☦️ St Paisios: “An unfamiliar kitten had once come to my monastic hut. It seemed as though the poor animal had eaten something that made it sick and had come seeking help. It was thrashing about in pain, and it jerked itself into the air. I felt very sorry seeing it in such a stage, but there was nothing I could do. I blessed it with the sign of the cross again and again, but to no avail! Then I thought to myself, ‘You wretched man, do you see your plight? You have been a monk for so many years and you cannot even help a little kitten!’ As I was deploring myself, the little kitten that had seemed to be on the verge of death suddenly recovered. It approached me, started licking my feet and began rolling over playfully onto its back. Oh what power there is in humility! This is why it is written in the Psalms, ‘It is He who remembered us in our low estate.’”
By his works of charity, St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra (Dec 6/ Dec 19) fulfilled our Lord's words: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (Matt. 6:3). Before being elevated to a bishop, he embraced a life of solitude and silence, intending to live in that way until his death. That is, until a voice from on high came to him: "Nicholas, set about your work among the people if you desire to receive a crown from Me." Immediately after that, Nicholas was chosen as archbishop of the city of Myra in Lycia and became a true and generous shepherd to his flock.
Across the northern hemisphere, Dec. 21 is the first day of winter-- and it's beautiful. #wintersolstice
Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?
Again the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. (Exodus 14:20) The people that sat in the darkness of ignorance, let it see the Great Light of full knowledge. (Isaiah 9:6) Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. (1 Corinthians 5:17) The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the Truth comes in upon them.
Again the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. (Exodus 14:20) The people that sat in the darkness of ignorance, let it see the Great Light of full knowledge. (Isaiah 9:6) Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. (1 Corinthians 5:17) The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the Truth comes in upon them.
O Lord Almighty, Healer of our souls and bodies, Who put down and raise up, in Thy great mercy, visit our brothers and sisters who are sick. Stretch forth Thy hand, raise them up, and cure them.
Put away from them the spirit of disease, and of every malady, pain, and fever, to which they are bound, and if they have sins and transgressions, grant to them remission and forgiveness. For Thou lovest mankind.
Yea, O Lord my God, have pity on Thy creation, through the compassions of Thine only-begotten Son, together with Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, with whom Thou art blessed, both now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Put away from them the spirit of disease, and of every malady, pain, and fever, to which they are bound, and if they have sins and transgressions, grant to them remission and forgiveness. For Thou lovest mankind.
Yea, O Lord my God, have pity on Thy creation, through the compassions of Thine only-begotten Son, together with Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, with whom Thou art blessed, both now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
Joseph, the Betrothed (Dec 26/ Jan 8 ) was chosen by God to be the guardian of Jesus Christ and His holy Mother, a task which he performed with great humility and diligence.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” + St Matthew 2:13-15
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” + St Matthew 2:13-15
In no age is it safe to be a Christian. Living safely is not our first concern. Anysia the Righteous Virgin-martyr of Thessaloniki (Dec 30/ Jan 12) lived in especially unsafe and unwelcoming times for Christians. Christ was her first Love.
The Co-Emperor Maximian (286-305) issued an edict stating that anyone had the right to kill Christians with no fear of punishment. Once, when Saint Anysia was on her way to church, a pagan soldier stopped her and demanded that she come to the festival of the sun and offer a sacrifice. At first, St. Anysia gently pulled herself away from him, but when the soldier forcefully grabbed her and attempted to tear the veil from her head, she shoved him, spit in his face and declared, “My Lord Jesus Christ forbids you!”Enraged, the soldier ran her through with his sword. She was buried near the city gates. A chapel was built over her grave.
The Co-Emperor Maximian (286-305) issued an edict stating that anyone had the right to kill Christians with no fear of punishment. Once, when Saint Anysia was on her way to church, a pagan soldier stopped her and demanded that she come to the festival of the sun and offer a sacrifice. At first, St. Anysia gently pulled herself away from him, but when the soldier forcefully grabbed her and attempted to tear the veil from her head, she shoved him, spit in his face and declared, “My Lord Jesus Christ forbids you!”Enraged, the soldier ran her through with his sword. She was buried near the city gates. A chapel was built over her grave.
May we imitate the love St. Anysia showed to her Lord: “I love You, my Bridegroom, and in seeking You I endure suffering. In baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You, and I died so that I might live with You. Accept me as a pure sacrifice, for I have offered myself in love.”— from the Troparian
The relics of St. Anysia are contained in the Church of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki.
The relics of St. Anysia are contained in the Church of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki.
"Contemporary people, even when they come to the Church, do not wish to genuinely change their mindset. They do not wish to genuinely repent (for 'repentance' in the biblical sense is a change of mindset). They want at once to be both Orthodox and friends of this world. People have absolutely no desire to make this choice, and so they begin to want to 'sanctify everything.' This gives rise to the invention of new virtues, foreign to the holy fathers (such as 'tolerance of spiritual delusion'). The old terms, such as 'love' and 'marriage', take on entirely new meanings. And we begin to encounter the opinion that since there are many 'good' or 'nice' people outside the Church, Christianity isn't something they really need after all. Christianity becomes something that is desirable but not essential.”
☦️ Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev, “Marriage to a Non-believer?”
☦️ Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev, “Marriage to a Non-believer?”
Cheer up!
“O sinful descendant of Adam, cheer up! Light lit up in your dungeon: God descended to the lower land of your banishment, in order to elevate you in your heavenly fatherland that you had lost. You wished to know good and evil: He left you this knowledge. You wanted to become like God, and from that you became like the devil by your soul, and like beasts and cattle by your body: God, uniting you to Himself, makes you god by grace. He forgives you your sins. Not only this! He extinguishes the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, poison, thrown into your soul by the devil, and He gives you medicine for the entire way of your earthly life, for curing you from sin, no matter how many times you would get infected by it, because of your infirmity. This remedy is confession of sins.”
☦️ St Ignatius Brianchaninov
“O sinful descendant of Adam, cheer up! Light lit up in your dungeon: God descended to the lower land of your banishment, in order to elevate you in your heavenly fatherland that you had lost. You wished to know good and evil: He left you this knowledge. You wanted to become like God, and from that you became like the devil by your soul, and like beasts and cattle by your body: God, uniting you to Himself, makes you god by grace. He forgives you your sins. Not only this! He extinguishes the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, poison, thrown into your soul by the devil, and He gives you medicine for the entire way of your earthly life, for curing you from sin, no matter how many times you would get infected by it, because of your infirmity. This remedy is confession of sins.”
☦️ St Ignatius Brianchaninov
In 2017, a crowd of people enjoying a day at a Sochi beach, watched curiously as a pod of dolphins swam up to the beach and left an object behind. The object turned out to be the icon "The Mother of God - The Sign.”
https://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2017/06/10/chudo_chudnoe/
https://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2017/06/10/chudo_chudnoe/