Ξένες γλώσσες

Imagine for a moment how frightening it would feel to be cut off from all other people, without any chance of contacting or encountering anyone else, while at the same time having a body which was sick and continuously deteriorating as a result of a contagious disease. Add to that the permanent disdain of people who believed that the disease we had was a punishment for our sinful life. Then suddenly along comes someone who approaches us, ignoring the dangers, trampling on the prevailing social prejudices, demonstrating clearly and fearlessly His love for us. Wouldn’t we be endlessly grateful to Him? Such was the case, presented in Saint Luke’s Gospel narrative, of the ten tragic lepers who were touched by Christ’s ...

Here’s the shortest and easiest path to salvation: Be obedient, restrained, don’t judge, and guard your heart and mind against wicked thoughts. Think well of everyone and bear in mind that the Lord loves them. Because of these humble thoughts, the grace of the Holy Spirit will dwell in your heart and you’ll say: ‘The Lord is merciful’.

Excerpt from Instruction 1 What, then, is the cause and what’s the cure for this arrogant and disdainful behaviour? Listen to what the Lord says: ‘Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ . Briefly, in a single sentence, He’s shown us the root cause of all evils; and their antidote, the cause of all blessings. He’s shown us that pride has overcome us and that we can’t be free of it except through its opposite, which is humility. This is because pride begets arrogant and disdainful behaviour and catastrophic disobedience, precisely as humility begets obedience and the salvation of our soul. I mean, of course, real humility, not ...

If you’re sincere and don’t have a high opinion of yourself, you’re simple, you’re humble. All of this brings solace to the soul, but is also obvious to others. Other people know if you really feel for them or if you’re being hypocritical. A reprobate’s better than a Christian hypocrite. So, no smiles of hypocritical love, just natural behaviour. No badness or hypocrisy, but love and sincerity.

In today’s reading, among the other things St. Paul the Apostle is talking about, references the sorrows and persecutions he was suffering (but never was defeated by). The matter of tribulation is a very important one for us all. Who doesn’t face sorrows in their life? Jesus prepared us with these words: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul also was preparing those who were becoming members of the Church, in that “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). It is the universal rule that we are all going to face hardship. Even the best of humanity, and the saints themselves have gone through adversity. Even the Holy Mother of our Lord ...

From the Kyriakodromion of Monk Agapios These ten lepers, in the most succinct manner, provide an image of the whole of human nature, which was entirely leprous and rendered useless by sin. It had been justly expelled from Jerusalem Above, that is Paradise, just as the lepers were exiled from Jerusalem . They couldn’t be cured by Priest, Levite, Prophet or any other person, not even by an Angel, unless the Mighty Counsel of the Most High, the Messenger coaeval and consubstantial with God, came down from heaven, and humanely became human in order to save us humans. All of us, then, had this leprosy. None of us was free from sin except those whom the all-wise Lord Christ had ...

Wherever you are, don’t compare yourself with others to make your soul feel better. Otherwise, the devil may fool you into thinking you’re better than they are.

Don’t talk about things you haven’t seen with your own eyes as if you actually have. Don’t confirm with conviction anything you’ve only heard about. Accustom your tongue to telling the truth at all times. Lies are often born out of the desire to please others but they distance the soul from the fear of God.

Every day, a certain task is completed on earth. It’s the most important and sacred task that people can undertake. It’s the Divine Liturgy, the continuation of the Last Supper which Jesus Christ held with His disciples. People can do many and varied great things, but nothing greater, nothing more important than the Divine Liturgy. This is a unique privilege, given to us by God, because even the angels are unable to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. At this service, the angels work together with us, as we hear in the tropario of Saint Spyridon: ‘and in the singing of your holy prayers (i.e. the celebration of the Divine Liturgy), you have angels concelebrating with you’. Indeed, as Saint Peter writes, ‘on ...

Fr Jonah from Taiwan speaks on Jesus baptism and the temptations in the desert.

Christ is right next to us, even if we don’t see Him… Once in a while He’ll give us a slap on the head, because He loves us so much. Christ wants to bring you out of the thorns, because He’s a gardener, but all you want is to be left in peace.

Nobody’s the cause of perdition; only our own will is. God’s the cause of salvation: He gave us life and bliss, knowledge and power and His own Self. Not even the devil can bring us to perdition against our will; all he can do is put the recollection of wickedness in our mind. But it’s we, by our own will and volition, who decide to do evil. The good Lord doesn’t try to prevent us by force, so that we don’t disobey and become liable to greater punishment. Nor does He take away our free will, which He did well to grant us. So salvation or perdition is in our own hands.