On personal freedom & salvation

God our Savior wants all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Grace does not compel anyone. Men have the God-given freedom to accept it and to work with it or to reject it. Those who embrace it are saved and those who withdraw from it are lost. 



Go to the spiritual gym

 

Prayer should not depend upon our mood or good will.  If we are in a bad state, it’s because we are filled with sin.  Thus, we need to repent.  Every day, examine your conscience and repent.  Force yourself to pray regularly every day.  If you don’t want to do that, then you need to repent of that.  You must understand how necessary this is.   Know that the devil lurks and waits to destroy your soul, and that you are always in danger.  Prayer alone will give your soul the strength to resist.  In order to acquire spiritual muscles, you have to go to the spiritual gym. 
 

 

Unworthy of respect

 

 

The more someone seems to us to be unworthy of any respect,

the more we need to respect them.

On excuses

External circumstances can never serve as

excuses for the deficiencies in our interior life. 

A short, blessed meditation for Holy Theophany

Icon depicting the Gate of Heaven, surrounded by Angels, from the Phiale of Great Lavra on Mount Athos (source)

 
In Mesologi lived a most-pious woman named Vasiliki (they called her Koula), who was married to Demetrios, a fisherman by trade. The two were very pious and very simple people.

When Vasiliki was young, on the day of Theophany, she saw "the heavens opened", and the Angels of God chanting. Because of this she said: "This day, do not leave from church, even if your house is burning, because the heavens open."
(source)

From the January 5, 2013 posting on Full of Grace and Truth BlogSpot:  "The Heavens opening on Theophany."

  

A prayer before Holy Communion

A prayer of St. Dimitry of Rostov

and advice from Elder Nazarius concerning it:

I advise you to memorize the prayer of St. Dimitry of Rostov, which is profitable at the time of communion, and whose words follow. Approaching with such thoughts and feelings, say within your mind:

"Open, O doors and bolts of my heart, that Christ the King of Glory may enter!
Enter, O my Light, and enlighten my darkness;
Enter, O my Life, and resurrect my deadness;
Enter, O my Physician, and heal my wounds;
Enter, O Divine Fire, and burn up the thorns of my sins;
Ignite my inward parts and my heart with the flame of Thy love;
Enter, O my King, and destroy in me the kingdom of sin;
Sit on the throne of my heart and reign in me alone, O Thou, my King and Lord."

With such good thoughts partake of the Divine Mysteries. 

A miracle of St. Herman of Alaska

As a resident of New Hampshire, not so far removed in distance from the Orthodox Church in Claremont, I found this account particularly heart-warming: 
http://www.pravmir.com/article_999.html

Wondrous is God in His Saints!
Pres. Candace