“Strong faith in a man’s heart both requires and produces prayer, and a prayer life of many years produces love. The goal of our life is nothing other than cleansing our heart to such an extent that it is able to sing with joy. Thus, prayer of the heart leads to joy of the heart. Nothing is difficult for a joyful person, because he has love.”
The man who is given Grace and who is united with God’s love is also protected by this Divine love, and the evil spirits cannot come close to him.
Love little things, and strive for that which is modest and simple.
When the soul is mature, God will give it inner peace.
The Lord watches over us, and He is pleased that you long for His peace.
Until the soul is ready, He will only sometimes allow us to see that He is present everywhere and fills all things.
At these moments the soul feels such joy!
It feels as though it has everything!
But then the Lord conceals Himself from us again, in order that we might long for Him and seek Him with our hearts!
Joy is thankfulness, and when we are joyful, that is the best expression of thanks we can offer the Lord, Who delivers us from sorrow and sin.
***
We do not need to say anything or do anything, but we feel so good in the presence of a humble and meek person who is full of love and goodness.
He does not have to say anything either, yet he radiates warmth, and it is as though we have caught a chill and have come into a warm and pleasant room and it warms us.
You see, that is the meaning of good thoughts, good desires full of love and goodness.
***
It seems that we do not understand one thing: it is not good when we return the love of those who love us, yet hate those who hate us. We are not on the right path if we do this. We are the sons of light and love, the sons of God, his children. As such we must have His qualities and His attributes of love, peace, and kindness towards all.
Excerpt From: Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: the Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
Fr. Thaddeus – “I don’t want to think evil. I want only peace!” (Part 5/6)
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord (I Samuel 1:27-28).
Besought of God and dedicated to God, Samuel was a prophet and leader of the people of Israel. The blessed Hannah, his childless mother, besought him from God with tears and sacrifices. And she gave him, her one and only greatest blessing, to the service of the Lord from his infancy. A wise mother does not consider her children as her own, but rather as God’s. They are God’s both when God gives them and when He takes them, but they are mostly God’s when a mother herself dedicates them to Him. God’s gift is returned to Him as a reciprocal gift, for we have nothing of our own to give to Him but only that which we receive from Him. The young Samuel lived in the Temple among the iniquitous sons of Eli the high priest, and he did not become corrupt. The Lord would not reveal Himself to the sinful elders, but He appeared to this pure child: for Samuel did the will of God, and did let none of his words fall to the ground (I Samuel 3:19). Samuel was a judge of the people of Israel from his youth to old age and committed nothing wrong either before God or before the people. God gave him the power to prophesy and work miracles. He defeated all of God’s enemies and the enemies of the people, and he anointed two kings, Saul and David. When he grew old, he called the people together and asked them if he had ever committed any violence against anyone or accepted a bribe from anyone. And the people replied with one voice: Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand (I Samuel 12:4). Behold, such a man was he, who was given by God and given to God as a reciprocal gift, and who grew up with the blessing of God and the blessing of his mother. Let mothers benefit from the example of the blessed Hannah; let judges and rulers of the people benefit from the example of the righteous Samuel.
O Holy and Most-holy Lord, gracious and most gracious, open our souls to see Thy holiness and Thy goodness, that we may repent of our evils. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen. The Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints by Saint Nikolai Velimirovič http://prologue.orthodox.cn/December19.htm
Apolytikion Prophet Samuel in the Second Tone
As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Samuel, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.
“‘This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith’ (I Jn. 5:4). by St Nikolai Velimirovic
Occasionally one hears an ungodly word even among Christians: here, even God cannot help! There is no danger in which God cannot help nor are there any enemies who could conquer by their own power without God’s permission. Do not ask how God will destroy the powerful army of our enemies that is easier for God then it is for you to inhale or exhale air. Read how God, by one apparition, terrified the Syrian army, so the army dispersed and Israel was saved: “For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the king of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us” (2 Kings 7:6).
Read how Jerusalem was saved from the powerful army of Babylon without any effort of King Hezekiah except his cry and prayer before God: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred four-score and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” (2 Kings 19:35). But God did not perform such miracles only in ancient times but He performs them every time when the faithful pray to Him. Thus, in the year 1395 A.D., the Tartar King Tamburlaine [Tamerlane] surrounded Moscow with his countless soldiers. The Russians brought the miracle-working icon of the Most-holy Theotokos from the town of Vladimir to Moscow and all the people with tears began to pray to the Most-holy Pure One. Suddenly, for no visible reason, the army of Tartars began to withdraw hurriedly and to flee. What happened? Tamburlaine had a vision in a dream: clouds of saints moving beneath the heavens and in their midst, the Holy Birth-giver of God as Queen and, further still, countless hosts of angels. The Theotokos sharply threatened Tamburlaine and ordered him to leave immediately from the land of the Russians and the saints waved their staffs at the emperor. Terrified by this dream, Tamburlaine as soon as it dawned, ordered a retreat and flight.
***
Christ the Lord conquered the world. That, brethren, is also our victory. The apostles conquered the world and that is our victory. The saints, virgins and martyrs conquered the world and that is our victory. Brethren, there is nothing more powerful in the world than the Christian Faith. The swords that struck this Faith became blunt and broken but the Faith remained. The kings who fought against this Faith were smothered under the anathema of crimes. The kingdoms that waged war against this Faith are destroyed. The towns that rejected this Faith lay demolished in their ruins. The heretics who corrupted this Faith perished in soul and body and under anathema departed from this world, and this Faith remained.
Brethren, when the world pursues us with its temptations: the temptation of external beauty, the temptation of riches, the temptation of pleasure, the temptation of transient glory; with what shall we resist and by what shall we be victorious if not by this Faith?In truth, by nothing except by this invincible Faith which knows about something better than all the wealth of this world. When all the temptations of this world reveal the opposite side of their faces, when beauty turns into ugliness, health into sickness, riches into poverty, glory into dishonor, authority into humiliation and all blossoming physical life into filth and stench–by what shall we overcome this grief, this decay, this fifth and stench, and to preserve oneself from despair, if not by this Faith? In truth, by nothing except this invincible Faith which teaches us eternal and unchangeable values in the Kingdom of Christ.
In 1780 St. Seraphim of Sarov fell ill and for three years spent most of his time on his back; but he refused medical aid and devoted himself to spiritual remedies. As before during an illness he was visited by the Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin appeared to Prochor in the company of St. Peter and St. John the Divine, to whom she turned and said: “He is one of our family.” Then she stroked Prochor’s head and touched his side with her staff. After his recovery Prochor bent his energies to the endowing of a hospital church for the monastery. It was founded in 1784, and he visited the neighbouring towns collecting for it. On 13th August, 1786, at the age of twenty-seven, he was at length tonsured a monk and given the name of Seraphim.
On 12th September, 1804, when the hermit was knocked senseless by two footpads. He offered no resistance and refused to countenance their prosecution. But the assault left him shocked in spirit, ill and permanently bent in body. And again in his illness came Mary in a vision with Peter and John, to whom she spoke the same words: “He is one of our family.”
G. P. Fedotov (1886-1951), St. Seraphim. Mystic and Prophet.
***
The Mother of God is called the “Plague of Demons,” for it is not possible for a devil to destroy a man so long as man himself has recourse to the help of the Mother of God.
The Seraphimo-Diveevsk “Tenderness” (Umilenie) Icon of the Mother of God belonged to the St. Seraphim of Sarov, and was his cell icon. St. Seraphim pray this devotion daily, kneeling in his cell before icon of the Theotokos. With the oil from the lampada, which burned before this holy icon, St. Seraphim anointed the sick, who received healing after the anointing. The ascetic called the icon “Umilenie” (Tenderness) – “Joy of all joys”, and in front of it he died at prayer on 2 January 1833. The Seraphimo-Diveevsk “Tenderness” (Umilenie) Icon of the Mother of God Commemorated on July 28, July 19
Ikos 1
If Saint Seraphim cannot provide the answers, which he can, then let the seeker turn to this elder’s own teachers: Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Isaac the Syrian, and Saint Simeon the New Theologian to name a few. Saint Seraphim taught nothing new, but only what he learned from his predecessors and what he himself practiced. Let us therefore proceed with humility and sincerity, as we bring praises to the monk who has kindly opened his door to us:
Rejoice, spiritual father who did the will of his Heavenly Father. Rejoice, devoted priest who always proclaimed, “Christ is Risen.” Rejoice, man of prayer who acquired the peace of the Holy Spirit. Rejoice, model of charity who befriended both humans and animals. Rejoice, faithful monk who worshipped God in both word and deed. Rejoice, true disciple who learned from the great sources of holiness. Rejoice, “poor Seraphim” who freely taught the ways of spirituality. Rejoice, wonderworker who cheerfully gave of his gifts. Rejoice, revered hermit who prayed on a rock for a thousand days. Rejoice, venerable recluse who saved a thousand souls around him. Rejoice, example of earnest commitment to the Mother of God. Rejoice, humble recipient of aid from the blessed Theotokos. Rejoice, Saint Seraphim, spiritual father of all the faithful.
Kontakion 5 Saint Seraphim, you did not aspire to be a spiritual father, but you were entrusted by God and His Virgin Mother to attend to all those who sought your counsel. You became a holy elder, not because you desired status and recognition, but because you were infused with the Holy Spirit and immersed in Holy Scripture. Concerning your own humanity, you humbly viewed yourself as “poor Seraphim,” and to this you said: Alleluia.
”O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance shall they walk, and in Thy Name shall they rejoice all the day long.”
The entrance of the acheiropoiton (not-made-by-hands) image of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, brought from the city of Edessa to the God-protected Queen of cities (Constantinople). The Holy Keramion (Ceramic Tile) of Edessa
Commemorated on the 16th of August
“It worth to struggle for thousand years only to see this beauty just for a moment” (Saint Paisios of Mount Athos)
“A Vision of Christ” St. Paisios the Athonite
The Elder Paisios describes when Christ appeared to him:
“It was the night of the Holy Forerunner, St. John the Baptist, (May 26th, 1977). The next day was St. Karpos’ feast day. I felt light and relaxed, like down feathers. I was thinking to write something about Father Tychon and send it to the sisters. Until around 8:30 (Athonite time) I had written thirty pages. Even though I wasn’t sleepy, I decided to lie down because my legs were feeling tired. It starts to dawn. It was 9 am (6am, worldly time) and I still had not gotten up. In a flash, the wall of my cell disappeared (beside the bed, towards the workshop). I see Christ within a light, about six meters away from me. I saw him from the side. His hair was blonde and his eyes were blue. He spoke to me. He was looking a little to my side, not directly at me. I was not seeing with my bodily eyes: Whether they were open or closed, it made no difference. I was seeing with the eyes of the soul. When I saw Him I wondered: How could they spit upon such a face? How could they -those who do not fear God- place such a form [on the cross]? How can they drive nails into such a body? Oh!… It is as the psalm goes: “He who is more beautiful than all the sons of men” (Psalm 44:3 according to the Septuagint).
This is what it was. It would be worth it to struggle for a thousand years just to gaze upon such beauty for only a moment. What great and indescribable things that can be granted to people, and with what insignificant things do we occupy ourselves”… [From the book by hieromonk Isaac (+1998), The Life of Elder Paisios the Hagiorite.]
***
Father Paisios listened to me and without saying anything in specific, started telling me the following story:
-Yesterday, a monk visited me and told me something which made me recall the incident I am about to tell you.
One night, I was in my cell at Katounakia saying the Jesus prayer and gradually I was possessed by a heavenly joy. Simultaneously, my cell, whose darkness was interrupted only by the trembling flame of a candle, was filled with a beautiful white-blue light. At the beginning, the light was very strong. I felt that my eyes were also “getting stronger” in order to withstand the glow. It was the Uncreated Light! I stayed in my cell for many hours, losing sense of all earthy things and living in a spiritual world, very different from this one.
While being in this state of the Uncreated Light and heavenly experiences, I lost all sense of time.
At one point the Uncreated Light started fading away and I was back to my old state of being. I began to feel hungry, so I took a piece of bread to eat. Then, I was thirsty and had some water to drink. I was getting tired and I needed to sit down and get some rest. I felt like an animal and I deplored myself for it. The change from one situation back to the other gave birth to a natural humbleness. Having experienced the difference between the spiritual state I was found in and my earthly needs, there was nothing left for me but to despise and blame myself for it.
Further down from my cell, another monk was residing. I looked outside and had the impression it was still night with a full moon. I went out and asked him:
-What time is it? It seems that dawn hasn’t broken yet this morning.
The monk looked astonished and asked me:
– What did you say, Father Paisios? I didn’t understand.
Only then, I realized what had happened. It was ten in the morning and the “full moon” I thought I had seen was the sun. The Uncreated Light was so strong that it made daylight and the sun look like a night with a full moon. The difference between the light of the sun and the Uncreated Light was like the one between night and day.
When the Elder finished his story, he told me to go, as there were other people waiting to see him. I made my way back to my cell only slightly realized my beastly state of being. (the book “Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain”by priestmonk Christodoulos (1998). )
Apolytikion of the Holy Mandylion of Christ. Tone 2.
We venerate your most pure icon, loving Lord, as we ask pardon of our offences, Christ God. For by your own choice you were well-pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh, to deliver from the slavery of the enemy those whom you had fashioned; therefore with thanksgiving we cry to you: You have filled all things with joy, our Saviour, by coming to save the world.
Stichera Prosomia of the Holy Mandylion of Christ. Tone 2. With that garlands of praise.
With what eyes shall we who are born of earth look upon your image, which the armies of the Angels cannot look at without fear as it blazes with divine light? For it departs to-day from the land of unbelievers and by divine decree comes to dwell in the Queen of cities and among a people of true religion. At its entry Kings rejoice, O Christ, falling down before it with fear and faith.
The Dormition of the Mother of God The Pascha of the Theotokos” or the “Summer Pascha.”
The feast of the Dormition is the last great feast in the Church calendar year. It is preceded by a two-week fast. The glorious lot of the ever-blessed Virgin in the work of God’s salvation of the world made all Her life wonderful and exemplary. After the Crucifixion of Christ, the Mother of God was taken to live in the house of Her adopted son, the Apostle John. Tradition notes than even after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the Mother of God remained in Jerusalem, visiting those places where the Saviour of the world preached, suffered and died. She did not want to leave the country that was dear and holy to Her. When king Herod Agrippa began to persecute the Church, both the pagans and the Jews, indignant of the respect that the Mother of God was receiving from the Christians, wanted to kill Her. It was during this time that She traveled with Apostle John to Ephesus. Church tradition has this also as the time of Her visit to Cyprus to Bishop Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead after four days, and to Mount Athos. When the persecution ended, the Mother of God returned to Apostle John’s house at Zion in Jerusalem. Once, when She went to the Mount of Olives to pray, Archangel Gabriel appeared and spoke of Her approaching departure from this world. Upon returning home, She told Apostle John all that the Archangel had said to Her and started preparing Herself for Her final day on earth. Friends and relatives gathered, and eleven of the apostles were miraculously transported from various parts of the world to Her deathbed. They were all amazed to see each other there. When Apostle John explained that the Mother of God would soon be departing this world, they understood why God had brought them together and became sad. But She comforted them, saying: “Do not cry and darken My happiness with your sadness. I am going to My Son and your God, and you will bury My body and return each to your work.” As the time of Her death neared, the room shone with a divine light, the roof disappeared, and a wondrous sight appeared before all: the Lord Jesus Christ descended from heaven surrounded by many angels. All looked upon this wondrous sight with awe and reverence, and when they approached Her bed, the holy body of the Mother of God shone radiantly, and a fragrance of incense pervaded the room.
The apostles carried the body of the Mother of God through the city to Gethsemane, to be buried at Her request in the tomb of Her family and Joseph. They buried Her body, closed the tomb with a stone and remained there at the site in prayer for three days. On the third day Apostle Thomas arrived and was very saddened that he did not find the Mother of God alive. To make him feel better, the other apostles rolled away the stone to let him pay his respects to the body. But on entering the tomb, they found that the body was not there – only the winding sheet. They returned home to partake of a communal meal at which they always left a place for the Resurrected Lord. After the meal, they raised the bread left for Christ aloft and exclaimed: “Lord, Jesus Christ, help us.” And they heard a choir of angels, and when they looked up they saw the Holy Virgin surrounded by angels. She greeted them, saying: “Rejoice, for I am with you through all the days.” Then the apostles were filled with joy, and instead of using the usual words, they exclaimed: “Most holy Mother of God, help us.” And now they understood and believed that upon the third day after Her dormition, the Mother of God had been resurrected.
Thus, the dormition of the Mother of God is not a sad event, but a joyous one. Her death is but a short sleep, after which follows Her resurrection and ascension to heaven. From the very beginning, the Church saw in the Mother of God the One who would pray for all of mankind. She is the haven of all the mothers in the world. She teaches us how to live in total faithfulness to the will of God. She, who kept in Her heart the divine words, is an example of faithfulness, love and service.
The Gospel according to St.Luke
(Luke 10: 38- 42 – 11: 27 – 28)
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
In faith, O ye people, leap for joy while clapping your hands; and gather in gladness on this day with longing and shout in radiant jubilance. For the Theotokos cometh nigh to departing from the earth unto the heights; and we glorify her with glory as the Mother of God in our unceasing hymns
O the wonders of the Ever-virgin and Mother of God, surpassing mind! For she dwelt in a tomb, and showed it to be Paradise, which we stand beside today, rejoicing as we chant: praise the Lord, O you works of the Lord, and exalt Him supremely unto all the ages. –Excerpt from the Canon for the Dormition of the Theotokos
She who is higher than the heavens, more glorious than Cherubim and greater in honour than creation, who through her surpassing purity became the vessel of the eternal being, today places in the hands of her Son her all-holy soul. With her the universe is filled with joy and to us is given his great mercy. –Idiomelon of the Litia by Anatolios in the Second tone
Oikos Fortify my mind, O my Savior; for I am daring to extol Your immaculate Mother, the fortress of the world. Reinforce me with a tower of words, and shelter me in a castle of concepts; for You have promised to fulfill the requests of those who request with faith. Do, therefore, endow me with elocution, expression, and dauntless meditation; for every dose of illumination is sent down from You, O guiding Light, who dwelt in the ever-virgin womb.
The Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
Commemorated on August 15
Dormition of the Mother of God Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Sunday, 28th August, 1986.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God – which combines two events: Her death and Her resurrection in the body on the third day – has been for centuries, indeed, from the very beginning of the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church its Feast, its joy, its glory.
The Mother of God has not been a passive instrument of the Incarnation; without Her ‘Amen’ the Incarnation would have been as impossible as without the will of God. She is the response of the whole creation to God’s love and to God’s gift of self not only to mankind but to the whole Cosmos He has created. And in that we rejoice, because Her word is our word. Her word was perfect, as Her trust was, Her faith was, Her gift of self was. Ours is imperfect, and yet our voices resound within Hers, weakly, hesitantly at times, but with faith and also with love.
She is the glory of all Creation; the Mother of God: one might have expected that death could not touch Her; but if death and a death so cruel could touch Her Divine Son, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the Son of God and the Son of man – of course She had to pay the tribute of all the earth to the sin of man and also die. But according to Orthodox Tradition, death could not keep Her prisoner. She had given Herself unreservedly and perfectly to God, and it was to God, no longer to the earth that She belonged. And on the third day, when the Apostles came and reopened Her grave for one of them to be able to venerate Her, who had not been present at Her burial, it was found empty: She had risen because the bonds of death could not hold Her, and corruption could not touch a body which had been the body of the Incarnation. What a wonderful joy to think that now, side by side with the risen and ascended Christ, one of us, of mankind, a woman of flesh and blood is enthroned and in Her we can see the glory which will, we believe, be ours if we are faithful to God as She was.
So, let us rejoice, and not only here where our church has been dedicated since the early eighteenth century to the Assumption of the Mother of God, to Her Dormition, but with the whole Russian Church, and with all those who belong to it and are scattered over the face of the world, one with the Mother Church, one with the Mother of God, worshipping the Lord with all there is in us and seeing in Her the image of the whole Creation in adoration before the Living God. Amen.
Apolytikion Dormition of our Most Holy Lady (First Tone)
In birth, you preserved your virginity; in death, you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos. As mother of life, you departed to the source of life, delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.
Doxastikon – Great vespers – Dormition of the Theotokos, 8 tones
Tone One: Verily, the God-mantled Apostles were caught up on all sides, ascending the clouds by a divine sign.
Tone Five: And they came up to thy most pure, life-originating resting-place to kiss it reverently.
Tone Two: As for the most sublime heavenly powers, they came with their own chief.
Tone Six: To escort, enwrapped in awe, thine all-honored, God-receiving body, they went before in a super-earthly manner, shouting invisibly to the heavenly ranks, Behold the Queen of all, the divine Maiden, has come.
Tone Three: Lift up the gates and receive super-earthly-wise the Mother of everlasting Light.
Tone Seven: For through her hath salvation come to the whole human race. And she is the one on whom it is impossible to gaze, and whom we never can honor sufficiently.
Tone Four: For the honor through which she became sublime transcendeth all understanding.
Tone Eight: Wherefore, O undefiled Theotokos, everlasting with thy life-bearing Son, intercede with Him unceasingly that He may preserve and save thy new people from every hostile assault; for we have taken thee unto us as our helper.
Tone One: Therefore, do we magnify thee with voices of joy unto all ages.
Doxastikon from Great Vespers (Dormition of the Theotokos) Aug. 15
Doxastikon Dormition of The Theotokos (Arabic+Greek+English) George Theodoridis – Rassem El Massih – Stephen Esper – Nicholas J. Jones – Amjad Khalil
“Strong faith in a man’s heart both requires and produces prayer, and a prayer life of many years produces love. The goal of our life is nothing other than cleansing our heart to such an extent that it is able to sing with joy. Thus, prayer of the heart leads to joy of the heart. Nothing is difficult for a joyful person, because he has love.”
