No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.
-Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Today the Holy Orthodox Church honors Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equals of the Apostles, and Enlighteners of the Slavs!
Saints Cyril and Methodius, a long time ago, driven by your love of Christ, you converted our ancestors to the Christian faith and provided them with their own Bishop and priests. Now, as you stand before the high throne of the Almighty God, fervently intercede for us, the humble heirs of your glorious Slavic heritage, that the Almighty bless us with pious, dedicated priests and religious, who would be ready to continue your apostolic work among our people for the salvation of their immortal souls. We humbly ask, intercede for us and protect us. Amen.
Often during the day I have been a great sinner, and at night, after prayer, I have gone to rest, justified and whiter than snow by the grace of the Holy Spirit, with the deepest peace and joy in my heart! How easy it will be for the Lord to save us too in the evening of our life, at the decline of our days! O save, save, save me, most gracious Lord; receive me in Thy heavenly Kingdom! Everything is possible to Thee!
- St John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ, Part 1
O my illustrious King and my God, to You alone I bow down and pray.
Flood into me, as a raging stream into thirsty sand.
Just flood me with Yourself, life-giving Water;
then grass will easily grow in the sand
and white lambs will graze in the grass.
Just flood into my parched soul,
my Life and my Salvation.
- St. Nikolas Velimirovich, “Prayers by the Lake”
Saint Mary of Egypt (commemorated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on April 1)
She began her life as a young woman who followed the passions of the body, running away from her parents at age twelve for Alexandria. There she lived as a harlot for seventeen years, refusing money from the men that she copulated with, instead living by begging and spinning flax.
One day, however, she met a group of young men heading toward the sea to sail to Jerusalem for the veneration of the Holy Cross. Mary went along for the ride, seducing the men as they traveled for the fun of it. But when the group reached Jerusalem and actually went towards the church, Mary was prohibited from entering by an unseen force. After three such attempts, she remained outside on the church patio, where she looked up and saw an icon of the Theotokos. She began to weep and prayed with all her might that the Theotokos might allow her to see the True Cross; afterwards, she promised, she would renounce her worldly desires and go wherever the Theotokos may lead her.
After this heart-felt conversion at the doors of the church, she fled into the desert to live as an ascetic. She survived for years on only three loaves of bread and thereafter on scarce herbs of the land. For another seventeen years, Mary was tormented by “wild beasts—mad desires and passions.” After these years of temptation, however, she overcame the passions and was led by the Theotokos in all things.
Following 47 years in solitude, she met the priest St. Zosima in the desert, who pleaded with her to tell him of her life. She recounted her story with great humility while also demonstrating her gift of clairvoyance; she knew who Zosima was and his life story despite never having met him before. Finally, she asked Zosima to meet her again the following year at sunset on Holy Thursday by the banks of the Jordan.
Zosima did exactly this, though he began to doubt his experience as the sun began to go that night. Then Mary appeared on the opposite side of the Jordan; crossing herself, she miraculously walked across the water and met Zosima. When he attempted to bow, she rebuked him, saying that as a priest he was far superior, and furthermore, he was holding the Holy Mysteries. Mary then received communion and walked back across the Jordan after giving Zosima instructions about his monastery and that he should return to where they first met exactly a year later. When he did so, he found Mary’s body with a message written on the sand asking him for burial and revealing that she had died immediately after receiving the Holy Mysteries the year before (and thus had been miraculously transported to the spot where she now lay). So Zosima, amazed, began to dig, but soon tired; then a lion approached and began to help him, that is, after Zosima had recovered from his fear of the creature. Thus St. Mary of Egypt was buried. Zosima returned to the monastery, told all he had seen, and improved the faults of the monks and abbot there. He died at almost a hundred years old in the same monastery.
Later, the story of Mary’s life was written down by St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The Life of St. Mary of Egypt is read during Great Lent along with the Great Canon of St. Andrew.
There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air. When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within. He who dwells in peace collects spiritual gifts as it were with a scoop, and he sheds the light of knowledge on others. All our thoughts, all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!” When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..
- St. Seraphim of Sarov
My beloved Saint Justin Popovic please pray for me <3
This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God, and to expect temptation to his last breath.
– St. Anthony the Great
Bringing doxology to the One born of the Virgin in church hymns and spiritual songs, we must, outside the church as well, unceasingly praise Him and give Him thanks for His ineffable lovingkindness to us sinners, who are atoned by His honourable blood and who have received through this promise life eternal, blessed, and unceasing.
- St. Ambrose of Optina
One who forces himself in obedience for Christ alone and submits themselves to his precepts will find relief from his passions. The one who forces himself for the things of the world hoping to obtain prestige and riches along with physical pleasures is unaware of his burden. This is why the fathers rightly say that there is obedience for God’s sake and obedience for the devil’s sake…. As for us, let us force ourselves to demonstrate the power of obedience for the sake of God.
- Saint Basil the Great
Wealth should be seen less for its own qualities than for the human misery it stands for. The large rooms of which you are so proud are in fact your shame. They are big enough to hold parties, and also big enough to shut out the voice of the poor. The poor man cries before your house, and you pay no attention. There is your brother, naked, crying, and you stand there in a dilemma over a choice of carpets.
- St. Ambrose of Milan
Let them take courage who are humbled by their passions. For even if they fall into every pit and are caught in every snare, when they attain health they will become healers, luminaries, beacons and guides to all, teaching about the forms of every sickness and through their own experience saving those who are about to fall.
- St. John Climacus
We are commanded to worship, not on special days, but continuously - all our life through and in all possible ways.
- St. Clement of Alexandria
As a man whose head is under water cannot inhale pure air, so a man whose thoughts are plunged into the cares of this world cannot absorb the sensations of that new world.
- Saint Isaac the Syrian
On February 6th and February 7th, the Orthodox Church commemorates two great Saints: Saint Photius the Great, the “Pillar of Orthodoxy” and Saint Parthenius the Wonderworker.
St Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, lived during the ninth century, and came from a family of zealous Christians. His father Sergius died as a martyr in defense of holy icons. The Orthodox Church venerates St Photius as a “pillar and foundation of the Church”, and a wise theologian. He left behind several works, refuting soul-destroying heresies, explicating Holy Scripture, and exploring many aspects of the Faith. Humble, serene and long-suffering in tribulations, this true Confessor of the Faith, unjustly called a fanatic by his enemies, remains one of the great luminaries of Orthodoxy and a wholly trustworthy witness to the spirit of the Gospel.
Saint Parthenius of Lampsacus was the son of a deacon from the city of Melitopolis. By God’s providence, he was chosen as bishop of Lampsacus. He cleansed the city of paganism, closed the temples dedicated to idol-worship, built many churches and strengthened the faithful. He healed all manner of sickness through prayer, and was especially powerful over spirits. At one time when he was about to drive the evil spirit out of a madman, the evil spirit begged him not to. `I will give you another man, into whom you can enter and in whom you can dwell’, Parthenius told him. `And who is that man?’ `I am he’, replied the saint, `come and make your abode in me’. Hearing this, the evil spirit fled as though burned by fire, crying out: `How can I enter into the house of God?’ St Parthenius lived long and showed in his deeds the greatness of his love for God and man. He entered into the eternal peace of Christ in the 4th century. (From the Prologue of Ochrid, by St. Nikolai Velimirovich)
