Category: Uncategorized

October 25

After the devil and his demons had brought about man’s exile from paradise and from God by making him transgress, they found they could inwardly derange–to a greater or lesser extent–anyone’s reason whenever they wanted to. The only defense against this is the ceaseless mindfulness of God, for if such mindfulness is stamped on the heart through the power of the cross it will render our thought steadfast and unshakeable.

This is a state to which the spiritual contest of every Christian who enters the arena of Christ’s faith should lead, if he is not to struggle in vain. For it is to achieve this state that God’s athlete embraces all the various forms of ascetic practice.

~St Symeon the New Theologian

October 24

If, my son, you wish to acquire within yourself your own lamp of noetic light and spiritual knowledge, so as to walk without stumbling in the dark night of this age; and if you wish your steps to be ordered by the Lord, delighting in the way of the Gospel–that is, desiring with ardent faith, with zeal and prayer, to practice the commandments of the Gospel–then I will show you a wonderful spiritual method to help you achieve this.

It does not call for bodily exertion, but requires spiritual effort, control of the intellect, and an attentive understanding, assisted by fear and love of God. Through this method you can easily put to flight the cohorts of the enemy. If, then, you wish to triumph over the passions, enter within yourself through prayer and with the help of God. Descend into the depths of the heart, and search out the three powerful giants–forgetfulness, sloth and ignorance–which enable the rest of the evil passions to infiltrate into the self-indulgent soul, and to live, energize and flourish there.

Then through strict attentiveness and control of the intellect, together with help from above, you will track down these evil giants, about which most people are ignorant; and so you will be able to free yourself from them by means of strict attentiveness and prayer. For when, through the action of grace, zeal for true knowledge, for mindfulness of God’s word and for genuine concord is diligently planted and cultivated in the heart, then the last traces of forgetfulness, ignorance and sloth are expunged from it.

~St Mark the Ascetic

October 23

Let us therefore imitate our fathers and like them let us seek the treasure within our hearts. And when we have found it let us hold fast to it with all our might, both cultivating and guarding it (cf. Genesis 2:15); for this is what we were commanded to do from the beginning….if we are full of disbelief and doubt about the practice of the ascetic like, how shall we enjoy the fruits of contemplation? For it is practice that initiates us into contemplation.

~Nikiphoros the Monk

October 22

For as long as you live do not abandon prayer even for a single day on the excuse of illness. Heed St Paul, who says, ‘When I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). If you act in this spirit, your profit will be greater, and the prayer–grace assisting–will soon make you well. Wherever the Spirit brings solace, illness and listlessness are short-lived.

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

October 21

To the person who hankers after material things and who steeps himself in sensual pleasure, the heavens are closed, since his spiritual eyes are shrouded; but he who scorns material things and who repudiates them exalts his intellect and perceives the glory of eternal realities and the luminosity of the saints.

Such a person is filled with divine love and becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit; he aspires to do God’s will and is guided by the Spirit of God, being granted divine sonship, blessed by God and conforming to Him. “For all who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

October 20

If you struggle to keep the commandments, persisting in the paradise of prayer and cleaving to God through continuous recollection of Him, then God will release you from the self-indulgent proclivities of the flesh, from all sensory impulsion and from all forms engraved upon your thought; and rendering you dead to the passions and to sin He will make you a participant in divine life.

A sleeping person looks like one dead so far as his bodily activity is concerned, and yet he is alive thanks to the cooperation of his soul. Similarly if you abide in the Spirit you are dead to the world and the flesh, but you live according to the spontaneity of the Spirit.

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

October 19

If through sincere, continual prayer you stand aloof from desire for earthly things, if you repose not with sleep but through abandoning concern with everything except God, being steadfastly rooted solely in mindfulness of God, you will establish in yourself, like another helpmate, love for God.

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

October 18

…when the intellect remains free from fantasy and image, not permitting itself to be shaped or stamped either by the taints of sensual pleasure or by thoughts full of desire, then it is in a state of simplicity; and transcending all sensory and intelligible realities, it concentrates its vision on God.

Its sole activity is to invoke the Lord’s name in the depth of itself with continuous recollectedness…so the intellect molded by the virtues and repeatedly invoking the Lord with a pure mind and an ardent spirit, is divinely transformed, quickened and deified through knowing and loving God.

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

October 17

When the intellect turns away from external things and concentrates on what is within, it is restored to itself; it is united, that is to say, to the principle of its own consciousness, and through this principle naturally inherent in its own substance it devotes itself entirely to prayer.

By means of prayer it ascends with all its loving power and affection to the knowledge of God….it pursues the beauty of Christ, engaging in works of devotion…it cleaves to Christ with love…it continually contemplates Christ….discoursing with Christ in pure prayer it is filled with delight and joy…

For God welcomes the discourse born of prayer, and when He is lovingly invoked and called to our aid, He bestows inexpressible joy on the beseeching soul. For when the soul brings God to mind in the discourse of prayer, it is gladdened by the Lord…

~Theoliptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia

The Evergreens & Me

Glorious evergreen trees—

describers of beauty,

and illustrators of God’s Love,

dignified and wise sentinels—

you stand watch in the awakening dawn,

your upturned faces aglow;

and you crown the twilight skies,

your silhouettes stark against the waning light.

 

Alone or en masse you inspire me—

by your serene patience and constancy,

always at attention,

alert and perceiving,

quietly, silently, exuding your wisdom.

 

Thank you for standing watch over me,

and all of my brothers and sisters.

 

You are always here among us,

as a testament to our Heavenly Father’s enduring love.

You are living examples of life eternal,

for by comparison with our short human sojourns,

your arboreal longevity seems infinite.

 

You stand unmovable like rock,

but you are alive like flesh.

Deep within your furrows,

and under your barky skin,

there is life, alive and vibrant, and energetic.

 

Though you stand so still and stoically,

you teem with vitality, and are active beyond measure.

A never ending river of life courses through you,

as you make food from light,

and shower us with oxygen and water.

 

In so many ways I depend on you,

and not least of all you show me how to worship.

I always see you standing in constant prayer—

Never failing.

 

Like arrows, your bodies, they direct my thoughts to heaven,

and your many arms, outstretched and swaying, call upon the Lord all day and night.

 

As I gaze up into your massive structures, I am in awe of you—

and your slow, yet inexorable,

and indefatigable climb upwards into the Heavens—

I hope and pray that I may seek that same Kingdom

with a fraction of the dedication I perceive in you.

 

Glorious evergreen trees,

thank you for all of these things,

and thank you God,

for giving us one another.

 

~FS