The need to return to the original, undivided Christianity
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"In America, the need for roots is obvious: the fragmentation of Christian sects and the diverse understandings of Christian doctrine and practice—based upon personal interpretation of Scripture and Christian life—point to the need to return to the original, undivided Christianity, which is Orthodoxy." – Fr. Seraphim Rose
About today and tomorrow
"Boast not of tomorrow, for you know not what any day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1).
Brethren, let us not boast of that which is not within our power. The Lord has set the seasons and the years under His authority, and He arranges them. God Himself alone knows whether tomorrow will number us among the living or the dead. Some have died on the eve of their marriage; others have descended into the grave on the eve of their coronation with a royal diadem. Therefore, let no one say: "Tomorrow will be for me the happiest day of my life, for tomorrow I enter into marriage!" or, "Tomorrow I will be crowned with a royal diadem!" or "Tomorrow I am going to a great feast!" or "Tomorrow a great gain is coming to me!" Oh, let no one speak of the happiness of tomorrow. Behold, this very night your soul may depart your body, and tomorrow you will find yourself surrounded by black demons in the tollhouses [Mitarstvo]! This very night, a man can be separated from his relatives and friends, from wealth and honor, from the sun and the stars, and find himself in a totally unknown company, in an unseen place, and at an unexpected judgment.
Instead of boasting of tomorrow, it would be better to pray to God to give us this day our daily bread. Today may be our last day on earth. That is why it is better to spend this day in repentance for all our past days on earth, rather than vainly fantasizing about tomorrow, about a day which perhaps will not dawn for us. Vain fantasizing about tomorrow cannot bring us any good, but repentance with tears for one day can save us from eternal fire.
O righteous Lord, burn up the insane vanity that is in us.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
Faith presents a new way of thinking
“Faith presents a new way of thinking, through which is effected all the work of knowing in the believing man. This new way of thinking is humility. Within the infinite reality of faith, the intellect abases itself before the ineffable mysteries of new life in the Holy Spirit. The pride of the intellect gives way to humility and modesty replaces presumption.” - St. Justin (Popovich)
Why are we so greedy
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"Why are we so greedy after money, honors, dress, and various other things? All these are dead, perishable, transitory." - St. John of Kronstadt
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Knowledge born of spiritual struggle
“If we prepare ourselves with the knowledge born of spiritual struggle, we will be able to recognize Christ when He comes. But if we do not recognize the signs of our times and the Antichrist, and if we do not have Christ dwelling in our hearts, then when Christ comes we will be with those nations which will be lamenting because they are with Antichrist. They will see Christ coming, and all their Christianity will have been proved false.” - Fr. Seraphim Rose
No sorrows that are not turned into joy
"The righteous have no sorrows that are not turned into joy, as sinners have no joy that is not turned into sorrow." - St. Dimitri of Rostov
Stand fast and hold the traditions
"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." 2 Thessalonians 2:15
"They offered me to save my life by renouncing God and the priesthood"
"From prison, Priest Valerian wrote this message to his wife, 'They offered me to save my life by renouncing God and the priesthood. I refused. How will you manage to raise our children alone?' She responded, 'Do not renounce God or the priesthood. The Lord will help me.' This is the last conversation between Priest Valerian Novitsky and his wife, Dominika Ignatievna…On February 23 of the same year [1930], he was executed." https://obitel-minsk.org/en/faithful-to-christ-hieromartyr-valerian-novitsky
About the palace and the hut
"The house of the wicked shall be overthrown but the hut of the righteous shall flourish" (Proverbs 14:11).
The palace of Herod lies in ruins, but the cave of the Child of Bethlehem remains. The crowns of the caesars have been lost, but the bones of the martyrs have been preserved. The palaces of the pagan kings have been transformed into piles of stone and dust, but the caves of the ascetics have grown into most beautiful churches. The golden idols have been scattered into nothing, but the chains of the Apostle Peter are preserved as a holy relic. The powerful Roman Empire is now only a tale of the dead, while the hut of Christianity, the Holy Church, is today the most powerful realm in the world. Where are the Jews, the murderers of God? They are dispersed throughout the world. Where are the powerful Romans? In the grave. Where is the power of bloody Nero? Where is the power of the evil Diocletian and the depraved Maximian? Where is the success of Julian the Apostate? Where are those high towers? They are where the tower of Babel is--beneath dust and ashes, beneath shame and damnation.
Go about your own city and inquire how many homes of the godless are excavated? How many huts of the righteous have grown into beautiful houses? Brethren, heaven and earth are founded on justice, on God's steadfast justice. That is why all the pagan creations are like arrogant bubbles, which burst and are trampled on by passers-by. The palaces of the pharaohs and the Babylonians are like trampled bubbles, while the tent of the righteous Abraham flourishes and blossoms in eternity. O my brethren, how all-powerful and long lasting is justice, and how noisy and transient is injustice, like a storm on a summer's day!
O Righteous Lord, how magnificent and consistent You are in the exercise of Your justice.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
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From the Prologue of Ohrid
Photo: The Holy Orthodox Monastery of Varlaam (Meteora, Greece)
Sunday of All Saints
"The first Sunday after the Feast of Holy Pentecost is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of All Saints. This day has been designated as a commemoration of all of the Saints, all the Righteous, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Shepherds, Teachers, and Holy Monastics, both men and women alike, known and unknown, who have been added to the choirs of the Saints and shall be added, from the time of Adam until the end of the world, who have been perfected in piety and have glorified God by their holy lives." https://www.goarch.org/-/sunday-of-all-saints
Adorned
in the blood of Your Martyrs throughout all the world as in purple and fine
linen, Your Church, through them, does cry unto You, O Christ God, "Send
down Your compassion upon Your people; grant peace to Your commonwealth, and
great mercy to our souls." (Apolytikion for the Feast of All Saints)
About those who love death
"All they that hate Me love death" (Proverbs 8:35).
Thus speaks the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, through His prophet. He who hates the wisdom of God, hates God, and he who hates God--what else is there for him to love except death? Is not everything outside of the Lord death? The sun and stars, the seas and mountains, animals and plants--what is all of this except dead dust formed and enlivened by the power of God, the word of God, the wisdom of God? He who does not love God not only does not love God, but also does not love anything that is from God: neither the beauty of the stars, nor the order of the seas and mountains, nor the living power that is in animals and plant life. He who does not love God removes and distances God from nature. What else then is left? Only dead, formless, dark dust--only death. Even that dust is created by God, and the blasphemer of God must return that dust to God, and that which is left over he can love. What is left over? Only that which does not touch God, i.e., death, sin and the devil. He who does not love God, in essence, loves death, sin and the devil. Every blasphemer of God is a toy of the devil, a fruit of sin, and a pawn of death.
If we despise You, O Loving Lord, we do not have anyone or anything to love. For that which we love on earth we love because of You, and the ability to love is from You. Foolish is he who loves the rays and despises the sun, and who loves a drop of water and despises the spring.
Inspire us with life-giving love for You, O our All-loving Lord.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
"Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?" John 18:38
Today, unlike any other time in history, people are literally staring in the face of TRUTH. The TRUTH of a created universe! The TRUTH of sin! The Truth of miracles! The TRUTH of the Gospels! The TRUTH of the resurrected Christ! The TRUTH of Christ’s "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!" And yet, like Pontius Pilate 2000 years ago, they don’t recognize the TRUTH even though HIS light is shining right at them.
About the guarding of the heart
"With closest custody, guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
In the heart is the will, in the heart is love, in the heart is understanding, in the heart is the face of the All-holy and Divine Trinity. The heart is the home of the Father, the altar of the Son, and the workshop of the Holy Spirit. God wants the heart: My Son, give me your heart (Proverbs: 23:26). O my brethren, above all that is guarded, guard your heart! Let the mountains be overturned; let the seas dry up; let your friends abandon you; let your wealth fail you; let your body be consumed by worms; let the world pour upon you all the ridicule that it has--but be not afraid. Only guard your heart; guard it and affix it to the Lord; give it to the Lord. From the heart comes life; but from where does life in the heart come if there does not dwell in it the breath of the Lord and Source of Life--the breath of God?
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things (St. Matthew 12:35). These are the words of the Lord, Who fills the treasury of your heart with His riches. Who is this "good man?" He who has the good treasure of the heart. Who is this "evil man?" He who has the evil treasure of the heart. For out of the heart [of an evil man] proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (St. Matthew 15:19) and from the good heart proceed love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). Do you see how great a storehouse is the heart of man? Do you see all that can fit in the heart of man? O brother, God the Holy Spirit Himself, when it pleases Him, can fit in the heart of man. He not only can, but He will. He only waits for you to prepare your heart for Him, to turn it into a temple, for God the Holy Spirit will only dwell in a temple. Just as a serpent protects its head, so you, son, guard your heart. Above everything that is guarded, son, guard your heart! For into the heart enters life and from it proceeds life, life from the Living God.
O Life-giving Lord, help us to guard our heart for You, for You, the Lord!
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
The end of the contest is the end of this whole corruptible world
“We who are trying to acquire basic Christian knowledge and understanding must do so by means of trials; we must be tested and thereby become sober and discerning. At the same time, in the midst of this, seeing all kinds of tragedies around us, we must be joyful, knowing that the end of the contest is the end of this whole corruptible world.” - Fr. Seraphim Rose
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Is Holy Scripture sufficient in order to guide man to salvation?
“No, it is not sufficient to guide man to salvation, inasmuch as, firstly, it wasnt given to man from the beginning and, secondly, when it was given it wasnt the only authentic text, with regard to the salvation of human souls, because before it there was the Holy Tradition.
“Many years before Moses began writing the first books of the Old Testament, there was sacred piety in the community of the people of Israel. Similarly, the books of the New Testament began to be written ten years after the formal foundation of the Church, which took place on the day of Pentecost. The Church chose and sealed as inspired by God the books of the two Testaments over one hundred years later. These then comprised the declared Canon of the books of Holy Scripture. Thereafter the Church maintained this Canon of Truth, inasmuch as it is the very pillar and ground of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The Holy Spirit operates within all of this for the preservation of the truth about salvation. Where the Church is, says Saint Jerome, there also is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there also is the Church and all grace - since the Spirit is truth.” - Elder Cleopa of Romania
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