Concerning the Parable of the Sower- By: St. Theophylact of Ohrid

“But other seed fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit, one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, and another thirtyfold.” Matthew 13:8

Three quarters of the seed perished and only a quarter was saved. For few are they who are saved. At the end He speaks of the good ground thus they who are saved. At the end He speaks of the good ground, thus giving us hope of repentance. For although a man be rocky ground, or by the way side, or among the thorns, yet it is possible for him to become good ground. Nor do all who accept the word bear fruit equally: but “one a hundredfold”, perhaps he who has attained perfect non-possessiveness and extreme asceticism, “another sixtyfold”, perhaps the monk dwelling in a monastic community, and he, too, yields fruitfully; “and another thirtyfold”, he who has chosen honorable marriage and diligently practices the virtues as much as he is able. See the goodness of God, how He accepts everyone: those who achieve great things, those who achieve moderate things, and those who achieve small things.

From the book- The Explanation by Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.

Salvation In the World- By: Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev

A Christian living in the world is called, not to be saved from the world, but to learn, while living in the world, to use what the world offers for spiritual benefit.

“The Epistle to Diognetus,” an ancient Christian text dated to about the 2nd century, has this to say:

“The Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.
They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.
They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life.”

Such are the words of the author of the “Epistle to Diognetus.” And so, what the soul is in the body, the Christian is in the world. Each of us Christians has been placed by God in a certain historical and geographical context. We live in a specific city, in a specific epoch, are surrounded by specific people, and our lives are influenced by specific circumstances, but the words of Christ – “You are the salt of the world; you are the light of the world,” – apply to our life. We are not called to renounce the world, oppose the world, and abhor the world. While living in the midst of the world, we are called to be the salt of the world and the light of the world, that is, like the soul in the body, we are called to give life to the world, to transfigure the world. However, in order to be able to have a good influence on the world, we need to learn to use all that this world offers us correctly; we need to learn to approach the world creatively.

From Talks & Homilies of the Elder Zosima

Elder Zosima is a character from the book “The Brothers Karamazov” By: Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Young man, do not forget to pray. Each time you pray, if you do so sincerely, there will be the flash of a new feeling in it, and a new thought as well, one you did not know before, which will give you fresh courage; and you will understand that prayer is education. Remember also: every day and whenever you can, repeat within yourself: “Lord, have mercy upon all who come before you today.” For every hour and every moment thousands of people leave their life on this earth, and their souls come before the Lord- and so many of them part with the earth in isolation, unknown to anyone, in sadness and sorrow that no one will mourn for them, or even know whether they had lived or not. And so, perhaps from the other end of the earth, your prayer for his repose will rise up to the Lord, though you did not know him at all, nor he you. How moving it is for his soul, coming in fear before the Lord, to feel at that moment that someone is praying for him, too, that there is still a human being on earth who loves him. And God, too, will look upon you both with more mercy, for if even you so pitied him, how much more will he who is infinitely more merciful and loving than you are. And he will forgive him for your sake.

The Martyrdom of St. Peter the Aleut

St. Peter the Aleut (Icon written by Paul Drozdowski)

Saint Peter the Aleut is mentioned in the Life of St Herman of Alaska (December 13). Simeon Yanovsky (who ended his life as the schemamonk Sergius in the St. Tikhon of Kaluga Monastery), has left the following account:

“On another occasion I was relating to him how the Spanish in California had imprisoned fourteen Aleuts, and how the Jesuits (actually Franciscans) were forcing all of them to accept the Catholic Faith. But the Aleuts would not agree under any circumstances, saying, ‘We are Christians.’ The Jesuits argued, ‘That’s not true, you are heretics and schismatics. If you do not agree to accept our faith then we will torture all of you to death.’ Then the Aleuts were placed in prisons two to a cell. That evening, the Jesuits came to the prison with lanterns and lighted candles. Again they tried to persuade two Aleuts in the cell to accept the Catholic Faith. ‘We are Christians,’ the Aleuts replied, ‘and we will not change our Faith.’ Then the Jesuits began to torture them, at first the one while his companion was a witness. They cut off one of the joints of his feet, and then the other joint. Then they cut the first joint on the fingers of his hands, and then the other joint. Then they cut off his feet, and his hands. The blood flowed, but the martyr endured all and firmly repeated one thing: “I am a Christian.’ He died in such suffering, due to a loss of blood. The Jesuit also promised to torture his comrade to death the next day.

But that night an order was received from Monterey stating that the imprisoned Aleuts were to be released immediately, and sent there under escort. Therefore, in the morning all were sent to Monterey with the exception of the dead Aleut. This was related to me by a witness, the same Aleut who had escaped torture, and who was the friend of the martyred Aleut. I reported this incident to the authorities in St. Petersburg. When I finished my story, Father Herman asked, ‘What was the name of the martyred Aleut?’ I answered, ‘Peter. I do not remember his family name.’ The Elder stood reverently before an icon, made the Sign of the Cross and said, “Holy New Martyr Peter, pray to God for us.”

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.