Some Other Things He Told Me about His Life on the Mountain One day, I arrived at his little trailer home about two to two-thirty in the afternoon. “Welcome. How is it that you arrived here at this time of day? Is there another person outside?” “No, I’m the last one. I have come to find out from you how we can acquire the Grace of God.” “I was in obedience to two elders on
Now that you have thus become aware of your own wretchedness, your insufficiency, and your wickedness, you call upon the Lord as did the Publican (Luke 18: 13): God, be merciful to me a sinner. And you add: Behold, I am far worse than the Publican, for I cannot resist eyeing the Pharisee askance, and my heart is proud and says: I thank Thee that I am not like him! But, say the saints, now
Courage and Humility Defeat Death Isidore said: ‘The one who is faithful to God ought not to trust in God’s own faithfulness: nor should the one who sins against God despair of God’s mercy. In the heart of both are hope and fear side by side: hope of forgiveness which inspires courage, and fear of punishment which rouses humility. ‘It is necessary that the penitent never feel secure with regard to their sin, because such
Through the prayers of our Holy Elder Porphyrios May whatever I write be for the glory of The Living God, Who glorifies those who glorify Him. How I Met the Elder for the First Time I always had the desire to meet a holy person, to see how he lives. One afternoon, friends of mine took me to a monastery in Milessi. These people knew the Elder well. They wanted me to meet a man
Lack of authenticity and experience produces Christians who, rather than being saved in the Church, feel that the Church needs to be rescued and saved by them. Rather than consider those around us as Christ’s brethren, we view them as enemies to be destroyed or allies obligated to support our opinions. Rather than entrust our soul to the power of God’s grace, we (with an inexcusable naivete) subject it to the dubious scalpels of psychotherapy,
Fr. Maximos was fond of referring to a story of John Chrysostom, fourth-century patriarch of Constantinople who later was canonized as a major saint of the Church, both of the East and of the West. He was persecuted by the wife of the then emperor for being critical of her abuse of power and exploitation of the poor and weak. When John was warned by friends to stop his sermons against her on the ground
These four [the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk]are thus the negative “objects” of repentance. They are the obstacles to be removed. But God alone can remove them. Hence, the first part of the Lenten prayer— this cry from the bottom of human helplessness. Then the prayer moves to the positive aims of repentance which also are four. Chastity! If one does not reduce this term, as is so often and
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (and with all your strength). Matthew 22:37, Mark, 12:30, Luke 10:27 How do I love Thee my Lord? I love Thee when I turn my back to bitterness, forgiving spite and might To caress and bless the broken-hearted walking dead. I love Thee as I abandon sleep to dawn metallic bangles and belts-tight
Peter exhorts sinners not to despair and challenges their belief that the Creator of all is incapable of saving them. Because God is, as the liturgy says, “the lover of mankind,” because Paul tells us that it is God’s desire “that all shall be saved” (1 Timothy 2:3-4), so we should not lose hope. Even if you are not what you should be, you should not despair. It is bad enough that you have sinned-
The inner attitude with which monks are supposed to sit in their cells is described by another elder in a drastic image: “When you dwell in the desert as a hesychast [a person who practices quietistic meditation], don’t imagine that you are doing something great. Instead, think of yourself as a dog that has been driven away from the crowd and tied up because he bites and bothers people.” The monks do not remain sitting
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