Confession/RepentanceKIILEHUA.COM
Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian practices, however good they may be in themselves, do not constitute the aim of our Christian life, although they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end. The true aim of our Christian life consists in the [increasing] acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ's sake, they are only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. - St. Seraphim of Sarov
Worship is the norm of Christian existence. It should be the constant disposition or attitude of the Christian man. Indeed, to worship God means precisely to be aware of His presence, to dwell constantly in this presence. It is through worship that the ‘new man’ is being formed in the believer, and the baptismal grace of adoption is actualized. The Christian man must be always in the state of worship, whether it is expressed in words or not. In its essence worship is the orientation of man towards God. - Protopresbyter Georges Florovsky (1893-1979)
True Christians live in this world as travelers, pilgrims, and sojourners, and they look ever toward their heavenly homeland with faith and with the eyes of the soul, and they strive to reach it. You should also be a pilgrim and sojourner in this world and constantly look toward that homeland and strive to obtain it, and so the world with its enticements and lusts will become abhorrent to you. Whoever seeks eternal blessedness and desires it and strives to reach it will despise everything temporal, lest while seeking the temporal he be deprived of the eternal. - St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
A Christian's ... duty is to "take up his cross." The word "cross" means sufferings, sorrows, and adversities. To take up one's cross means to bear without grumblings everything unpleasant, painful, sad, difficult and with love, with joy and with courageous strength. - St. Innocent of Alaska
Thus it is the Church's spiritual teaching that God does not punish man by some material fire or physical torment. God simply reveals Himself in the risen Lord Jesus in such a glorious way that no man can fail to behold His glory. It is the presence of God's splendid glory and love that is the scourge of those who reject its radiant power and light. ... those who find themselves in hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in hell are deprived of the love of God ... But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed! - (St. Isaac of Syria, Mystic Treatises)
Reject those who say we need only our own free will and not prayer to help us keep from sin. Even the Pharisee wasn't blinded by such darkness. For, although he mistakenly thought he only needed his own righteousness (and believed he was saturated with it), nevertheless, he thanked God that he wasn't "like other men, junjust, extortioners, adulterers..." ...Yet it isn't a question of prayers alone, as if we don't need to include our willful efforts. For although God is "our Helper," we cannot be helped if we don't make some effort of our own. God doesn't work out our salvation in us as if we are dull stones or creatures without reason or will. - St. Augustine of Hippo
From much speaking proceeds the destruction of the virtues, the laying waste of silence, and other dishonorable passions. He who is silent is fearful to demons, because they do not see the secrets of the heart among those who are perfect when they do not speak with the lips. But he who loves much talking will not escape sin. If one were to place on one side of the scale all the works of sinful life and on the other side silence, we will find that silence outweighs them. - St. Paisius Velichkovsky
How to Save the Soul (St. Theophan the Recluse)
Some Lessons From The Holy Fathers On Fasting
Salvation by Grace and Just Showing Up
Vespers, Sacrifice, and Stewardship
Music and the Soul (1.3mb MP3 from the Hearts and Minds podcast)
What is necessary for a saving confession?
The Order of Preparation for Holy Communion
Eternal
Questions: On Heaven and
Hell
Marriage
(fell asleep in the Lord around 421 AD)
Word doc, with edit marks for a pre-teen version
St. Barbara Monastery in Santa Paula, CA
Holy
Virgin Mary Cathedral in San Francisco, CA
(resting place of the relics of St. John Maximovitch)
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This is a free program to check POP email before receiving it on your hard drive. This was the last free version - don't bother checking for updates with it. It has it's limitations as far as displaying HTML emails and properly flagging spam, but it still works.
Humble people have no needless or petty quarrels with others, because they have no egocentric desires to always have their own way. They are not self-seeking; for they know that it is God's will, not their own, that they should strive for. Therefore, humility naturally brings with it unity, both with God and with our fellows.
When people around us fail to submit and act on cue, according to our directions, the limits of our power over them is exposed and we lash out like a thwarted petty tyrant throwing a tantrum. As this "inner Napoleon," kicks and screams, he may hurt others, but his ultimate victim is the soul that he inhabits, namely, our own. That's why resentment so often leaves us feeling far worse than the person against whom our resentment is directed. As someone once said, "Resentment is the poison we drink, hoping someone else will die."
"When we teach children to be good, gentle, forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we install virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them." - St. John Chrysostom
"Tis better that people think you to be a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Hearts and Minds 2008 Elections Special podcast: right click here, save target as, choose a location on your computer
