Meteora - six monasteries on the rocks

The Faithful Husband That Would Not Abandon His Unfaithful Wife ( Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi )

I will tell you of another characteristic of a proper spouse, which is extremely difficult to find in our day. But we did encounter one such person. He was in every way a perfect character, a Christian, and completely social. He married late, around thirty years old, not because he was averse to marriage, but because he thought that was how it should be. So he said his prayers with faith, and found himself a young girl and married her. The girl was young, ten years younger than him. Soon after he married her, she began her mischief. He pretended not to notice; he regarded her as his daughter and himself as her father. However, they had important business interests overseas and they had to go there, even if only temporarily. So he took her and they went abroad. When they arrived, she became very obstinate, and would say to herself: "He did this on purpose, to estrange me from my environment. I will desert him." So she abandoned and left him. She came back to Greece, and where do you think she went? To one of those "casino" places, and began to live the life of a free woman - one who is paid.

The husband however, from the day that she left him, never stopped praying with tears and insisting - in fact exhorting God: "All Good One, I will not retreat, I will not leave You alone; You were the One who gave me my wife. 'By the Lord is a man and woman harmonized' (according to the Bible). I want my wife. If the young girl has been deceived, must she be lost? Why did You come down to earth? Didn't You come to find the lost ones, to heal the sick, to resurrect the dead? I will not retreat. I will not let You rest. I want my wife; bring her back to me." He wept for two whole years.

His prayer was eventually heard and the young woman came to her senses. "Oh my," she confessed, "God will have to create another Hell, because this one is too small for me!"




So she sat down and wrote him a letter, saying: "I dare not address your name; I have no such right. If I return, will you accept me as your servant?"

He replied: "My love, why did you mention that word and hurt my feelings? Wasn't it me who sent you on a vacation and I was longing for my love to return to my open arms?"

So, he went and waited for her at the airport, as they had arranged. When she arrived, she fell down and began to beat herself and cry. He took her in his arms.

"My love, why are you like this and hurt my feelings? I was longing to see you again. Let's go home now; we never parted - I was always with you."

And this young girl proved herself to be a faithful wife from then on.

And that is the stance that a man - a husband - should take.



Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

Ходочашће у манастир Жича - Pilgrimage to Zica Monastery

The Tiger ( St. Porphyrios )

Let’s suppose someone is all alone in the desert. Suddenly he hears a voice crying out in distress in the distance. He follows the sound and is confronted by a horrendous sight: a tiger has grabbed hold of a man and is savaging him with its claws. The man is desperately shouting for help. In a few minutes he will be torn to pieces.


What can the person do to help? Can he run to his side? How? It’s impossible. Can he shout for help? Who will hear him? There is no one within earshot. Should he perhaps pick up a stone and throw it at the man to finish him off? ‘Certainly not,’ we would say. But that’s exactly what can happen if we don’t realize that the other person who is acting badly towards us has been taken hold of by a tiger, the devil.


We fail to realize that when we react to such a person without love, it is as if we are throwing stones at his wounds and accordingly we are doing him great harm and the ‘tiger’ leaps onto us we do the same as him and worse. What kind of love do we have then for our neighbor and, even more importantly, for God?


St. Porphyrios

Ὁ ἐγωισμός προκαλεῖ τήν λύπη, τήν κατάθλιψη καί τά λεγόμενα «ψυχολογικά» (Ιερομόναχος Σάββας Ἁγιορείτης)

Ὁ ἐγωισμός ὁδηγεῖ στήν λύπη· σ' ἐκείνη τήν λύπη πού δέν εἶναι κατά Θεόν. Ἡ κατά Θεόν λύπη ὁδηγεῖ στή μετάνοια. Ἡ μή κατά Θεόν λύπη ὁδηγεῖ στήν ἀπελπισία. «Ὁ ἐγωισμός φέρνει πάντα λύπη καί ἄγχος» ἔλεγε ὁ π. Παΐσιος. Ὁ πονηρός «θέλει νά μᾶς βλέπει λυπημένους καί νά χαίρεται...τό ταγκαλάκι δέν θέλει κανένας νά χαίρεται».

Ὁ ἐγωισμός ἀνοίγει τήν πόρτα στό ταγκαλάκι γιά νά μᾶς ἐπηρρεάσει ρίχνοντάς μας στήν Κατάθλιψη καί τά διάφορα λεγόμενα «ψυχολογικά προβλήματα».
Ἔλεγε καί ὁ μακαριστός Γέροντας Πορφύριος: «Κύριον αἴτιον εἰς τήν κατάθλιψη καί σέ ὅλα αὐτά πού τά λένε πειρασμικά, σατανικά, ὅπως εἶναι ἡ νωθρότης, ἡ ἀκηδία, ἡ τεμπελιά, πού μαζί μ’αὐτά εἶναι τόσα ἄλλα ψυχολογικά, δηλαδή πειρασμικά πράγματα, εἶναι ὅτι ἔχεις μεγάλον ἐγωισμό μέσα σου».

Κάνει ἐντύπωση πού ὁ γέροντας ὅλα τά ἀνωτέρω «ψυχολογικά» τά ἀποκαλεῖ πειρασμικά, δηλ. δαιμονικά, δηλ. δαιμονικές ἐνέργειες, δαιμονικές ἐπήρρειες.

Ὁ ἐγωισμός-ὑπερηφάνεια πού εἶναι καί ἡ νόσος τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι ἡ βάση, ἡ αἰτία τῆς εἰσβολῆς καί δράσης τοῦ πονηροῦ στόν ἄνθρωπο. Ὁ διάβολος μπαίνοντας στήν ψυχή τήν γεμίζει μέ λύπη.
Κάποιος ρώτησε τόν Γέροντα Παΐσιος σχετικά μέ τήν στενοχώρια πού τοῦ ἐρχόταν γιά τίς πτώσεις του:
«- Γέροντα, κάμπτομαι ἀπό τήν στενοχώρια γιά τίς πτώσεις μου καί κουράζομαι στόν ἀγώνα μου.

- Ἀπό τόν ἐγωισμό εἶναι. Ἐπειδή δέν «κάμπτεις», γι’ αὐτό ἀποκάμνεις μετά. Δέν ὑπάρχει ταπείνωση, μετάνοια, συντριβή· ὑπάρχει ἐγωισμός, καί ὁ ἐγωισμός πάντα φέρνει λύπη καί ἄγχος. Ὅταν ὁ ἄνθρωπος δέν ἔχη μετάνοια, ἀλλά στενοχωριέται ἀπό ἐγωισμό, ἀπό ἀνθρωπαρέσκεια, ἐπειδή ξέπεσε στά μάτια τῶν ἄλλων, τότε ὑπάρχει μέσα του ἀγωνία, φαρμάκι, πόνος».

Ὁ καταθλιπτικός ἄνθρωπος βιώνει ἀκριβῶς τήν λύπη, τό φαρμάκι, τόν πόνο διότι δέν «κάμπτει», δέν ταπεινώνεται, δέν μετανοεῖ ἀλλά στενοχωριέται ἀπό πληγωμένο ἐγωισμό καί ἀνθρωπαρέσκεια.


Ἱερομόναχος Σάββας Ἁγιορείτης.

Jesus Prayer: Key to a Restful Sleep?

The best way to prepare for a restful sleep is to start a practice of nightly prayer where you repeat one hundred times or more the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Many of us struggle to get a sound night’s sleep. The drug stores make huge profits on sleep remedies and there are now even specialized sleep clinics. Most of us are unaware about how our dreams and negative forces impact us during our sleep. We tend to discount this aspect of our life because this all happens deep in our subconsciousness. Our minds are filled with unprocessed stimuli from our busy life during the day that carry over into our night time sleep. What we need is a way to slow down our mind, to calm it, to bring our focus on God before we go to bed so he can bless us with a restful sleep.


The best way to prepare for a restful sleep is to start a practice of nightly prayer where you repeat one hundred times or more the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” This prayer, in the tradition of the Church, is one of the most powerful prayers. As you repeat it slowly in your mind, concentrating on the words, you mind shifts its attention away from your problems of the day. You begin to focus on God and seek His help and forgiveness. After you pray in this way, read a passage from the Bible or from the writings of one of the Church Fathers. You are now filling your mind with spiritual thoughts that will replace those you have collected from a hectic day. Then, as you get into bed, begin again to say the Jesus Prayer. Let it put you to sleep.


This is not as easy as it sounds. You will have to work at it for a while. As you practice it you will find that your mind changes and your sleep deepens and becomes more restful.
This period between being awake and going to sleep is a critical transition period. We shift from control of our conscious mind to our subconscious mind deep within. It is a time when demonic powers can interfere. This is where the prayer helps to open your heart to God in forgiveness, seeking his mercy to grant you a peaceful sleep free from troubling dreams and needless worries. As you enter into this subconsciousness, the prayer will enter deep within and help to open the door of your heart letting the Holy Spirit bring you calm and peace.


If you do experience a bad dream that awakens you, immediately begin to say the Jesus Prayer to bring your mind back to a calm state. Then keep repeating it until you again fall into sleep. After awhile the prayer will automatically begin in your subconscious mind to stop troubling dreams even before you awake.

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/10/jesus-prayer-key-to-restful-sleep.html

Are You a Fly or a Bee? (St. Paisios )

Which of the following two categories fits you. Are you a fly or a bee? This was a question Elder Paisios asked guests who came to him accusing others of various things.


He says,

I know from experience that in this life people are divided in two categories. A third category does not exist; people either belong to one or the other. the first one resembles the fly. the main characteristics of the fly is that it is attracted by dirt. For example, when a fly is found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt found on the ground.


It will start messing around with it and feel comfortable with the bad smell. if the fly could talk, and you asked it to show you a rose in the garden, it would answer: "I don't even know what a rose looks like. I only know where to find garbage, toilets, and dirt." there are some people who resemble the fly. People belonging to this category have learned to think negatively, and always look for the bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of good.


The other category is like the bee whose main characteristic is to always look for something sweet and nice to sit on. When a bee is found in a room full of dirt and there is a small piece of sweet in a corner, it will ignore the dirt and will go to sit on top of the sweet. Now, if we ask the bee to show us where the garbage is, it will answer: "I don't know. I can only tell you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar; it only knows the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil."

This is the second category of people who have a positive thinking, and see only the good side of things. They always try to cover up the evil in order to protect their fellow men; on the contrary, people in the first category try to expose the evil and bring it to the surface.


When someone comes to me and starts accusing other people, and puts me in a difficult situation, i tell him the above example. then I ask him to decide to which category he wishes to belong, so he may find people of the same kind to socialize with.


Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, pp 43-44

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/10/are-you-fly-or-bee.html

Τό πένθος τῶν μοναχῶν ἔχει σχέση μέ τή ζωή τῶν λαϊκῶν;

Πηγαίνοντας κάποτε ο αββάς Ποιμήν προς την Αίγυπτο είδε μία γυναίκα να κάθεται πάνω σ’ ένα τάφο και να κλαίει με πικρά δάκρυα. Και είπε: «Κι αν όλα τα ευχάριστα του κόσμου αυτού έλθουν αυτή τη στιγμή εδώ, δεν θα μπορέσουν να αποσπάσουν την ψυχή αυτής της γυναίκας από το πένθος. Κατά τον ίδιο τρόπο πρέπει και ο μοναχός να έχει μέσα του το πένθος σ’ όλη του τη ζωή».


Είπε πάλι ο αββάς Ποιμήν: «Το ψυχικό πένθος έχει διπλό σκοπό. Και εργασία πνευματική πραγματοποιεί μέσα στην ψυχή του ανθρώπου, αλλά και τον προφυλάσσει».
Ένας αδελφός ρώτησε τον αββά Ποιμένα: «Τι να κάνω»; Ο Γέροντας του απαντά: «Την ώρα που ο Θεός θα μας επισκεφθεί, για ποιο πράγμα θα ανησυχήσουμε;» Του λέει ο αδελφός: «Για τις αμαρτίες μας».


Λέει λοιπόν ο Γέροντας: «Ας μπούμε επομένως στο κελί μας και μένοντας εκεί ας θυμόμαστε τις αμαρτίες μας και τότε ο Κύριος θα μας βοηθάει σε όλα».


Ο μακάριος Αθανάσιος ο επίσκοπος της Αλεξάνδρειας, παρακάλεσε τον αββά Παμβώ να κατέβει από την έρημο στην Αλεξάνδρεια. Πραγματικά, κατέβηκε και βλέποντας μία θεατρίνα, γέμισαν δάκρυα τα μάτια του. Όταν τον ρώτησαν όσοι ήταν κοντά του να μάθουν γιατί έκλαψε είπε: «Δύο πράγματα μου έφεραν τα δάκρυα… το ένα η απώλεια εκείνης και το άλλο το ότι εγώ δεν έχω τόση φροντίδα να αρέσω στον Θεό, όση έχει αυτή προκειμένου να αρέσει σε ανήθικους ανθρώπους».


Μέγα Γεροντικό 

A God-loving mind is the light of the soul. ( St. Anthony the Great )

The eye sees the visible while the mind comprehends the invisible. A God-loving mind is the light of the soul. A person who has a God-loving mind has an enlightened heart and can perceive God with the mind.



St. Anthony the Great

Practice patience without judging ( St. Paisios )

"Live simply and without thinking too much, like a child with his father. Faith without too much thinking works wonders. The logical mind hinders the Grace of God and miracles. Practice patience without judging with the logical mind."

St. Paisios