“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
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
Becoming a Missionary without Speaking “My dear man I am envious of you, I envy you. You can become the greatest missionary in the Monastery without speaking at all. You will pray for everyone in silence. You will pray for the whole Church, for the clergy, and for the Monks. Our Church is undergoing a crisis today. “Above all pray for your spiritual family.” “Leave your heart completely open to Christ, filled with love, and
The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived. Like all life, it grows sick and dies when it is uprooted from its proper element, Grace is engrafted on our nature and the whole man is sanctified by the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual life is not, therefore, a life entirely uprooted from man’s human condition
Do not direct your gaze towards the enemy. Never get into a controversy with him whom you cannot possibly resist. With his millennia of experience he knows the very trick that can render you helpless at once. No, stand in the middle of your heart’s field and keep your gaze upward; then the heart is protected from all sides at once: the Lord Himself sends His angels to guard it both from right and left
How Grace Comes “God sends His Grace to the man who submits himself to Him and asks for It. In order for Grace to come we need humility and certain patterns of behavior are necessary from us.” “Which mannerisms? What do you mean?” “I don’t know if I should tell it to you. It’s not proper. Something is written about this in the works of St. Isaac the Syrian.” He retrieved a book from the
All God appears to want from us is honesty and humility (and they are finally the same thing). If God is holding out for human perfection, God is going to have a long wait. There is no other way to read Jesus’ stories of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) or the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). In each story, the one who did wrong ends up being right—simply because he is honest and humble
As the Jews were called by Moses to escape from the country of Egypt, to follow him in the dark night, to cross the Red Sea, so also is each individual brought into the wilderness, where a new period begins. He is free, but not yet enjoying the glory of the Promised Land, because he has taken with him, out of the land of Egypt, the soul of a slave, the habits of a slave,
How the Resurrected Bodies will be Transformed at the Second Coming of Jesus, by Saint Symeon the New Theologian This is the revelation received by Saint Symeon the New Theologian from God while in ecstasy. It reveals to us how our material bodies will be transformed and become incorruptible at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. “One day, while I was praying to God with purity of heart, a breeze came upon me and
In the center of our liturgical life, in the very center of that time which we measure as year, we find the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. What is Resurrection? Resurrection is the appearance in this world, completely dominated by time and therefore by death, of a life that will have no end. The one who rose again from the dead does not die anymore. In this world of ours, not somewhere else, not in a
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