Use prayer rope to pray for the departed

December 3, 2016 | Wisdom

GERONDA ADVISED all of us: Use your prayer-ropes to pray for the departed so that they may be comforted and saved, too. Pray for everyone you knew, your grandparents, your relatives.

From: My Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Pg. 536

Avoid Fantasies

November 3, 2016 | Instagram, Wisdom

My child, be careful with your imagination. All sins originate from the imagination; it is the root of sin. So be careful. As soon as a fantasy of a person or deed comes, of something you saw or heard, immediately drive it away from your mind with anger and the prayer. Say it rapidly and intensely, and at once entreat our Panagia mentally with pain to help you, and I trust in God that you will obtain the victory. You were proud, and this is why the devil started fighting you. Humble yourself now; abase yourself; insult yourself mentally, and God, seeing your humility, will help you. Just as you avoid fire so that you do not get burned, and a snake so that you do not get bitten, likewise — and even more so — you should avoid the devil’s fantasies! Be careful, I repeat, with filthy fantasies; because this is how great spiritual men have fallen and perished… Elder Efraim of Arizona

A photo posted by Wisdom Of The Holy Fathers (@wisdomoftheholyfathers) on Nov 2, 2016 at 3:49pm PDT

The Rich Man Who Gives

November 1, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

"The rich man who gives to the poor does not bestow alms but pays a debt." – St. Ambrose #TheOrthodoxWay #OrthodoxChristian #EasternOrthodox #Christian #TheChurch #Christ #Lord #Mercy #Love #Light #Faith #Prayer #Philotimo #TheCross #World #Salvation

A photo posted by The Orthodox Way (@theorthodoxway) on Oct 31, 2016 at 3:49pm PDT

Nature of Angels

October 21, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

"The nature of angels is in some ways quite different from the nature of man, and in other ways similar to it. On the one hand, the differences are these: The angels are bodiless and, as such, invisible to our physical eyes. Having no body, they consequently have no bodily needs or desires and passions, no cares about food, drink, clothes or shelter. Nor do they possess the impulse and cravings for procreation. They neither marry nor are given in marriage (Matt. 22:30). They have no worries about the future either, and no fear of death. For, though God created them before man, they are neither aged nor aging, but unchangingly youthful, beautiful and strong. They have no anxiety about their salvation and no struggle for immorality, being already immortal. Unlike men, they are not faltering between good and evil, being already good and holy as when God created them. On the other hand, the angels are similar to men in that they are personalities, everyone being individually conscious of himself. Like men, they have intelligence, emotions, free will and acting capacity. And withal they bear personal names like men. Some of their names we know either from Scripture or Church Tradition. They are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salathiel, Barachiel, Jeremiel, Jegudiel." – St. Nicholai Velimirovic #TheOrthodoxWay #OrthodoxChristian #EasternOrthodox #Christian #TheChurch #Christ #Lord #Mercy #Love #Light #Faith #Prayer #Philotimo #TheCross #World #Salvation #Angels

A photo posted by The Orthodox Way (@theorthodoxway) on Oct 21, 2016 at 4:03pm PDT

Correct your own sins

October 18, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

"Do not be irritated either with those who sin or those who offend; do not have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbour, and for judging him, as we are in the habit of doing. Everyone shall give an answer to God for himself. Everyone has a conscience; everyone hears Gods Word, and knows Gods Will either from books or from conversation with other people. Especially do not look with evil intention upon the sins of your elders which do not regard you; "to his own master he standeth or falleth." Correct your own sins, amend your own life." – St. John of Kronstadt #TheOrthodoxWay #OrthodoxChristian #EasternOrthodox #Christian #TheChurch #Christ #Lord #Mercy #Love #Light #Faith #Prayer #Philotimo #TheCross #World #Salvation

A photo posted by The Orthodox Way (@theorthodoxway) on Oct 18, 2016 at 2:58pm PDT

Do not hate the sinner

October 18, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

Do not hate the sinner; for we are all laden with guilt. If for the sake of God you are moved to oppose him, weep over him. Why do you hate him? Hate his sins and pray for him, that you may imitate Christ Who was not wroth with sinners, but interceded for them. Do you not see how He wept over Jerusalem? We are mocked by the devil in many instances, so why should we hate the man who is mocked by him who mocks us also? Why, O man, do you hate the sinner? Could it be because he is not so righteous as you? But where is your righteousness when you have no love? Why do you not shed tears over him? But you persecute him. In ignorance some, who are considered to be discerning men, are moved to anger against the deeds of sinners. – St. Isaac the Syrian #orthodox #orthodoxy #orthodoxchurch #christian #wisdomofthefathers #stisaacthesyrian

A photo posted by Wisdom of the Fathers (@wisdomofthefathers) on Oct 18, 2016 at 12:31am PDT

Enduring Affliction

October 18, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

"We should not think it strange that Christians endure affliction and various forms of sorrow, patiently awaiting through many trials and temptations whatever their Master gives. For they have heard Him say: 'Truly I tell you, that you who are near Me shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. Yet after a little while I will visit you through the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) and drive away your despondency; I will renew you with thoughts of heavenly life and peace with sweet tears, of which you were deprived for a short time when you were being tested. I will give you the breast of My grace, as a mother feeds her baby when it cries. When your strength fails in battle I will fortify you with power from on high, and I will sweeten you in your bitterness. I will look upon you, and your hearts will rejoice at My secret visitation; your affliction will be turned to joy, and no one shall take that joy from you' (cf. Jn. 16:20-22)." – St. John of Karpathos (The Philokalia Vol. 1; Faber and Faber pg. 323)

A photo posted by Wisdom Of The Holy Fathers (@wisdomoftheholyfathers) on Oct 17, 2016 at 5:20pm PDT

Temptations Heal Passions

October 13, 2016 | Instagram, Uncategorized, Wisdom

​https://www.instagram.com/p/BLflbJ-jq4E/

Receive Holy Communion Frequently

October 10, 2016 | Uncategorized, Wisdom

And so, my brethren, if we do as our Holy Fathers direct and receive [Holy Communion] frequently, we have not only the cooperation and help of divine grace during this temporal life, we also have the assistance of the angels of God and of Him who is the Lord of the angels.This Blood of the Lord is salvation for our souls; with it the soul rejoices, with it, it is beautified, it is warmed; this Blood makes the mind shine more brightly than the light; it makes the soul more beautiful than gold. Those who partake of this Body stand with the angels and archangels and the powers above; with it they are adorned with royal robes and the weapons of the Spirit. Those who receive Communion receive the very King Himself. – St. Gregory the Theologian #orthodox #orthodoxy #orthodoxchurch #christian #wisdomofthefathers #stgregorythetheologian #eucharist #communion #godsgrace

A photo posted by Wisdom of the Fathers (@wisdomofthefathers) on Oct 9, 2016 at 9:15am PDT

Facing the Winds of Change in Our Society

October 7, 2016 | Uncategorized, Wisdom

ARCHPRIEST PANAYIOTIS PAPAGEORGIOU, PH.D.

​Change seems to be a good thing some times; we may change schools, neighborhoods, towns, or even states; we may change cars, doctors, even political parties. Change can be a welcome renewal at times. When it comes to issues of Faith, moral issues and family values, however, change may not be the best course of action for us.

Let me use an example from everyday life: Redecorating our house, painting it a new color, moving the furniture around, getting a new couch, fixing the yard and redoing the landscaping are all welcome changes that refresh and renew our living space and may re-invigorate our lives in various ways. No one in their right mind, however, will dig into the foundation of the house or meddle with the structural beams of the building just for the sake of change. There are some things you do not touch, for the structure will come down crumbling on your head.

Similarly, the Christian Faith and the spiritual/moral aspects of our life are the foundation and structural supports of our society and humanity itself. It has taken the very humbling of God Himself and his presence on earth for these things to be fully revealed to us. In addition, two thousand years of application and testing of these principles in the lives of Orthodox Christians, has shown their great value for us both on the personal as well as the societal level.

Unfortunately, in our days, certain people, themselves removed from God and immersed in their own passions, confused about the essential things of life, have been meddling with principles that we Orthodox have held precious over the centuries: The doctrines of the Faith (the divinity of Christ and the resurrection) have been under severe scrutiny and outright mockery for decades by the so called “intellectuals” of our time; marriage has been under attack, both as a principle and also as an institution, leading to a tremendous increase in broken families with dire spiritual, moral and psychological consequences for millions of people (both spouses and children); unbridled sexuality and the idolatry of the flesh have been paraded even in our own living-rooms in the guise of entertainment and a norm of life, leading millions to sexual addictions, while virginity and the purity of body and soul have been mocked and ridiculed as backward and up-normal; the family, as a core institution of our society, is being pushed to the brink of destruction by new norms, new types of relationships and new ideas which are offering a false sense of personal freedom with dire consequences for all of us.

The question arises bigger than life: What can we do as Orthodox Christians?

The answer: Resist the winds of change!!! The Orthodox Church has survived the decadence of the Roman society and conquered it, establishing a Christian Empire and an Orthodox Christian culture that lasted over a thousand years, because it refused to go along with the norms of their time. It, then, survived fourteen centuries of subjugation to the muslims and decades of abuse by the communists because it held fast to the Christian principles of life and the Faith in Christ’s divine power and the hope of the resurrection through Him.

This is our call today as American Orthodox Christians: We need to hold fast to the principles of Faith and life as handed down through the centuries to us and resist the winds of change!!!

Source:
http://www.holytransfiguration.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Syndiakonia-October-2014-Final.pdf