| The Saints live in Christ, but Christ also lives in them through His Divine Energies, His Grace. And where Christ is, there is the Father and the Holy Spirit also. Christ says, Abide in Me, and I in you; and elsewhere He says, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 15:4; 14:23). Thus, St. Justin makes bold to say that the Lives of the Saints not only bear witness to the Life in Christ: they may even be said to be the continuation of the Life of Christ on earth. " The Lives of the Saints, " says St. Justin, " are nothing else but the life of the Lord Christ, repeated in every Saint to a greater or lesser degree in this or that form. More precisely, it is the life of the Lord Christ continued through the Saints, the life of the incarnate God the Logos, the God-man Jesus Christ Who became man. " This is an amazing thing that St. Justin is saying: when we read the Lives of the Saints, we are reading the Life of our Lord Jesus Christ. This in itself should be enough to convince us of the importance of filling our souls with the Lives of the Saints. St. Justin also says that the Lives of the Saints are a continuation of the Acts of the Apostles. " What are the " Acts of the Apostles " ? " he asks. " They are the acts of Christ, which the Holy Apostles do by the power of Christ, or better still: they do them by Christ Who is in them and acts through them. " And what are the " Lives of the Saints " ? They are nothing else but a certain kind of continuation of the " Acts of the Apostles. " In them is found the same Gospel, the same life, the same truth, the same righteousness, the same love, the same faith, the same eternity, the same " power from on high, " the same God and Lord. For the Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Heb. 13:8): the same for all peoples of all times, distributing the same gifts and the same Divine Energies to all who believe in Him. " |
| Thus, the measuring stick of relationships to others is simplicity and sincerity, good will, and love for all—this is the best side of relationships to others. But not rarely, the nature of relationships to others is cunning, suspicion, dislike, rudeness, envy, extreme selfishness, self-seeking, partiality, vanity, ambition, vainglory, sensuality, or extreme haughtiness; that is, a high opinion of one " s self, which seeks to humiliate others. In general, we can observe more insincere relationships amongst people than pure-hearted ones, because the whole heart is infected to a greater or lesser extent with the impurity of sin, covered with the corruption of the passions. For, Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin? (Prov. 20:9), say the Scriptures. Therefore, some words are smooth as oil, and yet they are poison darts. Thus, according to the teaching of our Savior, the measure of our relationships to others should be correct love for our own selves. As we would like others to treat us, so shall we treat them—that it, simply, pure-heartedly, meekly, lovingly, trustingly, condescendingly, sympathetically, patiently. The Lord offers Himself as an example to us, and we should ceaselessly look at it and learn from it. Learn of me, He says, because I am meek, and humble of heart (Mt. 11:29). The Apostle Paul says, Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). He also teaches, Let love be without dissimulation... Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another… Distributing to the necessity of saints (that is, to you brother Christians); given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink… Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers (Rom. 12:9-21; 13:1). |
| By reading Holy Scripture, you are bringing yeast into the dough of your soul and body, which gradually spreads, permeating the soul, until it saturates all of it and leavens it with evangelic truth and justice. At any event, the Saviors story about the sower and the seed can be applied to each of us. In the Holy Scriptures we are given the Divine Truth. Reading it, we sow that seed in our souls; and it falls on both the stony and the weedy places of our soul, and partly on the good ground of our hearts – and it brings forth fruit. And when you look at the fruit and taste it you will zealously and joyously rush to reclaim the stony and weed-filled places of your soul, re-tilling and sowing with the seed of Gods word. Do you know when man is wise in the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ? When he listens to His words and does them. The beginning of wisdom is – listening to the word of God (Matt. 7:24-25). Each word of the Savior has the power and strength to heal physical and spiritual diseases. “Say the word and my servant will be healed” (Matt. 8:8). The Savior said the word and the servant of the centurion was healed. As it happened then, so it happens now. The Lord is ceaselessly speaking His words to you and me and to all of us. We only need to settle ourselves, immerse ourselves in them and receive them –with the faith of the centurion. And miracles will happen with us and our souls will be healed just as the centurions servant was healed. For, in the gospels the following is written: “They brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick” (Matt. 8:16). He does this today as well, for the Lord Jesus is the one who is the same yesterday, today and for all ages (Heb. 13:8). At the dread judgment it will be more difficult for those who dont listen to the word of God than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt. 10:14-15). Mind you, at the dread judgment you will be asked for an account, what you did with the words of God, did you listen and adopt them, did you rejoice in them or were you ashamed of them. If you were ashamed of them the Lord will be ashamed of you when you come to the glory of His Father with the holy Angels (Mark 8:38). There are few human words that are not barren and empty, and for that reason there are few for which we will not be judged (Matt. 12:36). In order to avoid this, we should study and learn the words of God from Holy Scriptures, make them ours, since that was why God gave them to man, that he might adopt them, and through them Gods very Truth. |
| Can I worthily praise the unfathomable mercy of the all-good God, His ineffable love for mankind? Shall I, along with the Prophet, call forth the hosts of angels, all tribes of man, and even more, all animals wild and tame, birds of the air, reptiles of the ground, fishes of all the great expanses of the sea, and all inanimate creation to join in these laudations? Even all creation united as one mouth, one voice of praise, could not worthily hymn the adored mercy of God that surpasses all words and comprehension. Come, brethren, let us worship and fall down at the feet of this mercy. Even until now it has borne long with our iniquities, it still waits for our conversion, still stretches forth its arms to embrace us, calling those who are wandering in desert places and the impassable thickets of sin. It receives the repentant sinners, making them sons and daughters of God. Now, hearing its voice calling you to repentance, harden not your hearts (Heb. 3:15); Who hath ears to hear, let him hear (Mat. 13:9); do not remain deaf. Awake thou that sleepest the deep sleep of carelessness and total neglect of your salvation! Arise from the dead (Eph. 5:14), you who are dead by your insensibility and hardness, by a life given over wholly as a sacrifice to the flesh, sin, and corruption! May I see in you the stirrings of life awakened from sleep by the word that heralds repentance! May I hear your voice, the voice of your sighing, your lamentation, your repentance, so that I might be assured that a sign, a remnant of life is yet within you! Seeing that you have spent all the days of your life fruitlessly, the Lord has again given you a day for labor-free salvation; a day in which by sincere confession before your spiritual father you may cast from your shoulders the entire yoke of your sins. St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) Translation by Nun Cornelia (Rees) 4 апреля 2012 г. ... The Ladder, Step 18: On insensibility, that is, deadening of the soul and the death of the mind before the death of the body. |
| Every word of the Saviour has the power and the might to heal both physical and spiritual ailments. “Say the word and my servant will be healed” (Matt. 8:8). The Saviour said the word–and the centurion’s servant was healed. Just as He once did, the Lord even now ceaselessly says His words to you, to me, and to all of us. But we must pause, and immerse ourselves in them and receive them–with the centurion’s faith. And a miracle will happen to us, and our souls will be healed just as the centurion’s servant was healed. For it is related in the Gospel that they brought many possessed people to Him, and He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all the sick (Matt. 8:16). He still does this today, because the Lord Jesus “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8) Those who do not listen to God’s words will be judged at the Dreadful Judgment, and it will be worse for them on the Day of Judgment than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt. 10:14-15). Beware–at the Dreadful Judgment you will be asked to give an account for what you have done with the words of God, whether you have listened to them and kept them, whether you have rejoiced in them or been ashamed of them. If you have been ashamed of them, the Lord will also be ashamed of you when He comes in the glory of His Father together with the holy angels (Mark 8:38). There are few words of men that are not vain and idle. Thus there are few words for which we do not mind being judged (Matt. 12:36). In order to avoid this, we must study and learn the words of God from the Bible and make them our own; for God proclaimed them to men so that they might accept them, and by means of them also accept the Truth of God itself. In each word of the Saviour there is more eternity and permanence than in all of heaven and earth with all their history. Hence He said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). This means that God and all that is of God is in the Saviour’s words. Therefore they cannot pass away. |
| Thus it would be natural to suppose that Galerius " edict, the Edict of Milan and the subsequent decree of Theodosius I heralded a consistent unfolding of the political logic of the Roman state. With regard to this, one may ask whether the Church herself was ready to become in effect part of the structure of the Roman state in not only replacing the already existing pagan institutions, but also in creating principally new ones. We do not find a definitive answer to this question by relying on the written sources of that period. Certainly, Constantine the Great was immediately surrounded by a circle of court bishops, including the already mentioned Eusebius of Caesarea and Eusebius of Nicodeme, who baptized the emperor before his death. The former of these is even considered by some Church historians to be responsible " for the adoption by Christians of Hellenist political thought " . [iv] However, this approach can hardly be considered conventional for the Church of that time. Christians, although they prayed " for the civil authorities and the armed forces " of the Roman Empire, nevertheless thought of themselves as citizens of the heavenly fatherland in recalling St. Paul " s testimony: " For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come " (Heb. 13: 14). Moreover, for two centuries they had lived in a state which persecuted their coreligionists, in which their faith was religio illicita - a " banned religion " . One of the accusations constantly leveled at Christians was their indifference to politics and lack of usefulness to society. This often corresponded to reality. " There is nothing so alien to us as public works " , wrote Tertullian. [v] Origen asserted that no matter where Christians lived, their " citizenship was of a different order " . [vi] As Fr. Georges Florovsky notes, " in this sense Christians were " outside of society " , they were voluntary exiles and voluntarily rejected - they were people outside of the social order of this world " . [vii] |
| The General Secretary of the WCC—the number one figure in this ecumenical organization—dies. In the cathedral church in Geneva, a large and very pretty Calvinistic church, a wake is scheduled. A portrait of the deceased was placed in the church, and people were gathered from all over the world. A “farewell” takes place before the portrait. Meanwhile a hearse containing the coffin of the General Secretary very quietly enters the square and parks at the furthest corner. The wake ends and all disperse. Only a few close relatives of the deceased, trying not to attract any attention, go to the far corner of the square where the coffin is in the hearse, get in the car, and drive to the cemetery. No one sees the deceased. And there’s no need to see him! Why remember death? We are going to live here forever, don’t you know that?! It’s beautiful here! Have you ever noticed what they show on television? Fun, festivals, dancing, games, competitions… Do they ever show hospitals? Do they show how many people suffer? And how they suffer! Once we went to visit a bed-ridden woman in an old age home. The orderly said, “You don’t want to feed her, do you? Don’t do that! If you do, then clean up after her…” So much suffering! And how do we live? Oh, if only we saw this suffering, we might change our view of life, our relationship to other people. We should after all understand that our earthly life is not a resort but a hospital. Its task is not at all to give us fantastic pleasures, but so that here, on earth, we would at least slightly understand our sickness and turn to God. For, as the apostle Paul writes, For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come (Heb. 13:14). This is why there are hardships in Russia. And there always will be hardships, as long as we are even a little bit alive. Professor Alexei Osipov Translation by Nun Cornelia (Rees) Pravoslavie.ru 30 сентября 2016 г. Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю: Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| Hearken, O daughter, and see. But the Prophet does not explain what we should hear, or where we can see the beloved Bridegroom of the soul. This is something that cannot be said once and for all, for everyone. There isn’t one voice for every hearing, nor is there one vision for every gaze. Sometimes the Lord appears to the soul when it was not expecting Him: I became manifest to them that asked not for me; I was found of them that sought me not I said, Behold, I am here, to a nation, who called not on my name (Is. 65:1). But sometimes He keeps silence and is not found by the one who seeks and calls after Him: I will rise now, and go about in the city, in the market-places, and in the streets, and I will seek him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not (Songs 3:2). But do not despond because of this, daughter of His mercy—only hearken , heed unceasingly every sign of His presence, and see , look over all His paths, Seek ye the Lord, and when ye find him, call upon him; and when he shall draw nigh to you (Is. 55:6). Hearken, O daughter, and see . Only two senses out of five leave to you a herald of the will of the King of kings. Begin to go out like Lot from these five cities that must soon perish. Leave the realm of the senses, having previously renounced those that are more fleshly and coarse. Touch not; taste not; handle not (Col 2:21) in desire and pleasure and satiety, but only out of need and infirmity of the flesh. Senses satiated with pleasures sleep outside the Heavenly Bridal chamber and do not hear His voice; the oil in their lamps burns out, and they do not see His face. Hearken, O daughter, and see. Be attentive! There are many, magnificent voices that strike the inner hearing; but not all of them are the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise —even the serpent was allowed to speak in paradise. There are many, bright forms that meet the spiritual eye, but not all of them are the true light of Christ; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Learn where you should turn, so as not to be lured away by phantoms: Incline your heart , with David, in testimonies (Ps. 118:36) of the Lord. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines (Heb. 13:9). We have also a more sure word of prophecy and apostolic word; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed , as unto a light that shineth (2 Pet. 1:19). |
| For the Kingdom of God is .?.?. righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit ( Rom 14.17 ). .?.?. it is God who establishes us with you in Christ .?.?. He has put His seal upon us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee ( 2Cor 1.22 ). In Him .?.?. you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory. .?.?. do not grieve the Holy Spirit in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption ( Eph 1.13–14, 4.30 ). The seal of the Holy Spirit on men’s hearts is the pledge and guarantee of the Kingdom of God still to come in all power and glory. In the prayer “Thy Kingdom come,” believers in Jesus ask that the Kingdom of God “not coming in external signs of observation” for the faithless to behold, might dwell powerfully and secretly within the faithful (cf. Lk 17.20–21 ). “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is the center of the Lord’s Prayer, the central desire of Christians. The whole purpose of prayer, the very purpose of man’s life, is to do the will of God. This is what Jesus prayed and did (cf. Mt 26.42 ). And this is what His followers must pray and do. There is but one purpose of prayer, say the spiritual teachers, to keep God’s commandments so as not to sin, thus leading to deification and divine sonship with Christ. The only thing that God demands of us mortals is that we do not sin. But this .?.?. is merely keeping inviolate the image and rank we possess by nature. Clothed thus in the radiant garment of the Spirit, we abide in God and He in us; through grace we become gods and sons of God and are illumined by the light of His knowledge .?.?. (Saint Simeon the New Theologian, 10th c., Practical and Theological Precepts). To pray “Thy will be done” according to the spiritual teachers, is a daring and dangerous act. This is so, first of all, because when one makes this prayer, he must be ready, like Christ, to follow where it leads. God will answer this prayer, and make known His will. The person who prays must be ready to obey, whatever the consequences. When asked why many Christians are frustrated and irritated, grouchy and mean, and sometimes even somewhat “unbalanced,” one spiritual teacher responded that the reason is clear. They pray “Thy will be done,” and continue daily to do so, while at the same time they resist God’s will in their lives and so are always ill at ease. Then they begin to justify their attitudes and actions, to explain and to rationalize their behavior, before their own consciences and others. A person in such as state can never be at peace, for “it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb 10.31). |
| Such also was the teaching of Wisdom. The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends. He who despises his neighbor is a sinner, but happy is he who is kind to the poor. He who mocks the poor, insults his Maker, he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished ( Prov 14.20–21, 17.5 ). According to Saint John Chrysostom, no one can be saved without giving alms and without caring for the poor. Saint Basil the Great says that a man who has two coats or two pair of shoes, when his neighbor has none, is a thief. All earthly things are the possessions of God. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it” ( Ps 24.1 ). Men are but stewards of what belongs to the Lord and should share the gifts of His creation with one another as much as they can. To store up earthly possessions, according to Christ, is the epitome of foolishness, and a rich man shall hardly be saved (cf. Lk 12.15–21 ). How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God” ( Lk 15.24–27 , Mt 19: 23–26 , Mk 10.23–27 ). Woe unto you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full now, for you shall hunger ( Lk 6.24–25 ). For He who is mighty .?.?. has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He sent away empty ( Lk 1.53 ). The reason why a rich man can hardly be saved, according to Jesus, is because when one has possessions, he wants to keep them, and gather still more. For the “delight in riches chokes the word of God, and so it proves unfruitful” in man’s heart ( Mt 13.22 , Mk 4.19 , Lk?8.14). According to the apostle Paul, the “love of money”-not money itself-is the “root of all evils.” There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs ( 1Tim 6.6–10 , cf. Heb 13.5–6). |
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