Winter Fast :: we are the bread being yeasted :: salted :: fermented :: kneaded : risen :: punched down :: shaped formed fashioned and stamped with Grace : warmed :: Divine Love :: during this Winter Lent :: be leavened with Grace, Hope, Forgiveness, Goodness. :: Love :: this “change of mind and heart” turning to God and relying on Him for all in this life – that is the Gift :: that ís the Blessing :: Repentance :: standing fully silently absolutely as you are before Christ

reflections in Christ :: victoria

“With its kneading begins the preparation
of the Divine Liturgy”
PROSPHORO and ARTOS
Communion and Blessed Bread
“From the Prosphoro will be cut the
Lamb-Body of Christ”
PROSPHORO and ARTOS
Communion and Blessed Bread

the feast of the fast

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the light of Christ illumines

Today is the first day of the Nativity Fast!!! ⠀

More than a time of withdrawing certain foods from our diet – it is a time of Vigil⠀

God doesn’t need our fasting but we do – amidst the hustle bustle advertising of the season – we do –  and this season is such an expectant joyous one but it can get lost and overshadowed – and so Christians keep the hidden quiet Vigil of the world  awaiting the birth of Christ.  A vigil evident outwardly on our plates – but more so than that – it is the inner prayer vigil of millions of souls awaiting the Birth of Christ .⠀

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The hidden candle of the heart – the Paschal flame of Hope and life in Christ. ⠀

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🕯 be blessed and be filled with grace • be givers, humble, grateful and thankful • for that is a feast in the midst of the Fast 🕯

make it shine

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thine own of thine own

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

for the peace from above

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He is our bread – because from the very beginning all our hunger was a hunger for Him and all our bread was but a symbol of Him , a symbol that had to become reality.
Father Akexabder Schmemman :: For the Life of the World

Ὑπὲρ τῆς ἄνωθεν εἰρήνης καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν.

For the peace from above and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.

Great Litany :: Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

For the peace from above… we pray this in every Divine Liturgy… and this peace is not an earthly peace but rather is a peace even in the midst of chaos… Peace leading souls to still waters :: on the path of righteousness for His names sake (Psalm 23) . Soul redeeming restorative peace… a peace which surpasses all understanding :: peace of goodness and mercy unto salvation.

Heavenly peace :: and tranquility of soul.

εἰρήνης :: Peace

This is harmony.

The Litanies of the Liturgy of Life :: these are a compass to Salvation – that we will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives.

Skopelos Greece

by using the prayer rope

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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

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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

a constant offering

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Church in Athens Greece

“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…”   

Archimandrite Sergius : Abbott of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery

Acquiring the Mind of Christ

Church of Saint Nicholas in Skopelos Greece

they love

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“Such are the souls of the saints: they love their enemies more than themselves, and in this age and in the age to come they put their neighbor first in all things, even though because of his ill-will he may be their enemy. They do not seek recompense from those whom they love, but because they have themselves received they rejoice in giving to others all that they have, so that they may conform to their Benefactor and imitate His compassion to the best of their ability; ‘for He is bountiful to the thankless and to sinners’ (cf. Luke 6:35).”

+ St. Peter of Damaskos, “Book I: A Treasury of Divine Knowledge

as you treat the soul

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The relationship between soul and mind is formed over a lifetime by the nature of their interaction while in the body. St. Anthony makes an important and instructive observation. “Just as you treat the soul while it is in the body, so it will treat you on leaving the body.”

Stephen Muse : Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Through the lens of eternity :: this is needfully important

the soul desires these things

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“When we truly love Christ, we will cling to His neck; we will embrace His feet. If there is something troubling our soul, and as human beings we fall we should say, “Help me my Christ; strengthen me; enlighten me; bestow more faith upon me; grant me prudence; grant me obedience.” The soul will seek after these things because it desires salvation.”

Gerontissa Makrina

♥️ Words of the Heart ♥️