The Son of Disobedience is the Product of Oppression
“A mother complained that her son no longer her, he doesn’t go to Church and the like. I told her, “You oppressed him for so many years. You ordered him around constantly. Now he wants freedom. Don’t order him around. Only pray with spiritual love for him. If you saw a Turk controlling your son and dictating to him to ‘Say this or that thing to your mother: would you blame your son? Would you blame your child? Of course not!”
Facing Discord with Prayer
“My friend, Christ said that we should love our enemies. Do you understand this? It is a great thing for us to love everyone and to pray for them. The devil bothered one of you. He made him uneasy and agitated. If the others are not ready to counter him with prayer, the disturbance is transmitted to everyone.
On the contrary, if one prays for others, the disturbance is limited. The Grace of God radiates and through this Grace it spreads throughout the whole environment and sanctifies it.”
O Elder, I Get Angry
One day I told the Elder, “Elder I get angry. Lately I get angry easily:’ “Anger is a good thing.” I thought he was joking and I interrupted him.
“A good thing?”
“Certainly. God put anger inside us. It is the nerve center of the soul. It is strength. He gives anger to us so that we can fend off our passions, the devil. This is the correct use of anger. We take this strength from the devil and give it to Christ. You give yourself to Christ with strength, with nervous energy.”
About Vigils
“You should love vigils. Vigils are very important. Do you understand this?
They are a very important thing. Heaven opens up. We speak with God.
“During our vigils up there, up until about midnight I would get a little drowsy. My eyes would get very heavy. Afterwards my mind would open up and I lived in prayer until the morning. When it finished, I was so motivated that if there was a way for it to begin again from the beginning, I would have welcomed it. In the skete we read the canon (6) clearly and with meaning. When the vigils took place in the Kyriakon, [trans-note: Main Church] we chanted it.”
~Adapted from Monk Agapios, The Divine Flame Elder Porphyrios Lit in My Heart
6 Canon in this case means individual prayer by a monk in his cell determined by his superior.
