Acquiring Inner Tranquility- By: Elder Paisius of Mount Athos

Elder Paisius of Mount Athos

Once I was on a bus and the conductor turned the music on really loud. Some religious men pointed out to him that there was a monk on the bus and they repeatedly made signs to him to turn it off. They tried once or twice without result. He turned the music even louder. “Let him be.” I told the young men, “it does not matter. It keeps the drone tone to my chanting.”

Our goal should be to take all that comes our way and make the best out of it for the sake of the spiritual struggle in which we are engaged. We must strive to acquire inner tranquility and to this end even noise can become a good thing if it is met with the right thought. … When in the midst of noise, you manage to reach inner tranquility, you have achieved something of great value. If you cannot find tranquility in the midst of disturbance, you will not be tranquil even in the midst of tranquility. When inner tranquility comes to a man, everything inside him will be tranquil, and he will not be disturbed by anything. But if he requires external tranquility in order to find inner tranquility, then when he does find himself in such a place, he will want a cane to chase away the cicadas by day and the jackal by night, so that they will not bother him!

Source

Elder Arsenius on Reading Spiritual Books

Elder Arsenius the Cave-Dweller

Elder Arsenius considered reading imperative and would say, “Reading is a type of prayer. Every day, we used to read one or two chapters from the Holy Bible and then patristic books. As for St. Isaac the Syrian, we always held his book under our arms. If you don’t have any other book but only Isaac the Syrian, it is enough. It says everything… When we read the lives of saints we gain two things. Firstly, the example of their struggles wakes us from the numbness of negligence and, secondly, when we read the lives of saints with reverence, the saints intercede to Christ for us.

Before beginning to read, we must always pray. When we read the life of a saint it can affect us so deeply that we can’t control the tears. This happens because prayer enlightens the mind. “

-Elder, what should we concentrate on when reading the Holy Bible?
“All of the Holy Bible is God-inspired and we have to read it, but especially the Psalter from the Old Testament, which is very powerful prayer.”

Excerpt taken from the book: Elder Arsenios the Cave-Dweller (1886-1983), By: Monk Joseph Dionysiatis

On God’s Commandments & Love- By: St. John the Theologian

Apostle John the Theologian

God’s commandments ‘are not grievous’ but a light burden. But they are light only where there is love- if love is not present, everything is difficult. Therefore, preserve love, do not lose it, for though it is possible to recover love, this can only be at the cost of much weeping and praying, and without love, life on earth is hard. To continue in malice means death to the soul, from which may the Lord preserve us.

1 John v:3

Matushka Julia Sysoyeva On the Death of her Newly Martyred Husband

New Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoyev of Moscow

This is a letter written by the wife of the newly martyred priest, gunned down by a Muslim in his own church, in Moscow, Russia. Let us contemplate the great sacrifice made by this priest, for the Christ he so loved, and the Muslim people, he so dearly cared about, and whom he wanted to personally know this very Christ.

Holy New Martyr Daniel, pray to God for us.

Love and blessings,
Abbot Tryphon

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your support and prayers. This is the pain which cannot be expressed in words. This is the pain experienced by those who stood at the Cross of the Saviour. This is the joy which cannot be expressed in words, this is the joy experienced by those who came to the empty Tomb.

O death, where is thy sting?

Fr Daniel had already foreseen his death several years before it happened. He had always wanted to be worthy of a martyr’s crown. Those who shot him wanted, as usual, to spit in the face of the Church, as once before they spat in the face of Christ. They have not achieved their goal, because it is impossible to spit in the face of the Church. Fr Daniel went up to his Golgotha in the very church which he had built, the church to which he gave up all his time and all his strength. They killed him like the prophet of old – between the temple and the altar and he was indeed found worthy of a martyr’s calling. He died for Christ, Whom he served with all his strength.

Very often he would say to me that he was frightened of not having enough time, time to do everything. He was in a hurry. Sometimes, as a human-being he exaggerated, he got things wrong, he tripped up and made mistakes, but he made no mistake about the main thing, his life was entirely dedicated to HIM.

On How Great Is God’s Mercy- By: St. Silvanus the Athonite

St. Silvanus the Athonite

No man of himself can know what God’s love is unless he be taught of the Holy Spirit; but God’s love is known in our Church through the Holy Spirit, and so we speak of this love.

The sinful soul which does not know the Lord fears death, thinking that the Lord will not forgive her sins. But this is because the soul does not know the Lord and how greatly He loves us. But if people knew this, then no man would despair, for the Lord not only forgives but rejoices exceedingly at the return of a sinner. Though you be at death’s door, believe firmly that the moment you ask, you will receive forgiveness.

The Lord is not like us. He is passing meek, and merciful, and good; and when the soul knows Him she marvels greatly, and exclaims: ‘O what a Lord is ours!’

The Holy Spirit gave our Church to know how great is God’s mercy.

Excerpt taken from the book: St. Silouan the Athonite, By: Archimandrite Sophrony

A Pure Heart Can See God- By: St. Luke the Surgeon

Saint Luke the Surgeon of Simferopol

Translated from Greek by Christos Karamitsos

Every time before Christ healed someone, He asked that person if he believed. And only if he believed, He performed the miracle.

Every time a miracle occurs, the Holy Spirit acts, and for someone to receive the Holy Spirit an open heart is necessary, and it is made open by faith. Just as the reception of radio waves necessarily requires an antenna, similarly for the reception of divine grace a pure heart full of faith is needed.

Our Lord does not impose His grace on anyone. One asks for faith, hope and love and only then does the Lord give His grace: when by faith one’s heart is opened before Him. This happening is a great mystery, and this mystery happened every time Christ performed miracles.

St. Seraphim of Sarov on Despair

Just as the Lord is solicitous about our salvation, so too the murderers of me, the devil, strives to lead a man into despair.

A lofty and sound soul does not despair over misfortunes, of whatever sort they may be. Our life is as it were a house of temptations and trails; but we will not renounce the Lord for as long as He allows the tempter to remain with us and for as long as we must wait to be revived through patience and secure passionlessness!

Judas the betrayer was fainthearted and unskilled in battle, and so the enemy, seeing his despair, attacked him and forced him to hang himself; but Peter, a firm rock, when he fell into great sin, like one skilled in the battle did not despair nor lose heart, but shed bitter tears from a burning heart, and the enemy, seeing these tears, his eyes scorched as by fire, fled far from him wailing in pain.

And so, brothers, St. Antioch teaches, when despair attacks  us let us not yield to it, but being strengthened and protected by the light of faith, with great courage let us say to the evil spirit: “What are you to us, estranged  from God, a fugitive from heaven and evil servant? You dare do nothing to us. Christ, the Son of God, has authority both over us and over everything. It is against Him that we have sinned, and before Him that we will be justified. And you, destroyer, leaves us. Strengthened by His venerable Cross, we trample under foot your serpent’s head” (St. Antioch, Discourse 27).

Excerpt taken from the book: Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. I: St. Seraphim

A Memorable Visit for St. Silvanus the Athonite & Elder Sophronius

Jesus Christ

I remember one memorable visit. A monk, a hermit, came to see us. He was about seventy years of age. He lived at a deserted spot between the Monastery and the hermitage, in a ravine by a stream in a wood. His face, ravaged, all wrinkles, looked grey and long unwashed; the dark-grey hair of his head and beard looked dirty, his greyish-blue eyes were sunk deep in their sockets. We had a long talk with him, and this is what he told us:

‘It is many years now that my soul suffers when I think of us monks. We have renounced the world, left our parents and our Motherland, given up everything that usually constitues life for people. We have pronounced our vows before God, the holy angels and our brethren to live according to Christ’s law. We have renounced our own will, and in effect lead a martyr’s life, and still we make no progress towards goodness. Will many of us be saved? I shall be the first to perish. I see others, too, who are slaves to their passions. And when I meet people of the world, I see that they live in profound ignorance, listless and unrepentant. And thus, little by little, without even noticing, I was drawn to pray for the world. The thought distressed me that if we, monks who have renounced the world, do not find salvation, what must it be like in the world? My sorrow gradually increased and I started weeping tears of despair. And now, last year when I was in such despair, tired of weeping, lying face down on the floor, the Lord appeared to me and asked, “Why weepest thou?” I was silent. “Dost thou not know that it is I Who will judge the world?” I still kept silent. The Lord says, “I will have mercy on every man who, if only once in his life, has called upon God”…The thought crossed my mind, “So what is the use of us tormenting ourselves day after day?” To which the Lord replied, “Those who suffer because of My commandment will be My friends in the Kingdom of Heaven: the others I will merely have mercy upon.” With this the Lord retired.

Excerpt taken from the book: St. Silouan the Athonite, By: Archimandrie Sophronius (Sakharov)

On Holy Communion & Prayers Before Holy Communion

By: Archimandrite Ephraim of Vatopedi

There are some monks that confess every day. Monks receive the Communion four times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. On other days, there is a strict fast – food is prepared without oil; and on Saturdays food is prepared with oil. In our monastery, sometimes even ten liturgies are served every day and every monk knows when he can receive the Holy Communion. In Greece, the Holy Communion has nothing to do with the Holy Confession. If a man did not commit death sins that can not be absolved, then he can receive the Holy Communion. The Holy Communion comes from love of the heart; it is straining of one’s heart. A prayer before the Holy Communion is a CANON before the Holy Communion. Indeed, canons do exist, but their fulfillment must not be taken as a law. As for the preparation before the Holy Communion, there must be no constraint. The same can be said for the fast. A man is obliged to fast according to the fasting period prescribed by the Church; there is no special fasting rule for the receiving the Holy Communion.

Taken from the blog: Again & Again

Funeral Excerpt from St. John Damascene

St. John of Damascus

I weep and lament when I think of death and see lying in the grave our beauty, created in the image of God, disfigured and bereft of glory.