Activate your hope in Him

If you believe that God is trustworthy, hope in Him alone; and you will share in His benefactions.  But if you are fainthearted, it is obvious that you do not believe Him to be either trustworthy or powerful.  For if you do not believe that God can help you in your personal affairs, how can you believe Him to be powerful and omnipotent in other matters?  

The most powerful means of defense

The spirits of evil try to enslave us, so that we become tied to certain people or things, in order to prevent our hearts from going out to God --- the Source of life and love.  For they know that if our hearts unite with Him, then they cannot come close to us.  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 is the most powerful means of defense there is.  There are no weapons - and no power - that can measure themselves against love.  Everything is defeated before love. 

Drawing the grace of God

If you keep the way of innocence, the way of righteousness, if you walk with a firm and steady step, if, depending on God with your whole strength and with your whole heart, you only 'be' what you have begun to be, liberty and power to do is given you in proportion to the increase of your spiritual grace.  For there is not, as in the case with earthly benefits, any measure of stint in the dispensing of the heavenly gift.  The Spirit freely flowing forth is restrained by no limits, is checked by no closed barriers within certain bounded spaces; It flows perpetually, It is exuberant in Its affluence. Let our hearts only be athirst, and be ready to receive: in the degree in which we bring to it a capacious faith, in that measure we draw from It an overflowing grace. 

Through the intercessions of the Forerunner

Lord, my God, I stand condemned before Your holy face, and I confess my unworthiness, my weakness and my great poverty.  Therefore I pray to You, the sweet fountain and depth of compassion:  Open the gates of heaven and rain the abundance of Your loving kindness upon me that I may thus pour forth tears and weep, cleansing and washing my soul of the stain of sin with true and deep repentance.  I offer as my intercessor for this great gift, O Lord, the forerunner John, and I cry to him, O teacher of repentance and great prophet who are greater than all the prophets, as the Son of God Himself said in the holy Gospel.  You showed the Master Christ to the people; you baptized Him in the Jordan and beheld the heavens opening; you heard the voice of the heavenly father and beheld the Holy Spirit as a dove descending upon Him.  I pray to you to help me by your intercessions as you stand in heaven before the eternal Judge.  Turn Him to have compassion upon me, for you have great boldness before His love.  Stretch forth your hand, with which you baptized Him, and destroy my evil thoughts, and strengthen me to spend my life on the good path of God.  O Prophet, illumine my mind with the commandments of the Lord so that I may remember them and preserve them to the end of my life.  Stand near me at the hour of my death, and lead me before God, my Master.  Intercede also for the whole world, that God may grant help to Christians.  May He grant the living and the departed rest from their many labors, bestowing upon them all which is needful and making them worthy of His kingdom.  Amen. 

 

On Christian books

The acquisition of Christian books is necessary for those who can use them.  For the mere sight of these books renders us less inclined to sin and incites us to believe more firmly in righteousness. 

 

Feast Day of the All Holy Spirit

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Who fills the whole universe, passes through all believing, meek, humble, good and simple human souls, dwelling in them, vivifying and strengthening them.  He becomes one spirit with them and everything to them—light, strength, peace, joy, success in their undertakings, especially to a pious life, and everything good. 

Blessed Feast of Holy Pentecost



The power to bear Mysteries, which the humble man has received, which makes him perfect in every virtue without toil, this is the very power which the blessed apostles received in the form of fire.  For its sake the Savior, commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until they should receive power from on high, that is to say, the Paraclete, which, being interpreted, is the Spirit of consolation.  And this is the Spirit of divine visions.  Concerning this it is said in divine Scripture: ‘Mysteries are revealed to the humble,’ (Ecclesiastics 3:19).  The humble are accounted worthy of receiving in themselves this Spirit of revelations Who teaches mysteries.