February 2012
212 posts
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A beauty beyond words
Christians have a glory and a beauty and a heavenly wealth which is beyond words, and it is won with pains, and sweat, and trials, and many conflicts, and all by the grace of God.
- St. Macarius the Great
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It's sad how easily we forget...
It is so sad when people are reffering to the Orthodox Church as the church that “cannonizes barbarians” and they forget how barbarusly it’s members have been treated during history… How much Orthodoxy has suffered since the beginning. I feel blessed for being a member of Holy Orthodoxy and that I am a sister in Christ with all the people who silently suffered for the...
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Enable us purely to finish Lent...
We were expelled of old, O Lord, from the Garden of Eden, for wrongly eating from the tree. But, O my God and Savior, You once again have restored us through Your Cross and Your Passion. Thereby, O Master, fortify and enable us purely to finish Lent and to worship Your holy resurrection, Pascha our saving Passover, by the prayers of Your Mother.
- Exapostelarion of Sunday of Forgiveness
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How near...!
How near is the Lord unto him who believes!
- St. John of Kronstadt
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Tomorrow is Forgiveness Sunday!
Whoever of you have a chance to visit an Orthodox Church tomorrow, please do it! This Sunday is known as Forgiveness Sunday and it is the last Sunday of pre-preparation for the Great Lent. It focuses on believers asking each other for forgiveness.
Everybody in the Church asks forgiveness from everyone. All people are hugging and asking for forgiveness. You hug people that you may not know, but...
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Please read this: Misunderstandings about Rasputin
Clearly, there are many misunderstandings about Rasputin.
Rasputin is NOT a Saint in Orthodoxy. The Orthodox Church never canonized him, as many of you support.
Patriarch of Moscow Alexey said about the rumors/requests of his canonizations: “This is madness! What believer would want to stay in a Church that equally venerates murderers and martyrs, lechers and saints?”
So, please,...
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For those who laugh at Holy Royal Martyrs and...
Read the following:
A Miracle Through The Prayers Of Tsar Nicholas II & Tsarevich Alexis
Miracle Of The Child Martyr Grand Duchess Maria
I personally know people who have faced their miracles. Also, even people from other denominations ask for their intersessions. Glory to God! So please don’t judge before you try to ask for their help. Don’t hurry to judge them.
May they...
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Our heart is a church
There is no need to weep much over the destruction of a church; after all, each of us, according to God’s mercy, has or should have his own church - the heart. Go in there and pray, as much as you have strength and time. If this church is not well made and is abandoned (without inward prayer), then the visible church will be of little benefit.
- Holy New Hieromartyr Barlaam
Photo by...
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Wise words from Abba Benjamin
As he was dying, Abba Benjamin said to his sons, “If you observe the following, you can be saved: ‘Be joyful at all times, pray without ceasing, and gives thanks for all things.’”
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Even though there is only one baptism..
Even though there is only one baptism for the whitening of stains, yet there are two eyes which, when filled with tears, provide a baptismal font for the limbs. For the Creator knew well beforehand that sins multiply in us at all times, and though there is only a single baptism, he fixed in the single body two fonts that give absolution.
- St. Ephraim the Syrian: Hymns on the Ascetic Abraham
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Advice for the first week of Great Lent
In general, it is necessary for the layperson, considering his life circumstances, to go to the services as he sees fit. Everyone has his measure of exercising restraint, and therefore age, health, and workload should all be taken into consideration. It is good during Great Lent to have, at least during the first week, a small, separate rule during midday; for example thirty Jesus prayers and...
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Τhe Gospel is like the sun
Our heart is like the darkened earth; the Gospel is like the sun, enlightening and giving life to our hearts. May the true sun of Thy righteousness shine in our hearts, O Lord!
-St. John of Kronstadt
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Think good thoughts
Think good thoughts about what is good by nature, and think well of every man.
- St. Thalassius
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They aid to perfection
Fastings, vigils, meditation on the Scriptures, self-denial, and the abnegation of all possessions are not perfection, but aids to perfection; because the end of that science does not lie in these, but by means of these we arrive at the end.
- St. John Cassian
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I have often repented...
I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having been silent.
- Saint Arsenius the Great
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Mary's role in Providence
kernalan said: Where does Christ, or any of His apostles, state that Mary has a role in Providence? I’m just curious as to how St. Ambrose got that idea.
First of all, sorry of my late reply. I am asnwering based to the help of my dear friend Andrei:
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the sola Scriptura principle has no value; which means that not only what Christ or the Apostles say are...
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Give, and it shall be given unto you
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
- Metropolitan Jonah of the OCA
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O sweetest and dearest Lord Jesus Christ...
Let us enter into the words of St. Paul: “I had rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue” (I Cor. 14:15,19). I am unable to express how fortunate we are that we have become worthy to utter these five words. What joy! “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Just think! O Lord! Whose Name am I pronouncing? That of the...
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He still loves you
No matter how little you love God, He still loves you.
- Elder Makary of Optina
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Christ is the Saviour of the whole world
Christ is the Saviour of the whole world, and has conferred on men the gift of repentance so that they may be saved.
- St. Thalassius
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When at prayer in Church...
When at prayer in Church it is profitable to stand with closed eyes in internal mindfulness, and to open your eyes only when you become downcast, or when sleep should weigh you down and incline you to doze; then you should fix your eyes upon an icon and the candle burning before it.
- St. Seraphim of Sarov
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Holy Icons of Virgin Mary
Please, in this post, submit your favourite Virgin Mary’s icons. This one I posted is one of my favourites, Virgin Mary the Eternal Bloom. Add your most favourite, the iconthat in your opinion is the most beautiful of all. I have enabled photo reply :) You can also submit here
May Virgin Mary pray for all of us!
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If you do not feel like praying
If you do not feel like praying, you have to force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced. You do not want to, but force yourself. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Matt. 11:12).
- St. Ambrose of Optina
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These three things
These three things God requires of all the baptized: right faith in the heart, truth on the tongue, temperance in the body.
- Saint Gregory the Theologian
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Let us be convinced...
Let us be convinced that nothing can happen to us apart from the providence of God.
- St. Dorotheos of Gaza (Discourses and Sayings; Cistercian Publications pg. 143)
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The wealth of our salvation in Christ
The wealth of our salvation in Christ is so rich that it cannot be expressed in any one single formula, nor even in all of them taken together. It is a mystery which can never be completely understood or defined.
- Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae
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Turn the dial to humility
If you want to grab God’s attention so He’ll hear you during prayer, turn the dial to humility, for God always works in this frequency; then humbly ask for His mercy.
-Elder Paisios of Mount Athos
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The field of combat
There is a continual battle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between freedom and captivity of ideas, between purity and corruption. All these battles take place on the one single field of combat - the heart of man.
-Fr. Gheorghe Calciu
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Blessed is the man...
Blessed is the man who is wide awake and praying.
-Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi
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Beware of complaining
Especially beware of complaining, no matter who it is against. Complaining is worse and more harmful than anything else. It is more beneficial and peaceful to blame yourself at all times for everything, and not others. You must especially be aware of complaining against Divine Providence which arranges everything good and beneficial for our souls through the Mother of God. But due to our...
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He who does not trust God in temporal things...
A mole burrowing in the earth is blind and cannot see the stars; and he who does not trust God in temporal things will not trust Him in eternal things.
- Saint Kosmas Aitolos
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Prayer is...
Prayer is forgetting earthly things, an ascent to Heaven. Through prayer we flee to God.
-Saint Nektarios the Wonderworker
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The first step toward freedom from anger
The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing.
- St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent: Step 8
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Lent, a great gift of God for the salvation of our...
Great Lent is a great gift of God for the salvation of our souls. The first week is the sowing of the virtues, and the entire fast is the patient and careful cultivating of them. The last week is the harvest, and the feast of the Pascha of Christ is the time of tasting the fruits of our bodily and spiritual labors performed during the fast.
We cannot become perfect after a single Lent, but we...
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It is life itself...
It tells us that ceaseless prayer in pursuit of God and communion with Him is not simply life’s meaning or goal, the one thing worth living for, but it is life itself.
- Olga Savin, The Way of a Pilgrim: And the Pilgrim Continues His Way
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God gives back double
In my wallet I carry Christ’s icon. He takes care of every human need. I always have the wallet open, and it’s always full. Whatever one may give, God gives back double. On one hand man gives away, and on the other hand God brings in.
- Papa Dimitri Gagastathis
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Ecology and repentance
Ecology cannot inspire respect for nature if it does not express a different worldview from the one that prevails in our culture today, from the one that led us to this ecological impasse in the first place. What is required is an act of repentance, a change in our established ways, a renewed image of ourselves, one another and the world around us within the perspective of the divine design for...
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Thank you for keeping Greece in your prayers
Thank you all that you are praying for the Greek Orthodox people… I love you all very much! May God bless you and the Most Holy Theotokos with all the Saints intercede for you and your families! May God remember us all in His Kingdom.
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Everything is filled with God’s grace
This grass is an icon; this stone is an icon; and I can kiss it, venerate it, because it is filled with God’s grace. The world is not for us to take things from, but a place where we cast off our passions and desires.
– Father Paissios of Mount Athos
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Check it with the Gospel
Has some good thought come to you? Have you felt some good impulse or inclination in your heart? Stop! Check it with the Gospel.
– Blessed Vladyka Ignatij (Brianchaninov)
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Seek God...
Seek God, and not where God lives.
-Abba Sissoes
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forgivemeasinner replied to your post: Hey sister! Could you please reblog a post of yours with the miraclulous appearence of Saint Seraphim of Sarov and Saint Francis? Oh, and is Saint Francis an Orthodox Saint? God bless you!
If I may… While there are Saints that are not recognized (canonized) in The Orthodox Church, we should not cease to recognize those throughout history who have loved...