On Prayer
We must also know, beloved brethren, that every secret converse, every good care o f the intellect directed toward God and every meditation upon spir itual things is delimited by prayer, is called by the name o f prayer, and under its name is comprehended; whether you speak o f various readings, or the cries of a mouth glorifying God, or sorrowing reflection on the Lord, or making bows with the body, or psalmody in verses, or all the other things from which the teaching of genuine prayer ensues. From genuine prayer the love of God is born, for love comes of prayer.
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On the Holy Spirit by The Spirit-bearer
For our Lord came for this reason, that He might change and transform and renew and recreate the soul which had been overturned by the passions…mingling with it His own Spirit of divinity… to make new men, anointing them which His own light of knowledge, that He might put in them the new wine which is His Spirit
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On Love and the Love of God
Those upon whom you shed a ray of your love could no longer bear to live among people. In search of their Beloved, they renounced every physical love, becoming foreigners to all. They gave up all the pleasures of this life, seeking the way of their Beloved in tears. They felt unworthy of his beauty; finding themselves on this blessed quest, they wept ...
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Easter Morning- Lev Gillet
My child, you will not have to evoke My presence painfully. I shall be faithful to the appointment which I have made with you. I shall do more than wait for you in this Galilee of memories. Now I go before you, I shall lead you there. When your heart is once again fixed on Galilee, the One who is guiding you will make Himself known to you, and He will speak to you...
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Foundations of Liturgy
Just as the root of the vine ministers and distributes to the branches the enjoyment of its own natural and inherent qualities, so the Only-begotten Word of God imparts to the Saints, as it were, an affinity to His own nature which is that of God the Father, by giving them the Spirit...
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The Jesus Prayer
“This is how you pray continually- not by offering prayer in words, but by joining yourself to God through your whole way of life, so that your life becomes one continuous and uninterrupted prayer.” - St Basil the Great
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Eucharistic Living 5- The Other 6 Days
Eucharist (thanksgiving) is the state of perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God’s creation, redemption and gift of heaven. But this perfect man who stands before God is Christ. In Him alone all that God has given man was fulfilled and brought back to heaven. He alone is the perfect Eucharistic Being. He is the Eucharist of the world. In and through this Eucharist the whole creation becomes what it always was to be and yet failed to be.- Fr Alexander Schmemann
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Eucharistic Living 2- Worry and Anxiety
You are He, O Lord, with whom we have laid our life. O Lord, who fills all, guard us in every place where we shall go. And the compunction that has become ours through prayer, and the contentment of heart of upright living, guard them for us, unstolen and without regret …
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Eucharistic Living 1- Liturgy to Liturgy
When the Christian begins to perceive the true dimensions of the Sacrament, he is filled with the desire to approach it more and more closely. Thus, the life of the faithful Christian goes from Liturgy to Liturgy. His chief concern is how to offer a more acceptable presentation before God every time; how to conform his own presentation to that of Christ before the Heavenly Father; how to attain to a greater fulness of divine love, how to become a worthy disciple of the Lord.- Elder Zacharias
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I AM
How can one describe the state of the spirit to whom God is revealed as I AM? His closeness to one’s heart is so tangible that joy in Him is like light. He is kind and gentle, and I can speak to Him intimately, face to Face, address Him- ‘HE WHO IS’. And at the same time I realise that this I AM and this HE WHO IS is all Being.
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Despondency
Despondency is a slackness of soul, a weakening of the mind, neglect of asceticism, hatred of the vow made. It is the blessing of worldlings. It accuses God of being merciless and without love for men. It is being languid in singing psalms, weak in prayer, stubbornly bent on service, resolute in manual labour, indifferent in obedience
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St Macarius the Spiritbearer
They said of Abba Macarius the Great that he became, as it is written, a god upon earth, because, just as God protects the world, so Abba Macarius would cover the faults which he saw, as though he did not see them; and those which he heard, as though he did not hear them.
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Thoughts, Watchfulness and Prayer
St. Macarius said, “Call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ with a humbled heart and let it flow from your lips, then ruminate on it. Don’t let it only be in your mind, but be alert when you call on Him saying, my Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me.When you do this, in silence, you will find that His Divinity rests in you”.
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Continuous Metanoia
Even after being washed clean in water mingled with Spirit in holy baptism, we still carry within ourselves the inclination and habit to return to our former condition. If we do not preserve, guard and cultivate the seed of Grace given to us, we will be deprived of its vivifying power. Then, as Christ warned us, we will be worse off than we were before. In order to preserve the Grace and not return to our former delusions, we must continuously, day by day, minute by minute, unite ourselves with the Way in metanoia (repentance). Metanoia- realigning ourselves to the Way, calling on Him, yearning to be cleansed in spirit, being forgiven by Him, and then forgiving everyone and everything- this is the very essence and foundation of the life of His followers.
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Return To The Way
“When a man severs himself from evil, he gains an exact understanding of all the sins he has committed against God; for he does not see his sins unless he severs himself from them with a feeling of revulsion. Those who have reached this level pray to God with tears, and are filled with shame when they recall their evil love of the passions.”- St Isaiah the Solitary
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Departure From The Way
In the beginning, man was created in a state of pristine simplicity, pure awareness. His thoughts and memories were not diversified and fragmented as they are today, but were simple and one pointed.He knew no mental distraction. While being wiser than any human being today, he was in a state of innocence, like a child, and in this state he lived in deep personal communion with God The Way and with the rest of creation, holding spiritual converse with them.
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The Legacy of Fr Macarius Wahba
Abouna will be remembered by countless people as a father, their father, discipling his children through who he was more than by what he spoke, leading them not to himself, but to the Lord. Having no intention of leaving a legacy or being remembered by anyone, he wished to come and go without moving the air in his space. Yet he has left the greatest legacy that will be remembered by his spiritual children for all their lives.
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St Moses the Strong
The Coptic Church celebrates the departure of St Moses the Strong on 1st of July- 24 Paone. St Moses is a well known example of repentance, humility, love for the brethren and the importance of spiritual struggle. His body along with that of his spiritual father St Isidore the Priest is in the ancient church of the Monastery of St Mary- Baramous.
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On the Transfiguration of the Lord by St Ephraim the Syrian
He led them up the mountain and showed them His kingship before His passion, and His power before His death, and His glory before His disgrace, and His honor before His dishonor, so that, when He was arrested and crucified by the Jews, they might know that He was not crucified through weakness, but willingly by His good pleasure for the salvation of the world.
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In Memory of Bishop Epiphanius
Three Fathers used to go and visit blessed Anthony every year and two of them used to discuss their thoughts and the salvation of their souls with him, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Abba Anthony said to him, “You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything," and the other replied, “It is enough for me to see you, Father.”
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