When reading the Holy Scriptures…
When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in spiritual work will apply everything to himself and not to someone else.
- St. Mark the Ascetic
In God I have put my trust
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
- Psalm 56
On hearing the Gospel
Take heed how your hear the Gospel. It seems that the Lord wants to say that we hear with our hearts rather than our ears, and that the inner life affects the word of God, either killing it, or making it live and thrive. So whoever wants to hear the word well, understand it, and hold it fast in an honest and good heart should prepare his heart inwardly so that the word may safely take root there, finding in his heart faithfulness to God and truthfulness in word and promise. It is absolutely impossible that anyone should understand what he hears of the word of God, if he is not completely honest before God and has not determined to surrender his life, his responsibilities, his interests, his money, his future, and his own honor and lay them at God’s feet.
- Father Matthew the Poor
If the Gospels were lost…
We should try to live in such a way that if the Gospels were lost, they could be re-written by looking at us.
- Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Reading the word of God
It is very profitable to occupy oneself with reading the word of God in solitude, and to read the whole Bible intelligently. For one such occupation alone, apart from good deeds, the Lord will not leave a person without His mercy, but will fill him with the gift of understanding.
- St. Seraphim of Sarov
I still knock at Your door
Because I have acknowledged You, Lord, do You acknowledge me, have compassion on this sinner who has believed in You, for even if he sins, he still knocks at Your door, even if he is sluggish, he still travels on Your road.
- St. Ephrem the Syrian
Imitate the Publican
Imitate the Publican and you will not be condemned with the Pharisee. Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water.
- Amma Syncletica
Next time that you’ll make fun of my Church…
… Just keep in mind that the Orthodox Church has the original Greek text and keeps it until today free from any additions and alterations. You know, the Orthodox Church is serious when she says whe does not want any alterations in anything (and mostly in doctrines). She’s trying to protect the original faith as a treasure. And she does a great job by keeping it alive for 2012 years.
So, in reality, my Church that you describe as a “Protestant version of Catholicism” (really??? little known fact the word “catholic” is a Greek word as well), I have to inform you that the original language of the Bible was Greek. So, when you say that Orthodox Christians don’t understand the New Testament which it’s actually originally first written in OUR language that we still use in our Church, and you show me as a proof a mistranslated quote of the Bible, what do I have to do? To start laughing, crying or what..?
Also, you make fun of my english. You know, here in Greece we learn so many languages apart from our mothertongue, that we can’t be perfect at every single language we learn, it’s true!!!
Sorry for this, I’m not here to offend others, critize, but I’m just a weak human and everyone has his limits. I stayed quiet for all this time, but I can’t anymore. If my blog annoys you this much, feel free to unfollow.
Please pray for me, the sinner.
PS. I’ll turn off the anonymous button for a while. You know the reasons.
The Bible and Creation
I find more meaning in the wing of a bird and in the branch of a tree than in five hundred icons. God has given us two books: the Bible and Creation.
― Fr. Alexander Men
Prayer for Missionaries
Christ our God, the source of wisdom and Bridegroom of the Church,
You called the Apostles to follow You and to become fishers of men,
giving them authority to cast out unclean spirits and to heal every disease and infirmity.
You commissioned them to make disciples of all nations and to feed your sheep.
On the day of Pentecost, You sent the Holy Spirit to fortify them,
enabling them to fill people?s lives with Your saving love.
Continue to act today, loving Savior, for the good of Your Holy Church.
Send Your Holy Spirit upon dedicated men and women;
inspire them to respond to Your Great Commission and to serve You as missionaries,
for the building up of Your Body, the Church.
Through the prayers of all the holy missionary saints,
strengthen all who are preparing to serve Your Holy Church in humility and love.
For You are a loving and merciful God, and unto You we give glory,
together with Your eternal Father, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,
now and forever and unto ages of ages. AMEN.
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
Today, the Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Titus, the first Bishop of Crete! (New Calendar)
St. Titus was numbered among the Seventy Apostles and was made Bishop of Crete by the Apostle Paul. Around the year 65, not long before his second imprisonment, the Apostle Paul sent a pastoral epistle to his son in the Faith (Tit. 1:4).
… When he saw that people would not listen to him, he prayed to the Lord, so that the Lord Himself would show to the mistaken people the falseness of idols. By the prayer of St Titus, the idol of Diana fell down and shattered before the eyes of all. Another time St Titus prayed that the Lord would not permit the completion of a temple of Zeus, and it collapsed.
By such miracles St. Titus brought many to faith in Christ. After bringing the light of faith to the surrounding regions, St. Titus died peacefully at the age of 97. At the time of his death, his face shone like the sun.
All the Orthodox Christians in the world, but especially the Greek Orthodox inhabitants of Crete honor St. Titus very much, because he was the first Bishop of the island. May he protects all of us!
A message from Anonymous
I've seen several women in my parish wear head coverings during Divine Liturgy. I asked my priest and he said for some that it was a tradition and for others it was a way of humbling themselves before God but since the 1960s or so, it's fallen out of practice in America. Could you give me an explanation as to why some Orthodox women wear head coverings?
Hello dear friend,
I am really sorry for the late reply!
Indeed, some Orthodox Churches and Monasteries require women to cover their heads while in Church, while others do not. In some cases, the choice may be individual, or vary within a country or jurisdiction; for example, the majority of Orthodox Christian women in Greece do not wear a head covering in Church, with the exception of those in the countryside. In Russia and Ukraine, to the best of my knowledge the majority of women (if not all) are wearing a head covering. In the United States, where there is no prevailing custom, the decision to cover is made personally, often in consultation with one’s spiritual father or mother.
We find the basis for covering the head in Sacred Scripture itself, in the New Testament. The Most Holy Virgin Mary covered her head in the holy temple from her young years. According to tradition, her headcovering in the Jerusalem temple was light blue; therefore, on the feast days of the Theotokos our clergy wear light blue vestments. The Most Holy Theotokos wore a kerchief as a sign of her humility and submissiveness to God’s will, which was manifested on the day of the Annunciation.
In wearing a kerchief, the faithful woman recalls the image of her who was vouchsafed to carry the Saviour Himself. If the Most Pure and Most Blessed One herself had a covered head, shall we really consider the imitation of her as an abasement. Every outward action, accompanied by the correct Christian inward disposition, brings benefit to the soul. The Holy Church knows human nature and the effect of symbolism on man perfectly well. The Saviour frequently taught by means of parables and images, so that His teaching would be more understandable and intelligible to the people. And His Church teaches us by means of images and symbolic actions (the sign of the Cross, bows), in order to bring us closer to His Kingdom. [info taken from here]
I hope I helped a little,
God bless you!
A message from Anonymous
I'm doing research for a class assignment. What can you tell me about the angel Jegudiel and could you post up any depictions of him, please?
Hello!
I am so sorry for the late reply but I receive many questions daily and it’s quite difficult to answer quickly!
He’s mentioned in the Book of Enoch. Archangel Jegudiel encourages those who are willing to glorify God. This Archangel is the patron, defender and helper of all those who toil. And we must all be such, for we have been commanded to eat our bread in the sweat of our faces. We toil not only physically, to earn our daily bread, but also spiritually, in order to perfect ourselves.
Jegudiel is depicted holding a golden crown of victory in his right hand. Such crowns will be earned by those of us who endure to the very end, who will worthily bear the light yoke of Christ. In his left hand is a whip made of three thongs. His duty is to guard, advise and defend, together with a host of subordinate angels, in the name of the Holy Trinity and by the power of the Cross, all those who work for the glory of God in various responsible domains of human endeavor, to reward the good laborers and punish the bad. This great celestial denizen should be appealed to with prayer by kings, military and civil leaders, judges, heads of households, etc.
If you need to find any Eastern Orthodox depictions of him, you can see here and here.
I hope I helped a little! Greetings from Greece!
(Information taken from here)
A splinter…
You wish, or rather, have decided, to remove a splinter from someone? Very well, but do not go after it with a stick instead of a lancet for you will only drive it deeper. Rough speech and harsh gestures are the stick, while even-tempered instruction and patient reprimand are the lancet. ‘Reprove, rebuke, exhort,’ says the Apostle (II Tim. 4:2), not ‘batter’.
- From St. John Climacus, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”
