Do this and God's will is understood

In the measure that we pay attention and take care to carry out what we hear, God will always enlighten and make us understand His will. 

Poem on the Liturgical Week

Below is a meaningful poem from the heart and pen of Bishop Paul of Tracheia, retired, who now lives as a monastic in the monastery of St. Anthony the Great in France.  He has written a number of books of rhyming poetry on Orthodox themes which can be found on Amazon.com.  You can find his publications by searching on the Amazon site, under “Bishop Paul of Tracheia.”  The following is from his book, Christmas Poems: 

On MONDAY we remember all the angels of the Lord,

Gabriel the messenger, and Michael with his sword,

Thrones and powers and dominations, six-winged Seraphim;

Holy!  Holy!  Holy!  Yes, thrice-holy is their hymn.

 

Michael the archangel kept the door of Paradise,

He leads the heavenly armies, and opposes wicked vice

He is the guardian angel of all faithful Christian folk,

Destroying evil demons, for invincible’s his stroke.

 

Gabriel the messenger flew down from Heaven on high

When man’s salvation by the Son of God was drawing nigh,

He found the Virgin Mary, and he told her of the plan

That she would help to realize, when God became as man. 

How many times this angel has come down to us on earth,

He came to Zacharias and announced the Baptist’s birth,

He travelled with the Kings who’d come from very far away,

To worship and adore the Saviour, born on Christmas Day. 

On TUESDAY we remember John, forerunner of the Lord.

Ascetic, very humble, he was greatly over-awed

When Jesus came to tell him that He wished to be baptized;

This holy man obeyed, but was astonished and surprised. 

‘See, the Lamb of God, who comes to wash away our sin!’

The prophet said to Andrew, ‘You must go and follow Him.’

Jesus then called Philip, who went to tell Nathanael,

Who said, ‘This is the Son of God and King of Israel.’ 

Near the River Jordan when he’d just baptized the Lord,

Because of his obedience, John received a great reward.

He saw the Holy Trinity, the blessed Three-in-One,

The Father, Son and Spirit, the eternal Triple Sun. 

This greatest of the prophets says to all of us today,

‘Repent and follow Jesus, for it’s He who is the Way!’

He raised his hand and touched the Son of God come from above,

He heard the Father speak, he saw the Spirit as a dove. 

WEDNESDAY we consider as the middle of the week,

Come and see the Virgin Mother, humble, mild and meek,

Standing with the other virgin, weeping bitter tears,

As the sound of hammers strike her pure maternal ears. 

As the second Eve, she stood before another tree,

And looked upon the fruit that hung thereon for you and me;

She wept to see how wicked men ignored that God is Love,

And for their salvation, had come down from Heaven above. 

She remembered then the words that Simeon had said;

A sword indeed had pierced her soul, when Life she saw as dead.

She took Him from the Cross, and then she laid Him in a tomb,

Fertile as had been her pure and ever-virgin womb. 

She saw the day become as night, the rocks that trembled too,

As her Son and God then opened Paradise anew,

His Cross was standing upright in the middle of the earth,

For this hour it was indeed, that she had given birth. 

On THURSDAY we remember the Apostles of the Lord,

And with them Bishop Nicolas, so easily implored;

They travelled far, and suffered much, to teach and to install

The Holy Church which is, today, the mother of us all. 

Peter, James and John, with Thomas and Bartholomew,

Philip, Luke and Matthew, Mark, Matthias and Andrew,

And with them we remember, too, the great Apostle Paul –

Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, was wisely taught by all. 

At the Holy Liturgy are mentioned all the Saints,

Yet somehow, with Saint Nicolas, one easily acquaints;

He comes to help so quickly, and he saves so many lives,

One hardly has the time to call his name, and he arrives! 

From Heaven, this holy company looks down upon the Church,

Encouraging theology, and spiritual research.

On all these great Apostles was the Spirit of the Lord,

To live with Him in Paradise—their well-deserved reward! 

On FRIDAY we remember Jesus Christ was crucified—

To save us all from death, upon the Tree of Life He died.

This precious Wood discovered by a very pious queen,

From the town of Colchester, where maybe you have been. 

Many are the relics of this very sacred Tree,

Which the Lord of Glory used to save both you and me,

With this sign we bless ourselves; yes, blessings now abound,

Wherever Jesus’ Cross—His sign of victory—may be found. 

O Tree of Life!  O Tree of Love!  O Tree of Sacrifice!

The wood which made the Cross is now the door to Paradise,

For you revealed theology, and showed that GOD IS LOVE,

When Jesus on your branches, was then lifted up above. 

I will follow Jesus, with my cross upon my back;

I pray to have humility, then I will never lack

The patience that is necessary, if I want to be

Crucified with Jesus, and be nailed upon a tree. 

On SATURDAY we pray for all those who’ve gone before,

And sailed across the ocean, and have reached the other shore.

Jesus knows this place, and so He went there to prepare

Eternal joy in Paradise, that all may come and share. 

The Son of God Himself reposed upon this sacred day,

No longer in the manger, in a sepulcher He lay,

Resting from his work accomplished perfectly on earth,

Hidden like a jewel of inestimable worth. 

We pray that God remember those that we commemorate.

The godly souls of all who resurrection now await.

They loved Him and they served Him, and they offered Him their life,

Hierarchs, priests or monks, or those who lived as man and wife. 

To pray is to remember, to remember is to love,

And love unites us here below, with those who are above.

O Jesus Christ, may every soul for-ever find in Thee

A harbor, having crossed the waves of life’s tempestuous sea. 

On SUNDAY, in the morning, when the sun began to rise,

The holy women, bearing myrrh, were taken by surprise,

They found the tomb was empty, and they heard an angel’s voice;

They came to weep, but they returned for-ever to rejoice. 

They saw the holy angel who was sitting on the stone

Which had sealed the sepulcher—he used it as a throne.

Dressed in light, he turned to them and this is what he said,

‘Christ is risen!  Do not seek the living with the dead.’

But Mary Magdalena could in no way be consoled,

Despite the angel’s presence, and the news she had been told,

As she wept, she saw a man was standing very near,

She thought He was the gardener, for so He did appear… 

‘Tell me, was it you who came and took my Lord this night?’

‘Mary,’ said the gardener, and great was her delight,

For when she heard that voice she knew for certain it was He,

Who, risen from the dead, would live and reign eternally. 

Before we end this lesson, which I hope you’ve understood,

I believe it is important that we live as Christians should,

God would like us all to be His children, loving, true;

Less important what we know, than what in fact we do. 

On MONDAY, like the angels, we shall offer hymns of praise,

On TUESDAY we shall try to mend and straighten out our ways,

On WEDNESDAY, with the Virgin, we shall stand at Calvary,

On THURSDAY as Apostles and disciples we shall be. 

On FRIDAY we’ll be crucified with Jesus Christ our King,

On SATURDAY we know that death no longer has its sting,

On SUNDAY, when we wake from sleep, immediately we say:

‘CHRIST IS RISEN!  Let us all rejoice upon this day!’

St. Silouan on love

The soul cannot know peace unless she prays for her enemies. The soul that has learned of God's grace to pray, feels love and compassion for every created thing, and in particular for mankind, for whom the Lord suffered on the Cross, and His soul was heavy for every one of us.

The Lord taught me to love my enemies. Without the grace of God we cannot love our enemies. Only the Holy Spirit teaches love, and then even devils arouse our pity because they have fallen from good, and lost humility in God.

I beseech you, put this to the test. When a man affronts you or brings dishonor on your head, or takes what is yours, or persecutes the Church, pray to the Lord, saying: "O Lord, we are all Thy creatures. Have pity on Thy servants and turn their hearts to repentance," and you will be aware of grace in your soul. To begin with, constrain your heart to love enemies, and the Lord, seeing your good will, will help you in all things, and experience itself will show you the way. But the man who thinks with malice of his enemies has not God's love within him, and does not know God.

If you will pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; but when you can love your enemies - know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation. Whereas if you revile your enemies, it means there is an evil spirit living in you and bringing evil thoughts into your heart, for, in the words of the Lord, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts - or good thoughts.

The good man thinks to himself in this wise: Every one who has strayed from the truth brings destruction on himself and is therefore to be pitied. But of course the man who has not learned the love of the Holy Spirit will not pray for his enemies. The man who has learned love from the Holy Spirit sorrows all his life over those who are not saved, and sheds abundant tears for the people, and the grace of God gives him strength to love his enemies.

Understand me. It is so simple. People who do not know God, or who go against Him, are to be pitied; the heart sorrows for them and the eye weeps. Both paradise and torment are clearly visible to us: We know this through the Holy Spirit. And did not the Lord Himself say, "The kingdom of God is within you"? Thus eternal life has its beginning here in this life; and it is here that we sow the seeds of eternal torment.

Where there is pride there cannot be grace, and if we lose grace we also lose both love of God and assurance in prayer. The soul is then tormented by evil thoughts and does not understand that she must humble herself and love her enemies, for there is no other way to please God.

What shall I render unto Thee, O Lord, for that Thou hast poured such great mercy on my soul? Grant, I beg Thee, that I may see my iniquities, and ever weep before Thee, for Thou art filled with love for humble souls, and dost give them the grace of the Holy Spirit.

O merciful God, forgive me. Thou seest how my soul is drawn to Thee, her Creator. Thou hast wounded my soul with Thy love, and she thirsts for Thee, and wearies without end, and day and night, insatiable, reaches toward Thee, and has no wish to look upon this world, though I do love it, but above all I love Thee, my Creator, and my soul longs after Thee.

O my Creator, why have I, Thy little creature, grieved Thee so often? Yet Thou hast not remembered my sins.

Glory be to the Lord God that He gave us His Only-begotten Son for the sake of our salvation. Glory be to the Only-begotten Son that He deigned to be born of the Most Holy Virgin, and suffered for our salvation, and gave us His Most Pure Body and Blood to eternal life, and sent His Holy Spirit on the earth.

O Lord, grant me tears to shed for myself, and for the whole universe, that the nations may know Thee and live eternally with Thee, O Lord, vouchsafe us the gift of Thy humble Holy Spirit, that we may apprehend Thy glory.

On wonders & miracles performed

The greater miracle is to root out the tinder of luxury from one’s flesh rather than to drive unclean spirits from the bodies of others.  A more resplendent wonder is restraint exercised over the wild stirrings of anger by the virtue of patience, rather than the capacity to hold sway over the creatures of the air.  Much more important is the exclusion of ravening gloom from one’s heart than the ability to drive out the sicknesses and the bodily fevers of someone else.  Lastly, it is in many ways more remarkable and more sublime virtue to be able to heal the weaknesses of one’s own soul rather than the failings of another’s body.  The more exalted the soul is by comparison with the body, the more its salvation is to be preferred; the more valuable and excellent its substance, the graver and more deadly its ruin.  This is what is said to the most blessed apostles concerning bodily cures, ‘Do not rejoice because demons submit to you,’ (Luke 10:20).  It was the invoked name which achieved this and not the power of the apostles.  Therefore they are warned not to dare to lay claim to blessedness or glory because of what is done through the power and the virtue of God, but rather to make such a claim because the deep purity of their lives and hearts has earned them the right to have their names written in heaven. 

Blessed Mother's Day!

Mothers--what would we do without them?? To begin with, none of us would be here! We give thanks for all our dear mothers, those here with us and those who`ve gone on ahead (may their memories be eternal!)

As Orthodox, the Lord has given us shelter and recourse to His own mother, our Panagia Theotokos. Let us honor her as the mother of all Christians and give glory to her Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who performed His first miracle as a response to a plea made by His own mother during a wedding at Cana.

There is no love and care quite like that which can be offered by a God-fearing mother; may all those who`ve been given this great responsibility and stewardship be honored and appreciated by those who`ve been blessed by their ministry in this world.  Pres. Candace

BLESS O LORD--A TRIBUTE TO MOTHERS
A beautiful meditation, adapted from a Roman Catholic site:

Heavenly Father, You have been pleased to give human beings the joy of having a mother, one who labors to give them life and bring them to adulthood.

You have given followers of your Son the added joy of a Christian mother, who works with You to give supernatural life to a child and to nurture that child to Christian adulthood.

Over the centuries there have been countless such mothers---faithful, loving, devout, courageous, dedicated, and unconquerable. They have given us Christian Saints and the continuation of the Christian Faith. Without them, there would be no religious vocation, and apart from the grace of the All Holy Spirit, no Christian influence in the world. Most of these mothers have been unsung heroines in the eyes of the world; yet, Lord, You know them and have granted them eternal joy.

In Your eyes, they are of inestimable worth. Your Word uses a mother`s love to describe your overwhelming love for your people, our Lord uses the image of a mother bird to indicate His love for His people. Most of all, when He wants to convey an idea of the joy of those in heaven, He does so by using the image of a mother`s pure joy in bringing a child into the world.

Dear Lord, let me honor my mother if she is living and remember her in prayer if she has passed into eternal life. Pour down your grace upon her and on all mothers on this day dedicated to them. Amen.

Receive the Body of Christ

The man who has found love eats and drinks Christ every day and hour and so is made immortal.  Whoever eats of this bread, He says, which I will give him, will never taste death.  Blessed is he who consumes the bread of love, which is Jesus!  He who eats of love eats Christ, the God over all, as John bears witness, saying, God is love. 

To draw or to repel God All-mighty

If you put something fragrant onto burning coals, you motivate those who approach to come back again and to stay near, but if, instead, you put on something with an unpleasant, oppressive smell, you repel them and drive them away.  It is the same with the mind.  If your attention is occupied with what is holy, you make yourself worthy of being visited by God, since this is the sweet savour which God catches scent of.  On the other hand, if you nurture evil, foul and earthly thoughts within you, you remove yourself from God’s supervision and, unfortunately, make yourself worthy of His aversion.