everything is simple
“Everything is simple. Begin gradually and you will be able to do everything. Even if you are not able to do everything as you would like. Do what you are able to do. The Lord is not strict about minor details. He values diligence and purpose.”
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
heart of humus
“The sowing, germination and development of the Christian life differs in essence from the sowing, germination and development of the natural life. The difference is the result of the special character of the natural life and its relationship to our human nature. A man is not born a Christian, but becomes such after birth.
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The seed of Christ falls on a heart that is already beating.
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Since the natural man is fallen, he is opposed to the demands of Christianity. In a plant, however, the beginning of life is the stirring sprout in the seed, an awakening of dormant powers.
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The beginning of a true Christian life in man is a kind of re-creation and rebirth, an endowment of new powers and of new life.”
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
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eternal joy
God is the one who gives us joy, and we should ascribe all our joy to Him. But what about those times when my life is not joyful? In a word, I am miserable. We should pity the man who does not feel this joy and this celebration. He loves only the earth. He is in love with only rubbish and dung. He gives God his debris, and when our heart produces only rubbish, it receives very much the same in return from God.
The soul that thirsts for God, on the other hand, is continually bathed in Divine Light. The face of such a person becomes divinely luminous. You see him and you ask yourself, could this man be Christ?
Thus the Christian becomes a strange spectacle, a Christ-bearer, a God-bearer, and a Spirit bearer. He or she reveals the unsurpassable beauty of Christ. And when Christ suddenly appears, resplendent in all His beauty, He fills one with joy, gladness and sweetness… Something strange takes place within us, something which cannot be grasped by human thought And how could it be otherwise? For our “desire for God transcends our desire for the world, and thus it cannot be satisfied by anything in the world”.
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra Monastery
gladness of heart
Joy is the refrain for the true Christian.
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Elder Aemilianos of Simonopetra
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just how is one to be
on guarding the heart
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“Just how is one to be?…to shun everyone is, of course impossible, but refuse whenever possible to enter into this circle of worldly life. When it does pull you against your will, act as if you were not there.
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look but do not see, listen but do not hear
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Let what you see pass by your eyes and what you hear pass by your ears. Outwardly behave like everyone else, be straightforward and sincere, but guard your heart from sympathies and attractions.
The main thing is to guard the heart, then you will be there in body but not in soul, faithfully carrying out the commandment of the Apostle ‘be as they that use this world, as not abusing it ‘(1 Cor 7:31)”
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
the force of love
“the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12)
“No one on this earth can avoid affliction and although the afflictions that the Lord sends are not great – men imagine them beyond their strength and are crushed by them. This is because they will not humble their souls and commit themselves to the Will of God. But the Lord Himself guides with Grace those who are given over to God’s will and they bear all things with fortitude for the sake of God whom they so loved. And through Him they are glorified forever. It is impossible to escape tribulation in this world but the man who is given over to the Will of God bears tribulation easily by putting his trust in the Lord – so his tribulations pass. Embracing suffering with Faith and Trust – that is the key to beating them without getting crushed by them.
+Elder Sophrony
blessing from all eternity
The truth is that God loved us before we were born and will love us still after we have died. God molded us in the depths of the earth. God knitted us together in our mothers’ wombs. God has inscribed us on the palm of his hand. Every hair on our heads is numbered and counted by God. We are held by God in an everlasting embrace. We belong to God from eternity to eternity. Indeed, we are God’s daughters and sons. As beloved children, our core identity is secure in the memory of God. Whether we do anything worthwhile, prove anything important, or give anything of value, God still loves us unconditionally. It is a strong, vital, and active fatherly and motherly kind of love that holds us safe and affirms our worth, wherever we go and whatever we do.
Henri Nouwen
awareness of God
You can lift up your mind and heart to God while walking, working, in a crowd, and in solitude.
His door is always open.
Saint Tikhon
our thoughts determine our lives
“We should follow the example of the birds. They are always joyful, whereas we are always bothered by something.”
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