“Just as we regularly eat in order to maintain the body so the soul should constantly be filled with prayer. The one who prays feels divine blessedness and has the help of God. If we had something previous and we lost it we would turn over the whole world to find it. This is how we must pursue the name of God.”
“when a man becomes humble, at once mercy encircles him, and then his heart is aware of Divine help, because if finds a certain power and assurance moving in itself. And when a man perceives {the coming} of Divine help, and that it is this which aids him, then at once his heart is filled with faith, and he understands from this that prayer is the refuge of help, a source of salvation, a treasury of assurance, a haven that rescues from the tempest, a light to those who are in darkness, a staff of the infirm, a shelter in time of temptations, a medicine at the height of sickness, a shield of deliverance in ware, an arrow sharpened against the face of his enemies and to speak simple, the entire multitude of these good things is found to have its entrance through prayer.”
“To become children of God and gods by Grace, let us always pray. All good things are given from above by the Father of Lights. If we wish to be children of God, let us entreat and pray continuously to make us worthy of such a grace.
Let our souls cling to God as the prophet David says, “my soul clings to you and my right hand upholds you” Saint Gregory the Theologian says, “remembrance of God brings us rest.” The God Bearing Maximos the Confessor writes, “The mind unified in prayer and Love of God becomes wise, good, merciful, and long-suffering, reflecting all the Divine energies in itself.”
Let us love God with all our strength and our neighbors as ourselves, that we may be worthy to be children of God and gods by Grace. Amen.”
“Spiritual Advice of the Elder Philotheos Zervakos”
Translated by Archimandrite Polycarpos Rameras
“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
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)
We are not sanctified by ghe place in which we live, but by the way we live.
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Saint Iakovos
Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit
The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece
(page 95)
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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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The heart is the innermost man or spirit.
Here are located self-awareness, the conscience, the idea of God and of one’s dependence on Him…
Stand in the heart with the Faith that God is also there.
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
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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 