When sin interrupts our communion with God, it is as if the glass of the mirror we already see through dimly (1 Cor 13:12) fades toward the opaque. Like the devil's hands covering our eyes or his fingers slowly tightening around our heart, our soul suffocates from the viscous drool of his devouring mouth. As we struggle in his grip and gasp for just...one...more...breath, the vision of the depravity of ourselves and others gives way to just one thing...the fuller realization that all we need, and truthfully, all we want, comes down to one and the same thing: the light, the energy, in fact the love of God. We stop struggling. We let ourselves lay in His arms, hearing His heart beat, feeling the warmth of his breath on our head. We become still We become silent. Opaque gives way to an illuminated darkness. #Trinity #Stillness #silence #luminousdarkness #Sin #Evil

Are your eyes fixed? Are your ears pricked up? "The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked Him to show them a sign of heaven. He answered them, 'When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red." And in the morning, "It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' Then He left them and went away (Matthew 16:1-4)." The Father created the world. The Son saved it from unholiness. The Spirit offers it sanctification. What more do we need? The Most Holy Trinity is all around you. Let the Divine Cloud transfigure you. Do not wait. #ContemplativePrayer #HolySpirit #JesusChrist #continualprayer #Trinity #MysticalTheology #transfiguration

Do you sleep restlessly, worrying about your life? Do you wake up with a pit in your stomach? Do you walk around all day with a weight on your shoulders? If so, you are not alone. Concerns about jobs, bills, money, health, relationships, and all manner of other things creates an experience inside of us that often feels like twice the pressure of gravity. And it doesn't let up. So how do we deal we deal with this? The first thing to do is bring them to God in prayer. The acts of talking to, praising, thanking, and hoping in God not only removes these worries from the dark recesses of our inner selves, but also forces them outward and upward into a differently lighted reality. In other words, when we openly speak to God about our troubles, we get to view them, if only for a moment, from God's point of view. The second thing is to remember that the people of God are willing to help us. In the world we live in, we are too-frequently accused of not 'having enough' or 'doing enough' and reminded that we 'don't measure up' or will 'never amount to anything'. That makes us want to hide. But more often than not, other people are willing to share our burdens and give us whatever they can of themselves to help. After all, they've been in the same place too. The third thing to remember is that we are much more resourceful than we think. By this, we don't mean that we should get more adept at outsmarting others or cheating the systems of business and government we must live within. Instead, it means that we can live on less of what the world wants us to do and have. That means we must simplify how we live. Finally, simplifying life comes down to this. Pray the 'Our Father' every day. And when it comes to the line: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," make a commitment to listening for what it is that God wants for you to do. And then go do it. That's all, nothing else. By following God's will, choices become simpler and it makes it a little easier to avoid that traps of the world that end up troubling us so much. May God bless you today and always. #Anxiety #Healing #prayer #continualprayer

Glory to Thee, our God, Glory to Thee. O Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, the Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come, and abide in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One. +Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us. (3 times) +Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy God, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name's sake. Lord, have mercy. (3 times) +Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. #prayer #PrayerAgainstEvil #continualprayer

Do not waste time my loved ones. Do not let the world lull you into a sense of complacency. Do not let the evil one trick you into thinking you are the center of the universe. Or worse, that God is not at the center of the universe! You already know that God is One, that God is Triune, that God is personal in Christ and ever-present in the Holy Spirit. You already know how many times He has sent His angels to help you. You already know that the saints have reached out to you in times of need. But the evil one has convinced you not to believe what you know deep down in your heart. Run from these lies. If you don't, you will surely shed tears of regret that your life has been spent on so many frivolous, meaningless, selfish tasks. You will surely experience the pain of deep regret in looking back on the time you spent pursuing your most base desires. Evil lurks everywhere. But fighting it couldn't be any simpler to understand. Keep God has your focus. Meditate on the life of Christ. Seek the love and leading of the Holy Spirit. Desire union with God. Desire the mystical life that can already found here on earth (most easily in the Divine Liturgy and the other sacraments, but also in personal prayer and the miracles of creation). Reflect on the Eschaton. Reflect on what it means to join God in His Heavenly Kingdom. He loves you and wants to hear from you in prayer. #Evil #theosis #Theoria #continualprayer

For all the talk about the question of what Sacred Scripture says or does not say about being rich (or privileged or educated) and poor (or underprivileged or uneducated), there seems to be missing a far more important and meaningful point. Whether we are rich or poor, modern culture drives us toward distraction from God, disintegration in the self, distance from others, and dissonance in prayer. The only way to combat this sad state of affairs is to simplify our lives. Christ calls us to lead uncomplicated lives. And no matter where we fall on the socio-economic or educational continuum, it is our duty to live with a focus on God, discerning His will, working that out in the most straightforward way possible, and communicating with Him and others with and through prayer. That is why we must rid ourselves of 'agendas' and 'schemes' and desires that lead us away from God and our true selves. Of course, some will object to these comments as being abstract or unrealistic. But the truth is that this is the life of Christ. This is the focus of what it means to be Christian. This is the life of healing from the pain we have given and received; meditating on His existence (especially the Incarnation, Resurrection, and Ascension); and seeking union with Him in this life and the next. #Simplicity #continualprayer #Resurrection #Incarnation #Ascension #theosis

Trust among people depends on the willingness of each party to sacrifice for the other. #Sacrifice #IntercessoryPrayer

If we truly believe in God. If we truly believe God is the author of all things (without sinking into a belief in predestination). If we truly have faith in His presence. If we truly want to listen to Him and follow Him. Then, why do we worry? Far too many among us spend our days and nights wringing our hands about yesterday and tomorrow. We think about what went wrong in an earlier time. And we fixate on what's coming next. We do these things in part because no one has taught us or encouraged us to live in the 'eternal now' of God. If we did do that, then we surely wouldn't experience the rampant anxiety (and every other form of dis-ease) that pervades our society. We would in fact become more and more peaceful by the day. Even more than that, if we truly live our lives with complete faith in God, then we would grow ever closer to Him in this life. After all, union with God for all eternity is the singular goal for all of us. #Faith #Anxiety #theosis #continualprayer

Modern culture breeds in us an insatiable quest to control every aspect of our own lives and a rabid lust for any type of mastery over others. The more we embrace this cultural norm, the more we willingly drive ourselves into the dark embrace of the evil one. The antidote for this is learning the will of God in each of our lives and humbly following it each and every day. Christ taught us this kind of humility when, while asking that the 'this cup might be taken,' still prayed that the Father's will be done (Matthew 26:39). By descending from the Heavenly Kingdom, taking on a human nature and will (while keeping the divine nature and will), choosing to live among sinners (some of whom tortured Him and nailed Him to the cross), rising from the dead, and ascending into Heaven, Christ Himself showed that bowing to the Divine Will is what we are called to do. But that doesn't seem to be enough for us. A tragic side effect of the arrogance and conceit of this same culture is that Christ's actions, even if believed, are dismissed as an act of God and therefore unrelated to the human experience. And that is one reason why God gave us the Most Holy Theotokos, Mary, the Mother of God. As a mere human, she showed us what it means to discern the will of God and follow it throughout our entire life. Her ultimate "yes" to God showed us what it means to live in peace while suffering the trials and tribulations that the evil one, his minions, and quite frankly, each and every one of us foist onto ourselves and others. She taught us what it means to look to heaven, say "yes" and remain in that "yes." So don't let lust for control over yourself or others cloud what it is that God needs you to do. When we give way to His will, we find light and love and joy even in the most difficult times. Most Holy Theotokos, intercede for us, that we may learn to live for the will of God and shun the lust for prideful control. #Theotokos #theosis #Discernment #continualprayer

Creation exists. The Incarnation happened. Sanctification is readily available. That means the world is drenched with mysticism. Except that most people choose not to see it, hear it, taste it, touch it, or smell it. Far too many of us spend life entranced by the transitory now. Life was meant to be spent reaching out toward those Energies of God that emanate like poetry and fire from the Essence of God. So let us pray for the day when each and every person can see and know the mystical reality that surrounds them. St. John the Theologian, pray for us. St. Gregory the Theologian, pray for us. St. Symeon the New Theologian, pray for us. #StJohntheTheologian #StGregoryofNazianzus #StSymeontheNewTheologian

Does it ever seem to you that when you are filled with faith and exude a vibrant spirit, that something - more often than not, someone - finds a way to knock you down? Sometimes it comes from a friend or family member that's supposed to be loving and kind. Sometimes it comes from a total stranger. No matter who it comes from, we always know that the evil one encouraged it. He cannot stand when we abide in God's love. Better still, he cannot stand it when we remain in faith and loving God fully, even when we are under fire. Don't get me wrong, maintaining faith and focus can be very hard in a world that doesn't understand it or around people who, themselves, are so filled with pain that they want to inflict it on us. But if we can find the tears - and yes there will be a kind of catharsis involved - as well as the prayers to suffer through those hard moments, we will experience that fervency and vibrancy again. More than that, we will come out the other side of this negative experience, stronger. Stronger not because we are more capable, but stronger because have reached out to God knowing that He never left us alone in the first place. That's what the sacraments remind us. Through them we are drawn back into God: forgiveness in Confession, closeness in the Eucharist, and in holiness in Anointing. From these experiences - the difficult ones in everyday life and the glorified ones in the sacraments - we derive our need and desire to commune more fully with God. That is why we need meditative and contemplative prayer. Through the prayer of the mind and then the prayer of the mind in the heart, we learn to let God in a little more each day. The hope is that abiding in Him more and more in each and every moment, we will begin that path of total union with Him now that will be completed in and last for all of eternity. #ContemplativePrayer #Faith #Confession #Healing #theosis #Catharsis

Take a deep breath and look around you. Your personal world is hectic, isn't it? The larger world is chaotic too. Right? Quiet vocal prayers and a silent stillness during your daily meditation on the life of Christ or the presence of the Holy Spirit will help you find your way into the loving embrace of God. And this isn't an amorphous or abstract thing. Practicing this type of prayer each day will open your world beyond what you see, think, hear, and feel in the normal course of your activities. In fact, it will help you to rid those things that distract you from loving God in the type of truly personal way He loves you. It will also transform the way you see your world, the manner in which you interact with others, and alter how you participate in a world that is loud, hyperactive, and more-often-than-not, indifferent to Our Most Holy Trinity, which offers mercy, visitation, healing, love, and most importantly of all, salvation. May God Bless you and your family today and every day. #hesychasm #silence #Stillness #meditation #ContemplativePrayer #MeditativePrayer #Love