Thoughts on love, gratitude, illness and presumption

If we love Christ, all things will change in our lives.  We do not love Him in order to receive some reward such as health.  Rather we love Him out of gratitude, without thinking of anything, only of the love of God.  Nor should we pray with any ulterior motive and say to God, ‘Make such and such a person well, so that he may come close to You.’  It is not right to point out ways and means to God.  How can we presume to say to God, ‘make me well’?  What can we tell to Him who knows everything?

Thoughts on prayer from Elder Porphyrios, part 4

Pray for the purification of each and every person so that you may imitate the prayer of the angels in your life.  Yes, the angels don't pray for themselves.  This is how I pray for people, for the Church and for the body of the Church.  The moment you pray for the Church, you are released from your passions.  The moment you glorify God, your soul is calmed and sanctified by divine grace.  This is the art I want you to learn.

God wants us to become like the angels.  The angels only glorify God.  This is their prayer, glorification of God and nothing else.  The glorification of God is a very subtle matter, it eludes human criteria.  We are very material and earth-bound, and for that reason we pray to God is a self-interested manner.  We ask Him to order our affairs, to help our businesses do well, to protect our health and to safeguard our children.  But we pray in a human way and with self-interest.  Doxology is prayer without self-interest.  The angels do not pray in order to receive something; they are selfless.  God also gave to us the possibility for our prayer to be an un-ending doxology, an angelic prayer.  This iswhere the great secret lies.  When we enter into this prayer, we will glorify God continually, leaving everything to Him, just as our Church prays 'We commend our whole life to Christ our God.'  This is the 'higher mathematics' of our religion!

Thoughts on prayer from Elder Porphyrios, part 3

Pray for those who make accusations against you.  Say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' not ' have mercy on him,' and your accuser will be embraced in this prayer.  Does someone say something to you that upsets you?  God knows it.  What you have to do is open your arms and say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' and make your accuser one with yourself.  And God knows what is torturing your accuser deep inside him and, seeing your love, he hastens to help.  He searches the desires of hearts.  What is it that St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Romans?  He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because in accord with God He makes intercession for the saints. (Rom 8:27)

Thoughts on prayer from Elder Porphyrios, part 2

You get upset when others are unwell, whereas what you should do is devote yourself to prayer so that what is desired comes about through the grace of God.  With your own wisdom, you tell others what should be done, when that is not necessarily the best thing.  The secret is to be found elsewhere, and not in what we say or suggest to others.  The secret lies in our devotion, our prayer to God for what is best for our brethren to come about through the grace of God.  That is the best.  What we are unable to do will be done through His grace.

In my life, prayer occupies the first place.  I do not fear hell and I don't think of Paradise.  I ask only for God to have mercy on the whole world and on me.  If I repeat 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me' with intensity, even when I have people around me, I am not distracted from the prayer.  It is just the same as when I am on my own.  I pray, I receive everyone in the Spirit of Christ, and I am eager to pray for all the people.  I try to love Christ.  That is my aim.  Because of my many illnesses, I'm not able to speak much.  But prayer helps more than words.

Thoughts on prayer from Elder Porphyrios, part 1

When we or someone else are facing some problem, let us ask others for their prayers and let us all entreat God with faith and love.  Be sure that God is pleased with these prayers and intervenes with miracles.  This is something we haven't understood properly. We say, 'Say a prayer for me,' but without realizing the power of common prayer.

Pray for others more than for yourself. Say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' and you will always have others in your mind.  We are all children of the same Father; we are all one.  And so, when we pray for others, we say, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' and not, 'have mercy on them.'  In this way we make them one with ourselves.

Prayer for others which is made gently and with deep love is selfless and has great spiritual benefit.  It brings grace to the person who prays and also to the person for whom he is praying.  When you have great love and this love moves you to prayer, then the waves of love are transmitted and affect the person for whom you are praying and you create around him a shield of protection and you influence him, you lead him towards what is good.  When He sees your efforts, God bestows His grace abundantly on both you and on the person you are praying for.  But we must die to ourselves.  Do you understand?

Petitioning God in behalf of others

When we want to ask things for other people, we should ask for them secretly, with prayer which is in secret and does not appear outwardly.  Worry and distraction do not help prayer.  Forget about telephone calls, communications and long conversations with people.  If the Lord doesn't assist, what will our own efforts achieve?  So what is required is prayer, prayer with love.  It is preferable for us to help people from a distance with prayer.  In that way we help them in the best and most perfect manner.

How will God enlighten me?

When we pray continually*, God will enlighten us as to what we must do in each situation, even the most difficult.  God will speak in our heart, He will find ways.  Of couse, we can combine prayer with fasting.  That is, when we are faced with a serious problem or dilemma, we should approach it with much prayer and fasting.  That's how I have dealt with things often. 

*Elder Porphyrios is referring to the prayer of the heart, known as the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

What to do about my problems?

We should refer all our problems, whatever they are, to God, just as we say in the Divine Liturgy that we 'commend our whole life to Christ our God.'  We leave everything to You, O Lord.  Whatever You will.  Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

The person who belongs to Christ turns everything into prayer. He makes both difficulties and tribulations into prayer.  Whatever happens to him, he begins, 'Lord Jesus Christ...'*  Prayer is beneficial for everything, even for the simplest of things...

*Elder Porphyrios is referring to the prayer of the heart, known as the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Readying the soul for God's disclosures

Preparation is to learn to keep the commandments of God.  To expel the passions--condemnation, anger, etc.,--in a subtle way.  That is, do not strike at the evil directly, but disdaining the passion, turn with love to God.  Occupy yourself with singing hymns, the triumphant hymns of the saints and martyrs and the Psalms of David.  Study Holy Scripture and the Church Fathers.  In this way, your soul will be softened, sanctified and assimilated to God.  It will be ready to hear the disclosures of God. 

Debating the Faith

In debates, if you say a few words about religion you will prevail.  Let the person who has a different opinion give free rein to his thoughts and speak as much as he likes.  Let him sense that he is addressing himself to a calm and uncontentious person.  Influence him through your graciousness and prayer and then speak briefly.  You achieve nothing if you speak heatedly and tell him, for example, ‘What you’re saying is untrue, a downright lie!’  What will you achieve?  Be as sheep among wolves.  What should you do?  Show indifference outwardly, but be praying inwardly.  Be prepared, know what you are talking about and speak boldly and to the point, but with saintliness, meekness and prayer.  But in order to be able to do this, you must become saints. 

Mastery of a subject is a great thing...

Mastery of a subject is a great thing when it is combined with meekness, graciousness and love.  This is true in all fields.  When you have the relevant mastery of the subject, then speak.  Otherwise, speak through your example. 

Ministry through life example

…we need to employ a very delicate manner so that people accept what we are offering, whether it be words, books or whatever, without reacting negatively.  And something else:  use few words.  Words often provoke irritation.  Prayer and living example find resonance.  Living faith moves people, regenerates them and changes them, whereas words alone remain fruitless.  The best form of mission is through our good example, our love and our meekness. 

Fanaticism incompatible with Christianity

Fanaticism has nothing to do with Christ.  Be a true Christian.  The you won’t leap to conclusions about anybody, but your love will ‘cover all things.’ Even to a person of another religion you will always act as a Christian.  That is to say, you will show respect for him in a gracious manner irrespective of his religion…There must be respect for the freedom of the other person.  Just as Christ stands at the door and knocks and does not force an entry, but waits for the soul to accept Him freely on its own, so we should stand in the same way in relation to every soul. 

On Christian "zealotry"

We should be zealots.  A zealot is a person who loves Christ with all his soul and who serves his fellow men in Christ's name.  Love for God and for our neighbor; they go together and cannot be divorced.  Passion, yearning and tears along with contrition, not for a purpose, but all as an overflowing of the heart! 

In order to benefit others...

Let our love be only in Christ.  In order to benefit others you must live in the love of God, otherwise you are unable to do good to your fellow man.  You mustn't pressurize the other person.   His time will come as long as you pray for him.  With silence, tolerance and above all by prayer, we benefit others in a mystical way.  The grace of God clears the horizon of his mind and assures him of His love.  Here is the fine point.  As soon as he accepts that God is love, then abundant light such as he has never seen will come upon him.  Thus, he will find salvation.

Insisting on good in others

It is a kind of self-projection of our own when we insist on other people becoming good.  In reality, we wish to become good, but because we are unable to, we demand it of others and insist on this.  And whereas all things are corrected through prayer, we often are distressed or become outraged and pass judgment on others. 

On those we consider as 'lost'

Souls that have known pain and suffering and that are tormented by their passions win most especially the love and grace of God. It is souls such as these that become saints and very often we pass judgment on them.  Remember what Saint Paul says, Where sin abounded, grace flowed even more abundantly.  When you remember this, you will feel that these people are more worthy than you and me.  We see them as weak, but when they open themselves to God they become all love and all divine eros.  Whereas previously they had acquired different habits, they now give all the power of their soul to Christ and are set on fire by Christ’s love.  That is how God’s miracle works in such souls, which we regard as ‘lost.’

We shouldn’t be discouraged, nor should we rush to conclusions, nor judge on the basis of superficial and external things.  If, for example, you see a woman immodestly dressed, don’t have regard only for her outward appearance, but look more deeply into her soul.  She may be a very good soul with an existential restlessness, which she expresses through her shocking appearance.  She has a dynamism within her, the power of self-projection; she wishes to attract the eyes of others.  But through lack of awareness she has distorted things.  Think what would happen if she were to come to know Christ.  She would do everything to attract the grace of God.  She would become a saint. 

The secret to changing the ungodly

When we see that the people around us have no love for God we are distressed.  But with our distress we achieve nothing at all.  Nor do we achieve anything by trying to persuade them to change their ways.  That’s not right, either.  There is a secret, however, and if we understand it, we will be able to help.  The secret is our prayer and our devotion to God so that His grace may act.  We, with our love, with our fervent desire for the love of God, will attract grace so that it washes over those around us and awakens them to divine love.  Or rather God will send His love and will rouse them all.  What we are unable to do, His grace will achieve.  With our prayers, we will make all worthy of God’s love. 

A win-win for the adversary of our souls

Restraint of the tongue is a great thing.  In a mystical way, silence radiates out to our neighbor.  Let me tell you a story. 

A nun who was very concerned that life in her monastery should be perfectly ordered came to her spiritual father in exasperation and said, ‘Sister so-and-so is disrupting the whole monastery with her problems and her character.  We simply can’t endure her.’  Her elder replied, ‘You are worse than she is.’  To begin with, the nun was taken aback and protested, but after her elder explained things to her she understood what he meant and was very pleased.   

What her elder said was, ‘The evil spirit that takes hold of the other nun and causes her to behave badly takes hold of you, too, even though you think you are in a better state, and it makes a mockery of you both.  The other nun gets into the state she does without wishing to, but you, with your over-reaction and lack of love, do exactly the same.  In that way, you do no good to your sister and you yourself are harmed.’ 

Love with sincerety

Love needs to be sincere.  And only the love of God is sincere love.  To a person whom we find tiresome and troublesome, love needs to be offered in a subtle manner without the person being aware that we are striving to love him.  It shouldn’t be given much outward expression, because then the person will react.  Silence saves us from all evils.