Tone 8    Troparion      (St John Chrysostom)

Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon has enlightened the
universe.
It has shown to the world the riches of poverty;
it has revealed to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
Intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Tone 1    Kontakion      (St John Chrysostom)

Most glorious John Chrysostom,
the Church of Constantinople greatly rejoiced, receiving the gift of
your holy  relics;
keeping them as a treasure of great price.
Through your intercession,
they bring the grace of healing to those who praise you in hymns.

Tone 1        Prokeimenon  (St John Chrysostom)

My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be
    understanding. (Ps 48/49:3)

v: Hear this, all nations! Give ear, all inhabitants of the earth! (Ps 48/49:1)

Epistle
Hebrews 7:26-8:22 (St John Chrysostom)
Tone 2    
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

v: The mouth of the righteous shall proclaim wisdom, and his tongue shall speak of judgment.  (Ps 36/37:30)

v: The Law of God is in his heart, and his steps shall not falter.  (Ps 36/37:31).

Gospel
 John 10:9-16 (St John Chrysostom)

Communion Hymn

The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  He shall not fear evil tidings.  (Ps 111/112:6b-7a)
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Before the wheel of time has completed its revolution with me – have mercy on me.
Before the wind of death has blown upon me and ailments have cropped up in my body
foreboding the imminent end – have mercy.
Before the magnificent sun on high has grown dim before my eyes – have mercy, and may Thy
light shine on me from on high and scatter the terrible darkness of my mind.
Before this dust has returned to the earth and decayed and all its beautiful features have rotted
away – have mercy.
Before my sins have overtaken me at the judgment and shamed me before the Judge – have mercy
on me, O Lord, Who art full of compassion.

~Saint Ephraim the Syrian, A Spiritual Psalter # 84, Bishop Theophan the Recluse (ed)
hat tip: Church Fathers Wisdom ~ Daily Dynamis

In the consummation of the union of love we help one another, and because we are sprung from the earth we are following the primordial law of the earth, which is also God’s law.  Look at the benefits good marriage bring to humanity.  Who are the teachers of wisdom, the discoverers of the deepest knowledge, the explorers of everything on the earth, in the sea, or in the sky?  Who are the lawgivers in the cities, and before them, the founders of the cities themselves?  Who founded the arts?  Who populated the squares, and the houses, the tables of banqueters?  Who brought together the choirs that sing in the churches?  Who tamed the ferocity of primitive life, first tilled the soil, and crossed the seas?  What, if not marriage, could unite what was divided?  

~Saint Gregory the Theologian:

“First Poem,” as quoted in Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Thomas Spidlik (ed), Paul Drake (tr)

hat tip: Church Father’s Wisdom {Daily Dynamis}

St Seraphim is probably best known for having a bear visit him but St Herman of Alaska also has a history with bears. It is said that when the saint died the bears left the island on ice and the birds flew away. To this day there are no bears on Spruce Island.

So here is a little slide show of Monks & Bears and one old joke that I first heard while on Spruce Island. Enjoy!

An old joke with a bear:

An atheist was walking through the woods.

“What majestic trees”!

“What powerful rivers”!

“What beautiful animals”!

He said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right On top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him. At that instant the Atheist cried out, “Oh my God!”

Time Stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was still.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. “You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.” “Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer”?

The atheist looked directly into the light, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps You could make the BEAR a Christian”?

“Very Well,” said the Voice.

The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear made the sign of the Cross, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

“Lord bless this food and bless the hands that made it, in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!”

May the Lord give us the spiritual strength to transform ourselves. We know that time is running out, and the evil spirits know this, too. They do not want a single person to be free from evil thoughts. With that aim, they teach even small children to oppose their parents so that, when these children grow up, they will be easy prey for them…

But it call all take a turn for the good if each one of us begins with himself, if the transformation starts with us. We should try to have good thoughts which will radiate from us. A meek and humble person is always very pleasant to be with, for he emanates peace and warmth. That person may not say a single word, yet we rejoice to be in his presence. So, if we all begin with ourselves, transformation will take place. Goodness will be renewed and established all around us, in our country, and further abroad.

~Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

hat tip: Sunday Bulletin of Holy Theophany Orthodox  Church

From the book: The Ascetic of Love by Nun Gavrilia; translated by Helen Anthony

Mother Give us a Word

9. on the Right of the Other:

Gerondissa Gavrilia: A person who has Love, Forbearance, Obedience, and Humility, has gained both this world and Paradise. The most difficult thing, however, is to overcome the Power of Darkness which always tells us that we are right. Do you agree?

E.: Aren’t we ever right?

Gerondissa Gavrilia: Never! The other is always “right.” This is what is so important…

E.: How do you explain that?

Gerondissa Gavrilia: Do you know why? Because, according to his own Ego he is right. Therefore, why should I try to convince him with my own Ego?

E.: That is to say, we submit to the other person’s Ego and right.

Gerondissa Gavrilia: Not in the way that you mean it. We do what we consider to be right, without getting into pointless arguments with the other person; without reproval; without losing our peace of mind. That person will continue on his own way and we shall commend him to God’s will. He cannot harm us. For we have an Authority above us and this Authority agrees with our own sense of justice. We have our Confessor, our Gerondissa (Spiritual Mother), our Bishop, the entire Church, who are in agreement. Above all, we have the Gospel which tells us: This is Right, this is the Commandment.

So? Now, let me tell you something. For all such thoughts, I have a basket, which I call the “basket of vanity.” In which we throw waste papers away, in the same way I throw these thoughts in this basket and they cease to trouble me. Because man should not be worried by such things.

Many a time an Atheist will come, someone who is opposed, someone who will start useless discussions with the sole intention of annoying you… Even if this person has saddened you or hurt you, never show it… Never do that. Otherwise he will have achieved his purpose. Do you see that? The next time he will return with greater resolution. But if again you remain calm, he will think: “No use hitting here; I’ll try somewhere else…” Therefore, above all, no anger! For the Lord Himself has said: “Resist not evil.”

When we set ourselves against someone, we get involved in a bitter quarrel. If anyone were to witness the scene, after awhile would he be able to tell who is right and who is wrong? Certainly not! Because we both have become evil, yielding to the Tempter. This is why I am telling you: when a discussion between two people leads to controversy, one of the two, if he happens to be a person of God, must keep silent and repeat within himself the prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon us…” Then in two minutes everything stops.

A conversation at St Menas Monastery, Aegina, Greece: 5-21-1989

from the blog post at Ora et Labora: The Thirty-eight Sayings of St Anthony the Great

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie, and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, “Lord, I wand to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?” A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony say a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down again and plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, “Do this and you will be saved.” At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved.

2. When the same Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgments of God, he asked, “Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men proper and why are the just in need? He heard a voice answering him, “Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to known anything about them.”

3. Someone asked Abba Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?” The old man replied, “Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”

4. Abba Anthony said to Abba Poemen, “This is the great work of man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.

5. He also said, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” He even added, “Without temptations no-one can be saved.”

6. Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”

7. Abba Anthony said, “I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, “What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Humility.’”

8. He also said, “Some have afflicted their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God.”

9. He said also, “Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.”

10. He also said, “Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. SO like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside we will lost our interior watchfulness.”

also available at Biblicalia

excerpt from A Deer Lost in Paradise:

by St Justin Popovic

“My heart is an inaccessible island in a boundless ocean of sorrow. Is every heart an inaccessible island? Say that you have a heart! Do you know what completely surrounds your hearts? Mine. Therefore my eyes are blurred by tears and my heart undermined by sighs. The pupils of my eyes are in pain, because many midnights have spent the night in them. Last night the sun set in my eye, and the morning did not give birth to it. It married the darkness of my sorrow. Something fearful and terrifying has begun to move through my being. It frightens me, everything around me and above me. O, would that I could flee from the fear of this world. But does any world without fear exist? I call out to my soul, frightened and chased away by the fears of this world, to return to me, but more and more heedlessly it flees from me, leaving me sad and dejected… I am a deer.

I have listened to the angels of Heaven, when they wash their wings in my tears. In ancient times the white deer told me that He, the All-meek and All-merciful One passed over the earth and transformed the earth back to Paradise. Wherever He stood, Paradise appeared. Out of Him unto all beings and all creation there would flow boundless goodness and love, gentleness, mercy, meekness, and wisdom. He walked over all the earth and brought Heaven down to earth. They called Him Jesus. We saw in Him that man can be wondrous and exceedingly beautiful only when he is sinless. He shared in our sorrow and wept with us. He was with us and against those human creations: sin, evil, and death. He loved all creatures gently and compassionately; He embraced them with a divine longing; and He defended them from human sin, human evil, and human death. He was, and has forever remained–our God, the God of the sorrowful and saddened creatures, from the smallest to the greatest. He–our Lord and God! He–our sweet consolation in this bitter world which is passing and our eternal joy in that immortal world which is coming…”

hat tip: Death to the World