We don’t come to God by doing it right. Please believe me on this. We come to God by doing it wrong. Any guide of souls knows this to be true. If we come to God by being perfect, no one is going to come to God. This absolutely levels the playing field. Our failures open our hearts of stone and move the rigid mind space toward understanding and patience. It is in doing it
But the less you possess, the simpler is your mode of life. All excess has been thrown away, and the heart gathers itself together at its core. Little by little it tries to get into the kernel, where the stairs to heaven are to be found. Then prayer, too, becomes simpler. Prayers gather around the centre and enter it. There in the depths is seen the only prayer that is needful: the prayer for mercy.
Saint Ephraim the Syrian, a teacher of repentance, was born at the beginning of the fourth century in the city of Nisibis (Mesopotamia) into the family of impoverished toilers of the soil. His parents raised their son in piety, but from his childhood he was known for his quick temper and impetuous character. He often had fights, acted thoughtlessly, and even doubted God’s Providence. He finally recovered his senses by the grace of God, and
Like Zacchaeus you have now climbed up into a tree to see the Lord (Luke 19). You have done so not only by your power of thought or in a mystical, mental way. You are a human being and you have a body: therefore like Zacchaeus you have made use of your strength of limb and of earthly things to climb up from the ground. And if you have done so with understanding and quiet
Awareness is not like a solid tabletop or flat-screen TV. Saint Diadochos says awareness is more like the sea, which, when calm, we can see right into: “When the sea is calm, fishermen can scan its depths and therefore hardly any creature moving in the water escapes their notice. But when the sea is disturbed by the winds it hides beneath its turbid and agitated waves what it was happy to reveal when it was
“It is important to keep in mind,” Fr. Maximos continued, “that the perfect way of approaching the other person in such situations is with prayer. It may require many years of systematic prayer for God to inform the other person’s heart that we truly love him and have nothing against him. We must take upon ourselves this responsibility and say, ‘I am to be blamed for this situation also.’ The very fact that I exist
The sin of judgmentalism, even if we believe that it is committed in order to correct our brother, has grievous consequences for our spiritual life. l. St. Isaak considers malicious gossip to be the admittance of the passions into the soul. He says: “He who guards his mouth from speech guards his heart from the passions. The man who cleanses his heart from the passions beholds the Lord at every moment”. “If you love purity,
Saint Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy and theology. When St Maximus entered into government service, he became first secretary (asekretis) and chief counselor to the emperor Heraclius (611-641), who was impressed by his knowledge and virtuous life. St Maximus soon realized
Along with continence of the tongue and belly, along with silence and fasting, humility is also described in many other sayings of the fathers as the royal road to God. For the monks humility is considered “the greatest virtue, for it lets a person rise up from the abyss, even when the sinner is like a demon.” The third practice consists in the interesting advice not to be sorry for something that is past. In
Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt was born around 331 in the village of Ptinapor in Egypt. At the wish of his parents he entered into marriage, but was soon widowed. After he buried his wife, Macarius told himself, “Take heed, Macarius, and have care for your soul. It is fitting that you forsake worldly life.” The Lord rewarded the saint with a long life, but from that time the memory of death was constantly
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