“Our life is hidden with Christ God”

The purpose of the incarnate economy of God the Word, which is proclaimed by all the divine Scriptures and which we read but do not understand, is surely summed up by saying that He has shared in what was ours to let us share in what is His. The Son of God became the Son of Man in order to make us men the sons of God. By grace He lifts up our race to what He is by nature. He gives birth to us from on high in the Holy Spirit, and then straightway leads us into the kingdom of heaven; or rather, He gives us the grace to have this kingdom within us. We therefore have more than just the hope of entering here; we really possess it as we cry; “Our life is hidden with Christ God” (Col. 3:3).

~St Symeon the New Theologian

Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women

Mark how great the women’s assiduity. They had followed Him, ministering to Him, and were present even to the time of the dangers. This is why they also saw all; how He cried, how He gave up the ghost; how the rocks were rent and all the rest. These women were the first to see Jesus; and the sex that was most condemned first enjoys the sight of the blessings; this sex shows its courage the most. And when the disciples had fled, these were present… Joseph, who had been concealing his discipleship of late, now became very bold after the death of Christ. He was by no means an obscure person… but one of the council… He exposed himself to death, taking great enmity upon him from all by his affection for Jesus… Do you see the women’s courage? Do you see their affection? Do you see their noble spirit in matters of money? Their noble spirit even unto death? Let the men imitate the women; let us not forsake Jesus in temptation… But we neither feed Him when hungry, nor clothe Him when naked (cf. Matt. 2:5), but seeing Him go begging, we pass Him by. And yet if we saw Him in fact, everyone would strip himself of all his goods.

~St John Chrysostom: Homily LXXXVIII on Matthew XXVII”

Happy Mother’s Day!

Fredrick Bridgman’s The Reading Lesson-1880

Ivan Pelevin’s The First Born-1888

Elimira Petrova~ Letter from the Front

Nicholas Gysis’ The New Arrival (1885-90)

Theotokos: The Mother of Life (in memory of unborn children) Svetlana Rzhanitsyna (2006)

Before I was a Mom :

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom :

I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom :
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom :

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom :
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom :

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every
10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Cemetary of the Innocents

Roderick Eugene King, a University of Wisconsin Stevens Point student government leader, takes it upon himself to vandalize a pro-life display.

The reasons he gave for his actions are surprising.

An article by by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com editor says:

King began to voice his complaints and said that Pointers for Life had “no right” to display the crosses.

King said it was “his duty as a paying student” to take down the pro-life display.

Here is a transcript of the video. Mr. King’s words are illuminating:

When asked why he was acting “like that” he says, “in 1973 there was a constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion. Since its a right, its not your responsibility. You don’t have the right to challenge it… If you want to state a fact, fine. State a fact. Write a paper… do, do not put this in front of all of us. This is not your right…”

“You don’t have the right to challenge it.” Astounding statement.

My name is Roderick Eugene King, I’m a sophomore (He also states his student identification number). Because what? Are you gonna arrest me for doing my freedom of speech or are you gonna do their’s? I don’t care if they have the university’s approval. They are actually making the worst statement to student’s here. The worst statement. If there is a student on this campus who’s had an abortion, or that might be having an abortion, might be going through this… you are gonna put this up in front of them? Are you crazy?!”

This seems typical of the emotional, vitriolic political left in the United States. I haven’t heard of anyone destroying this student’s version of “art”.

Here is a link (be forewarned it is not pleasant) to a Yale student’s “art”

This is the mentality of our culture today.

We must keep up the good fight that all of us are precious in God’s sight.

Christ is Risen!

Indeed He is Risen!

Mary-Leah

“Faith and love which are gifts of the Holy Spirit…”

“Faith and love which are gifts of the Holy Spirit are such great and powerful means that a person who has them can easily, and with joy and consolation, go the way Jesus Christ went. Besides this, the Holy Spirit gives man the power to resist the delusions of the world so that although he makes use of earthly good, yet he uses them as a temporary visitor, without attaching his heart to them. But a man who has not got the Holy Spirit, despite all his learning and prudence, is always more or less a slave and worshiper of the world.”

~St. Innocent of Irkutsk

Spare, O Lord!

Icon of the Dormition of St Ephrem

In one of his prayers, St. Ephrem the Syrian turns to God with these words: “Lord, in that awesome and dreadful day You will say to us sinners: `You men know very well what I have endured for you. What have you endured for me?’ To that, what will I, a repentant, cunning, sinful and foul one respond? The martyrs will then point to their wounds of torture, the severed parts of their bodies and their forbearance to the end. The ascetics will point to their mortifications, prolonged fasts, long vigils, philanthrophy, tears and their forbearance to the end. And I, slothful, sinful, lawless: to what will I point? Spare, O Lord! Spare, O Merciful One! Spare, O Lover of mankind!”

Reflection from The Prolog; May 10

St Thais

Commemorated on May 10

Saint Thais lived in Egypt in the fifth century. She was left an orphan upon the death of her wealthy parents, she led a pious life, distributing her wealth to the poor, and she gave shelter to pilgrims on her estate. Thais decided that she would never marry, but would devote her life to serving Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Thais spent all her inheritance, and was tempted to acquire more money by any means - she began to lead a sinful life. The Elders of Sketis near Alexandria heard of her fall from grace, and asked St John Colobus or the Dwarf (November 9) to go to Thais and persuade her to repent. “She was kind to us,” they said, “now perhaps we can help her. You, father, are wise. Go and try to save her soul, and we will pray that the Lord will help you.”

The Elder went to her home, but Thais’s servant did not want to allow him into the house. St John said, “Tell your mistress that I have brought her something very precious.” Thais, knowing that the monks occasionally found pearls at the shore, told her servant to admit the monk. When he saw her, St John sat down, looked her in the face, and then began to weep. Thais asked him why he was crying. “How can I not weep,” he asked, “when you have forsaken your Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, and are pleasing Satan by your deeds?”

The Elder’s words pierced her soul like a fiery arrow, and at once she realized how sinful her present life had become. In fear, she asked him if God would accept the repentance of a sinner like her. St John replied that the Savior awaited her repentance. That is why He came, to seek and to save the perishing. “He will welcome you with love,” he said, “and the angels will rejoice over you. As the Savior said Himself, one repentant sinner causes the powers of Heaven to rejoice (Luke 15:7).

A feeling of repentance enveloped her, and regarding the Elder’s words as a call from the Lord Himself to return to Him, Thais trembled and thought only of finding the path of salvation. She stood up and left her house without speaking to her servants, and without making any sort of disposition of her property, so that even St John was amazed.

Following St John into the wilderness, she hastened to return to God through penitence and prayer. Night fell, and the Elder prepared a place for Thais to lay down and sleep. He made a pillow for her from the sand, and he went off somewhat farther, and went to sleep after his evening prayers.

In the middle of the night, he was wakened by a light coming down from the heavens to the place where Thais was at rest. In the radiant light he saw holy angels bearing her soul to Paradise. When he went over to Thais, he found her dead.

St John prayed and asked God to reveal to him whether Thais had been saved. An angel of God appeared and told him, “Abba John, her one hour of repentance was equal to many years, because she repented with all her soul, and a compunctionate heart.”

After burying the body of the saint, St John returned to Sketis and told the monks what had happened. All offered thanks to God for His mercy toward Thais who, like the wise thief, repented in a single moment.

~St Thais pray to God for us!

Our Lord’s Descent into Hades

Hat Tip to Into the Light for recommending a podcast by Fr. Thomas Hopko on our Lord’s Descent into Hades

Christ is Risen!

Indeed He is Risen!

Gluttony & Lust…

America has become the nation of gluttony and has made a home for its children. It is now normal to order ‘Super Size’ and eat more than we can fit into our stomachs. We have been taught that this is only “natural” and nothing is wrong with eating as much as you want. Therefore, it is not surprising to say that America, the ‘Fat Nation’, has fallen in love with the demon of lust. Without the self-control that the Holy Fathers speak of, America will never get rid of this demon, for “he who wishes to defeat the demon of fornication through gluttony is like a man who tries to put out a fire with oil” (Saint John Climacus, The Ladder).

We need to take control of our stomachs and “not eat with savage gluttony, but in all things that have to do with pleasure we are to maintain moderation, quiet, and self-control. Nor may we omit thinking of God while we eat… bethinking us how various sorts of food are suitable for the needs of our bodies are the result of the great Steward of the universe” (St. Basil the Great, Letter to Gregory).

Saint John Chrysostom says that in order to defeat the demon of lust we must “not fatten the body… He who throws food into the belly is just like someone who tosses it down a drain, only much worse. For the one who throws it down a drain does so without harming himself, while the one who puts it into his stomach generates innumerable diseases (passions)… for what is over and above our need, not only does not nourish but gives rise to such passions as lust” (Homily 29 on Hebrews).

from Death to the World

not putting a bridle on ones pleasures…

Ilya Repin’s Party (1881)

Do not go beyond yourself to seek for evil, and imagine there is an original nature of wickedness. Each of us, let us acknowledge it, is the first author of his own vice. Among the ordinary events of life, some come naturally, like old age and sickness, others by chance like unforeseen occurrences, of which the origin is beyond ourselves, often sad, sometimes fortunate, as for instance the discovery of a treasure when digging a well, or the meeting of a mad dog when going to the market place. Others depend upon ourselves, such as ruling ones passions or not putting a bridle on ones pleasures, to be master of our anger, or to raise the hand against him who irritates us, to tell the truth or to lie, to have a sweet and well-regulated disposition, or to be fierce and swollen and exalted with pride. Here you are the master of your actions. Do not look for the guiding cause beyond yourself, but recognize that evil, rightly so called, has no other origin than your voluntary falls.

~St Basil the Great

from the Hexaemeron