HOLY SILENCE

You are not forever broken. You are not permanently stuck. If you simply look up, you will see that Christ is near. If you simply open your ears, you will hear His voice. Let Him penetrate your mind and heart. Believe in where He is leading you. Get up. Go with Him. That's what the Holy Apostle Matthew did. When He saw and heard Jesus, he got up from the chair where he collected taxes and went. He became someone new. You have the choice to be someone new. Ask for Holy Apostle

We all know that sickness, confusion, and difficulty are a part of life. These are just a few of the reasons why we pray. But don't forget that thanking God is as important as asking God for help. Since He willingly and abundantly loves us, shows mercy toward us, and invites us ever closer to Him in the luminous darkness; let us take time to offer our deep and abiding gratitude. - The following is a vocal prayer that you can use after a time of trouble: "Almighty and merciful

In this time of great upheaval, confusion, doubt, and fear, ask Archangel Michael not only to protect you and your family, but also the Church, bishops, priests, all laity, and the nations in which we live. While this is a clear example of a vocal prayer, the highlighted portions can become for you a reflection that acts as an entry point for more serious and ongoing silent meditative prayer. "O great and holy Michael, Archangel of God, standing at the head of the angels befo

Are you trying to listen to God? Are you sad or angry that it seems like He doesn't respond to you? Maybe you're not able to hear Him because the noise in and around you is so deafening. Turn off your devices. Stop listening to all those other voices. Synchronize your life with the one who created you, redeems you, and tries very, very, very hard to sanctify you. Learn: "When the noise of the world deafened me, I could not listen to him. Now, in the silence of solitude, I beg

Between God, in His Divine Essence, and humankind, in all of its sinful banality, there lies an incomprehensible infinitude. Yet, through God's creatively-redeeming and lovingly-sanctifying Divine Energies, humankind also discovers an equally incomprehensible intimacy. In other words, we are not God and never will be. But God loves us and He is nearer to us than we are to ourselves. That is why we should lovingly seek that love with every breath, every thought, every beat of

Life is hard work. But ask yourself, "What kind of work am I doing? What am I working toward? Am I working at God's will or mine? Will my work bring me closer to Him and the Heavenly Kingdom?" The great saint tells us: "Labor, for nothing will come from you otherwise. If you are not successful in prayer, do not expect success in anything else. It is the root of everything." - St. Theophan the Recluse. "Letter 71." The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to It, translated fro

How can you complain about life if you don't pray? How can you be angry with God when you don't speak to Him, or, more importantly, listen to Him? The time has come to elevate your life. The only way to do this is by communicating with God, which is prayer. The great saint tells us: "Prayer is the exaltation of the nous* and the heart to God, so they can give glory and thanks to Him." - St. Theophan the Recluse * For the Orthodox Christian, the nous is often called the eye of

All of us get tired and frustrated. It is in those moments of fatigue that we resort to our sins, losing our zeal for God and the desire to do His will. That's when we need to be able to rely on a set of principles that will sustain and renew us in our love and pursuit of the One who creates, redeems, and sanctifies. "All rules should be directed towards the following primary practice: to preserve the inner spirit of life, fervency and zeal. Do such practices or exercises as

You will notice when the Spirit has sparked a fire within you. Do everything you can to protect that light and warmth. Far too often we let down our guard, allowing the world and the Evil One to pull us back from God and all that is eternal toward that which is temporary and meaningless. "The seed of life has been planted - guard it with everything you have. Otherwise you have nothing to which you can apply your labors, and nothing with which to carry them. You have received

We must work to pray and to remember Christ so deeply in our hearts and minds that we experience Him dwelling in us, literally. This takes great effort, of course, but it is a necessary facet of the journey toward spending eternity with God. The beautiful part of this work is that the Holy Spirit will give us signs along the way that will lift us up and keep us going. "Once remembrance of God has been established in the inner man, then Christ the Lord will dwell within you. T

Sadness, difficulty, anger, and fear seem to be a part of life. But from where do these arise? Setting aside illness and death for the moment, these emotional responses flood our minds frequently, if not daily, as expressions of disappointment in ourselves and others. As humans, partly through the fact of sin and partly through the conditioning of our culture, we tend to think we are not capable or good enough. Often, the expectations others put upon us are inappropriate. Som

"...I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; ‘Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!’ "Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to

"Do not fritter away the time given you for repentance. Do not rivet your eyes to the earth on which you are a momentary actor, on which you are an exile, on which by the mercy of God you are given a chance to change your mind and offer repentance for the avoidance of hell's eternal prisons and the eternal torment in them. Use the short spell of your pilgrimage on earth to acquire a haven of peace, a blessed refuge in eternity. Plead for the eternal possession by renouncing e

To truly help others - to intercede for them - one must love. To truly love - to sacrifice for them - one must know God. To know God - to understand His will - one must reach for Christ. To reach for Christ - to go beyond the self - one must contemplate Him. To contemplate Christ - to reside in Him - one must let go. To let go - to enter the Divine cloud - one must trust. To trust - to be bathed in the luminous darkness - one must be sanctified. To be sanctified in the Holy S

"The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). To be born from above means we must let down our barriers and allow the Father to continue the creating that He began in us long before our parents knew each other. To be born from above means we must let go our of our sins and allow the Son to continue the redeeming and recapitulating in us tha

"Today the faithful celebrate the feast with joy illumined by your coming, O Mother of God. Beholding your pure image we fervently cry to you: 'Encompass us beneath the precious veil of your protection; deliver us from every form of evil by entreating Christ, your Son and our God that He may save our souls'." - Kontakion (a type of hymn) sung on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. #MotherofGod #God #JesusChrist #soul #Faith #Joy #luminousdarkness #IntercessoryPr

"Prayer, attention, and work are safe ways to tame your thoughts and your passions in order to follow God's will." - A monk from Mount Athos #prayer #PrayUnceasingly #God #MountAthos #Attentiveness #Work #Will #Struggle #Podvig #Passions

"What we human beings achieve in our lives, is like the conquest of a mountain. The human soul cleanses itself through the effort of climbing up." - A monk from Mount Athos #God #Sin #Sinner #PrayUnceasingly #MeditativePrayer #Podvig #Struggle #Humanity #humility #MountAthos

"The body at work but the thought with God - such should be the state of a true Christian. "We should set in order our inner state as soon as we open our eyes each morning. In this same state of inner order we should keep ourselves all day, and in the evening warm and strengthen it and so fall asleep. It is a good thing to set limits to our personal affections, avoiding particular friendships, and making all our relationships with others of the same nature. When inner prayer

"Do not overlook the fact that health does not depend on food alone, but above all on inner peace. Life in God, cutting us off from worldly turmoil, brings peace to the heart and, through this, keeps the body also in good health. "Activities are not the main thing in life. The most important thing is to have the heart directed and attuned to God." - St. Theophan the Recluse. "Work, Inner and External." The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, Timothy Ware, ed., Faber and Fab