On Peace (Schemamonk Epiphanius Chernov)

1. It is very sad that there is no peace, but rather misunderstandings, discontent, disappointments, reproaches, suspicions, and a general cooling off. Moreover, if we do not come to our senses, we are close to total collapse. For the Lord says: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself will not stand" (Matthew 12:25). This means that we are still spiritually inexperienced, have not learned the gospel wisdom on how to overcome such temptations, and therefore, having entered the confines of the last times, we are preparing to perish with all those alien to the gospel life. As it is said: "Then many will be offended... and will hate one another... And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will fail" (Matthew 24:10, 12). This is where the danger lies! There can be no quarrel between angels, and if there is a quarrel or something similar, it means both parties are not holy, both parties are guilty. Therefore, make every effort to restore peace. Mutually ask each other for forgiveness.

On the Judgement Day and the Second Coming of Christ (New Martyr Andrei Ukhtomsky)

 

Interpretation of the Gospel Teaching about the Judgment

1. The purpose of earthly life is to learn to love the Lord. About fear

First of all, let us note that the concept of the Judge of the world as punishing, and the concept of the Last Judgment as merely retribution, is erroneous from a dogmatic standpoint . Furthermore, it is also harmful from a moral standpoint, for it forces man to treat God with fear. This is not the fear that is the beginning of wisdom, nor the one that brings salvation , but the kind that makes demons tremble and which can never transform into love for God, which is what the Christian religion demands of its followers, since only those who love God can glorify Him and be blessed in this praise. Concerning this goal of man's earthly life—learning to love and praise the Lord—Saint Gregory of Nyssa speaks thus: "The purpose of creation is that in all creation, through the spiritual nature, the supreme Power may be glorified, when the heavenly and the earthly are united by the same action—I mean turning one's gaze to God—toward the same goal." This action—the turning of one's gaze toward heaven—is nothing other than the life proper to and consistent with spiritual nature. For just as bodies, being earthly, are sustained by earthly food, and in them we observe a certain kind of bodily life, equally accomplished in irrational and rational creatures, so too must we suppose that there is also a life, comprehensible to the mind, by which nature is preserved in existence. If carnal food, being something that flows in and out, by its very passage imparts a certain vital force to those in whom it is found, then does not the participation of that which truly exists, which always abides and eternally unchangeable, far more preserve in existence those who partake? "Therefore (if the life proper and fitting to spiritual nature consists in partaking of God), no partaking will occur between opposites unless that which desires partaking is in some way akin to that which is being partaken of. For just as the eye delights in light because it has within itself the natural light for the perception of what is like it, and... no other member of the body produces sight, because in no other member is natural light prepared; so, in order to become a partaker of God, it is absolutely necessary in the nature of the partaker to be something akin to that which he is partaking of... The true life of the soul is produced by partaking of what is good, but in ignorance, which hinders the knowledge of God, the soul, not being a partaker of God, is deprived of life" (Vol. 4, p. 340).

The Veneration of the Honorable Chains of Apostle Peter

Verses

We venerate your honorable bonds O Peter,

Release me from the long bonds of my accusations.

On the sixteenth I venerate the bonds of Peter.

Lives and works of the Russian New Martyrs

 

https://orthodoxyforall.blogspot.com/p/lives-works-and-testimonies-of-russian.html

Life of St John the Hut-Dweller (V century)

In Constantinople, during the reign of Leo the Great (603 ), there lived a wealthy and distinguished military official named Eutropius and his wife Theodora. He had three sons, two of whom were given over to imperial service and had already achieved significant ranks. The third, the youngest, named John, was sent to study various sciences. While still a twelve-year-old boy, John stood out from his peers, so much so that even his teachers were amazed at his abilities and remarkable development for his youth. He excelled not only in worldly matters but also in spiritual wisdom. Under the grace-filled influence of the Holy Spirit, he grew into a meek, gentle, and modest boy. After school, he spent his time not in the games typical of childhood, but in reading holy, divinely inspired books and diligently attending church services. His heart was warmed by love for God, and the fire of this love began to burn like a strong flame in his soul.

The Life of Our Venerable Father Paul of Thebes (+342)

When Saint Anthony was living with his disciples in the Egyptian desert , the thought once occurred to him that no other monk had ever been as perfect as he, no one who had settled in the desert before him and chosen such a solitary life. He himself later recounted that when he thought this, he heard a voice in a vision that said:

"Anthony! There is one servant of God who came here before you and who is more perfect than you. If you wish, you can find him in the distant desert; only go to him quickly, before he departs to the Lord."

On Christian Love (St Philaret Voznesensky of New York)

• Christian love as the fundamental principle of morality.

• Her characteristic features.

• The hymn of Christian love in Apostle Paul is chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians.

Life of Saint Sava of Serbia (+1236)

 

The Serbian Grand Zhupan (Patriarchal leader) Stephen Nemanja had two sons, Stephen and Vukan; yet, he and his wife Anna desired, if it be God's will, to have another child. Their pious prayers ascended before God, Who heard their petition and blessed them with their last child, a son who was born in the year of our Lord 1175. At baptism the child was given the name Rastko, a name derived from the Old Slavonic verb "rasti" which means "to grow." And grow divinely he did. There were many special things about Rastko: he was a lovely child, with pronounced features and smooth skin, and possessed, already in his childhood, an unusually alert and pious demeanor. Little did Rastko's parents and all those of the Royal Court (and even the entire Serb nation) realize that his birth and baptism into Orthodoxy would providentially set in motion their own historical and spiritual journey, which would result in the blossoming of their Christian faith, nation hood and total Christian cultural orientation. This young child, Rastko, whose monastic name later was Sava, became and still remains the most beloved of all Serbian Orthodox saints, considered by all Serbs everywhere and at all times as the ultimate expression and example of what it means to be fully human, that is, what it means to be a devout and committed follower of Jesus Christ.

Life of Saint Nina, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Enlightener of Georgia (+338)

Saint Nina lived in the fourth century after Christ. She was born in a city in Cappadocia to the military commander Zebulun and his wife Susanna. Her father, a pious man, wished to dedicate the rest of his life to God and, to this end, traveled with his wife and daughter to Jerusalem, where his wife's brother was patriarch at the time. There, Zebulun, with his wife's consent, withdrew into the desert and ended his life in Christian asceticism. His wife, Susanna, remained in Jerusalem and, ordained a deaconess by her brother, was assigned by him to serve the poor and the sick. Susanna gave her daughter Nina to be educated by a pious old woman, from whom Nina firmly learned the rules of faith and piety. Nina's favorite reading was the books of Holy Scripture. Reading the Gospel account of the Savior's crucifixion, she developed a strong desire to know the whereabouts of the Lord's tunic, which had been given by lot to one of the soldiers dividing Jesus Christ's garment. When Nina inquired about this with her tutor, she told her that northeast of Jerusalem lay the land of Iveron, and in it lay the city of Mtskheta, where the Savior's tunic had been sent by the soldier who had given it by lot. This story so deeply penetrated St. Nina's soul that she began to fervently pray to the Most Holy Theotokos that She would grant her the ability to see the land of Iveron, to find the Lord's tunic, woven by the hands of the Mother of God, and at the same time to preach the name of Christ to the ignorant people living in that land. One night, Nina saw the Virgin Mary, who said to her, "Go to the land of Iveron and preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ there. I will be your protector." But Nina was perplexed how she, a weakling, could be the instrument of such great service. Then the Most Holy Theotokos handed her a cross made of grape branches, saying, "Accept this cross: it will be your cross and protection against all visible and invisible enemies. By its power, you will establish there the saving sign of faith in My beloved Son, Who desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." Awakening from sleep, St. Nina was amazed to see the miraculous cross in her hand. Tying it with her hair, she went to the patriarch, her uncle, and told him of the vision she had had. The blessed patriarch, seeing in this a clear will of God, gave his blessing to the young maiden to undertake the feat of evangelism.

Signs of the Times (St Seraphim Rose)

 

WHY STUDY THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?

The subject of this talk is, watching for the signs of the times.1 First of all, we have to know what it is meant by the phrase “signs of the times.” This expression comes straight from the Gospel, from the words of our Savior in Matthew 16:3. Christ tells the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Him, “Ye can discern the face of the sky,” that is, tell what the weather will be; “but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” In other words, He’s telling them that this has nothing to do with science, or with knowing our place in the world, or anything of the sort. It’s a religious question. We study the signs of the times in order to be able to recognize Christ.   

During the time of Christ, the Pharisees and Sadducees did not study the signs of the times in order to see that Christ had come, that the Son of God was already on earth. There were already signs that they should have recognized. For example, in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, there is a prophecy concerning the seventy weeks of years, which means that the Messiah was to come about 490 years from the time of Daniel. Those Jews who read their books very carefully knew exactly what this was all about, and at about the time that Christ came they knew that it was time for the Messiah.

But this is an outward sign. More importantly, the Pharisees and Sadducees should have been watching for the inward signs. If their hearts had been right with God, and if they had not been merely trying to fulfill the outward commandment of the law, their hearts would have responded and recognized God in the flesh when He came. And many of the Jews did—the apostles, the disciples, and many others.

This same passage in the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew speaks further about signs. Our Lord told the Jews, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” The events of the Old Testament contain prefigurations of events in the New Testament. When Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, this was a prefiguration of our Lord’s being three days in the tomb. And this sign—the sign of Jonah—was given to the people of Christ’s time.

Our Lord was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that an evil and adulterous generation seeks for spectacular events—that is, fire coming down from heaven, or the Romans being chased away, angels manifesting themselves and banishing the foreign government of the Romans, and things of that sort. Christ told them this kind of sign would not be given. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after this, but those who are pure of heart seek rather something more spiritual. And the one sign that is given to them is the sign of Jonah. Of course, it is a great thing that a man should be three days in the grave and then rise up, being God.

Thus, from our Savior’s words, we know that we are not to watch for spectacular signs, but we are rather to look inwardly for spiritual signs. Also, we are to watch for those things, which according to Scripture must come to pass.