Help me to see my own transgressions … and not to judge my brother!

Ilya Repin’s Two Peasant Women (1878).

“We should look upon all the faithful as one person and consider that Christ is in each one of them. We should have such love for them that we are ready to sacrifice our very lives for them. For it is incumbent upon us neither to say, nor think of any person as evil, but we must look upon everyone as good. If you see a brother afflicted with a passion, do not hate him. Hate the passion that makes war upon him. And if you see him being terrorized by the habits and desires of previous sins, have compassion on him. Maybe you too will be afflicted by temptation, since you are also made from matter that easily turns from good to evil. Love towards your brother prepares you to love God even more. The secret, therefore, of love towards God is love towards your brother. For if you don’t love your brother who you see, how is it possible to love God who you do not see? ‘For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God Whom he has not seen’ (I Jn. 4:20).”

~St. Symeon the New Theologian

hat tip: Sunday Bulletin of Holy Theophany Orthodox Church

Christ is Love

The True Vine…

Christ the True Vine (Athens 16th Century)

Contemplation from The Prologue of Ohrid~

To contemplate the Lord Jesus as the Vine:

“I am the true Vine” St. John 15:1

1. As the Vine from which sprouted numerous fruitful branches in the images of the saints;

2. As the Vine Who with His sap, His blood, waters and feeds all the branches on Himself;

3. As the Vine from Whom the Divine Church branched out on earth and in the heavens;

4. As the Vine from Whom, even I should not separate the branch of my life.

God alone is…

God alone is substantially and essentially God.  When I say ‘alone,’ I set forth the holy and uncreated essence and substance of God.  For the word alone is used in the case of any individual and generally of human nature.  In the instance of Paul, that he alone was caught into the third heaven and “heard unspeakable words that are not lawful for a man to utter,” and of human nature, as when David says, “as for man his days are as grass,” not meaning any particular man but human nature generally; for every human is short-lived and mortal.  So we understand these words to be said of the nature, “who alone has immortality” and “to God only wise,” and “none is good save one, that is God,” for here “one” means the same as alone….In Scripture “one” and “only” are not predicated on God to mark distinction from the Son and the Holy Spirit but to exclude the unreal gods falsely so called.  As for instance, “The Lord alone did lead them and there was no strange god with them,” and “then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth and served the Lord only.”

~St Basil the Great, Letter 8.3, as quoted in “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture”

hat tip: Daily Dynamis~Church Fathers Wisdom

take care not to fall…

Robert Leinweber’s Peter’s Denial (date unknown)

“Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall” (I Corinthians 10:12).

The apostle who gives such advice knew human nature perfectly and all its weakness. Day after day, this experience is confirmed: that as soon as man straightens up from the mud of sin, he then sways and falls again. As soon as he is cured of the sin of avarice, he falls into the vice of vainglory. Or, as soon as he extends his hand to help a poor man, pride then topples him to the other side. Or, as soon as he becomes accustomed to prayer, he then opens wide his mouth to degrade those who are not yet accustomed to prayer. Or, as soon as he felt that the Spirit of God is directing him to the path of salvation, he then immediately sets himself up as a teacher to the entire world until unfortunately by that he completely drives away the Spirit from within himself.

When the Lord foretold to His disciples that they would all deny Him and flee, then Peter confident in his stability cried out: “Though all may have their faith in You shaken, mine will never be” (St. Matthew 26:33). Discerning his very heart only and seeing him already fallen into self-conceit and pride, the Lord responded to him, “This very night before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times” (St. Matthew 26:34). And when such a fall happened to the apostle in the immediate proximity of the Lord, why would it not happen to us? This is why, brethren, when we rise and turn from a certain sin and stand erect, we should ascribe this to the power and mercy of God and not to ourselves and we should be very vigilant to protect ourselves and to implore God that we, again, do not fall, be it to one side or the other side, but walk on the upright path of the Lord.

O All-seeing Lord, help us to stand straight before You by the Spirit, and when we become erect, uphold us that we do not fall anymore.

Reflection: The Prologue of Ohrid (January 8)

sacred words of primordial might…

Down the ages the sacred words have been repeated without proper attention and, possibly because of this, they have lost their primordial might – the might which they first had for the prophets, apostles, and saints.  Will other ways be found to express the profound purport of the knowledge that we have been given of the great God?  Our love for Him would wish to express itself with such lively energy that Time, the destroyer of all things could not diminish.

~Blessed Sophrony Sakharov, On Prayer

In daily life…

Rembrandt’s St Anastasius of Sinai

In daily life it is important that we remain constantly attentive to the indications God gives us about what we should do and the way we should do it. Even so we will not be able to free ourselves completely from bad thoughts; no one can, not even the most perfect. Perfection, however great, does not prevent man from being bothered by thoughts. But simply because of experience in spiritual life, what shook us deeply before becomes easier to overcome. In the desert, Christ opposed the temptations of the devil by immediate rejection, even giving theological basis for His answers. It is a lesson for us. Each time we have a bad thought, we should reject it immediately, and refuse to enter into converse with it. But this practice can only be assimilated by long ascetic effort, and by the action of grace in us. What does it mean to work out our salvation? It means that among all the things that we see in cosmic existence, we choose what is pleasing to God and separate ourselves from what goes against God. Then, little by little, we see our life changing. But be patient. God can, of course, visit us and in an instant open our eyes to eternity. But usually it is a labor of several years.

~Fr. Sophrony of Essex

thorns and thistles…

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Without a struggle and shedding your blood, don’t expect freedom from the passions. Our earth produces thorns and thistles after the Fall. We have been ordered to clean it, but only with much pain, bloody hands, and many sighs are the thorns and thistles uprooted. So weep, shed streams of tears, and soften the earth of your heart. Once the ground is wet, you can easily uproot the thorns.

+ Elder Joseph the Hesychast

two kinds of humility…

Mikhail Nesterov- On Aksakovs Native Land (1923)

“…true humility does not say humble words, nor does it assume humble looks, it does not force oneself either to think humbly of oneself, or to abuse oneself in self-belittlement. Although all such things are the beginning, the manifestations and the various aspects of humility, humility itself is grace, given from above. There are two kinds of humility, as the holy fathers teach: to deem oneself the lowest of all beings and to ascribe to God all one’s good actions. The first is the beginning, the second the end.”

~St. Gregory of Sinai

May God console you!

‘May God console you! … What saddens you … is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises – but you have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in the struggle – the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith?’

~St. Athanasius

hat tip: Holy Fathers on Facebook