"You were shown in truth to be the most honourable of the prophets, for you were deemed worthy to baptize in the streams of the Jordan Him whom they foretold"

Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John (Jan 7/ Jan 20)

"We run eagerly to dances and amusements. We listen with pleasure to the foolishness of singers. We enjoy the foul words of actors for hours without getting bored. And yet when God speaks we yawn, we scratch ourselves and feel dizzy." + St John Chrysostom

"The flower of a rose does not make a sound, but its fragrance goes far in silence; so must all Christians live." + St Theophan the Recluse

God has not abandoned us! The Holy Fire was received at the Holy Sepulchre, Pascha 2020! #HolyLight

Great-martyr & Wonderworker George (Apr 23/ May 6), a fearless soldier of Christ denounced Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. For this, St George underwent extreme tortures. His unwavering faith led to many conversions-- even some of his tormentors were converted.

When you are offended, be silent without fail, and you will acquire humility. However, one needs to be silent not only with one’s mouth, but also with one’s heart. Against pride, just as against judging, one needs to fight with silence.
-Archbishop Seraphim Sobolev (1881-1950)

"You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other " + St Seraphim of Sarov
St Seraphim of Sarov (Jan 2/ Jan 13), a great 18th-century ascetic of the Russian Church, was raised in piety by his parents, Isidore and Agathia Moshnin, inhabitants of Kursk. St Seraphim loved Christ from his youth and led a notably virtuous life. He was enriched with abundant visions and miracles, including three healings by the Mother of God.
Saint Seraphim has promised to intercede for those who remember his parents, Isidore and Agathia.

St Seraphim of Sarov

"If touching the Savior’s garment, and the garments and handkerchiefs of the Apostles could restore health to the sick, much more are the images of the Savior and of the Mother of God powerful to heal every affliction…" ☦️ St John of Kronstadt (Dec 20/ Jan 2)

In her services, the Church calls St Basil the Great (Jan 1/ Jan 14) a "bee of the Church of Christ": bringing the honey of divinely-inspired wisdom to the faithful, stinging the uprisings of heresy. He is also called and the "mouth of fire of the Holy Spirit." In a vision, a hermit named Effrem saw a tongue of fire speaking in St Basil's mouth, causing him to declare, "Truly Basil is great, truly Basil is the pillar of fire, and verily the Holy Ghost speaketh in his mouth."
Even as a bishop, Basil continued to live the life he had lived as a hermit, without any possessions other than a worn garment to cover himself. As the Arian heresy battered against the Church, St Basil's wisdom-filled defense of Orthodoxy in sermons and writings has earned him the title "Basil the Great.

"It is not right to speak of the former years and to bless them and to curse our own age. We must know that in every age and in every place, people who actually seek their salvation, find it."
+ Saint Luke, Bishop of Simferopol and Crimea, the Blessed Surgeon

If someone asks you, why do you pray to heartless icons, what is the use of them to you? Tell them that we receive incomparably more benefits from our icons than from the most kind and charitable person; tell them that there always comes from icons gracious power and help to our souls, delivering us from sins, sorrows and diseases, especially from the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God; that a single hearty faith in them, as living and near us, saves us from evil sorrows, passions and spiritual darkness, that if touching the Savior’s robes and the shawls of the apostles made the sick healthy, then the faces of the Savior and Our Lady are strong to heal the believers from all sorrow, by faith in the Lord and the Mother of God.
+ St John of Kronstadt (Dec 20/Jan 2), The World of Prayer

“Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man's fortune; and many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger.” ☦️ St Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea (Jan 1/Jan 14)

The Holy Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen (Dec 27/ Jan 9), the first Apostolic-era martyr for Jesus Christ, entered into Christ's Kingdom asking for forgiveness towards his murderers: "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." Acts 7:59
"You confounded the council of those who persecuted you, beholding your Saviour enthroned at the Father’s right hand. Never cease praying that our souls may be saved!"

When the Holy Infant was born in Bethlehem and honoured by the Magi, King Herod "in exceeding wrath ... harvested the infants as sorrowing wheat" (Kontakion). Herod had been replaced by the True King of All.
The Holy Innocents (Dec 28/Jan 10) were the 14,000 infants slain by Herod in Bethlehem after Christ’s birth, thus becoming the first martyrs for Christ.

Wherever Christ is, there is Paradise. + St Paisios of Mt Athos

"If grief befalls you, dive into [the Scriptures] as into a chest of medicines; take from them comfort in times of trouble, no matter if your troubles be loss, or death, or bereavement of relations; or rather do not only dive into them but take them wholly into to yourself; keep them in your mind. Ignorance of the Scriptures is the cause of all evils. We go into battle without arms, and how ought we to come out safe? In this way we can be content, even without them." + St John Chrysostom (Nov 13/Nov 26), Homily 9 on Colossians

Prayer for the Departed
O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the Devil, and given life to Thy world, do Thou, the same Lord, give rest to the souls of Thy departed servants in a place of brightness, a place of refreshment, a place of repose, where all sickness, sighing, and sorrow have fled away. Pardon every transgression which they have committed, whether by word or deed or thought. For Thou art a good God and lovest mankind; because there is no man who lives yet does not sin, for Thou only art without sin, Thy righteousness is to all eternity, and Thy word is truth.
For Thou are the Resurrection, the Life, and the Repose of Thy servants who have fallen asleep, O Christ our God, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father, who is from everlasting, and Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever unto ages of ages. Amen.

“Death is not the opposite of life: the opposite of life is fear.” -Bishop Irenei, W. European Diocese, ROCOR
This world has shown, in these past few months, what really governs it — and it is not wisdom or compassion, or science, or truth. It is fear. For many years now the world has been . . . determining what man should be afraid of, and who, and when — and has made into a norm the concept that the driving force in human life is to be the reaction to such fear. And so we have seen the human race grow accustomed to living in fear of everything: of war; of enemies known and imagined; of the economy; of other people . . . The list could go on forever. Man has grown accustomed to being afraid — of everything.". https://bit.ly/2TCvzCm