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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
make a rule
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Make yourself a rule always to be with the Lord, keeping your mind in your heart, and do not let your thoughts wander; as often as they stray, turn them back again and keep them at home in the closet of your heart, and delight in converse with the Lord.
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
resolve to live by Grace
As we approach maturity, Grace, although it is ready at any time to act within us, does not act.
It waits until freely and willingly incline to it, when we ourselves begin to desire its full action within us and begin to see it.
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
holy outbursts
Grace acts secretly, but often it bursts out in the open, in holy outbursts and deeds… there is fire inside wood but it is hidden. Rub a piece of wood against another piece, and you get smoke :: then fire appears.
There is electricity in amber and sealing wax but it is not visible. Rub a piece and immediately you will notice the attraction of small particles and even some sparking.
The telegraph is also silent, but as soon as the device begins to produce friction, electricity immediately awakens and acts swiftly.
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saint theophan the recluse
ye shall find rest
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light” Matt 11:29-30
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“The spirit as a force which has come from God, knows God, seeks God and in Him alone finds rest”
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saint theophan the recluse
on what is prayer
“to pray is to stand before God
with the mind in the heart and to go on standing
before Him day and night until the end of life”
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Saint Theophan the Recluse
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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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
on that which is needful
“Spiritual needs are above all, and when they are satisfied, even though the others are not satisfied, peace exists : but when the spiritual needs are not satisfied, then even though all other needs are richly satisfied, there is no peace. That is why the satisfaction of them is the one thing needful.”
The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to it
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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