"Which is better? To be meek, humble, peaceful and to be filled with love, or to be irritable, depressed, and to quarrel with everyone? Unquestionably the higher state is love."
-St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
The virgin and chaste Catherine the wise, who through the power of Christ, truly was strengthened, and entered the stadium with rejoicing. And she deposed the tyrant through her steadfastness, along with the whole multitude of the enemy foes, and she ceaselessly chanted with joy and with a great voice: O my Christ, You are my glory, my Savior and my Deliverer; do You receive my spirit.
-Kathisma from the feast of St. Catherine the Great Martyr
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
Today has dawned a day of joy, and an all-reverent feast, for today, she who was a Virgin before giving birth, and remained a Virgin after giving birth, is led to the Temple. And Zacharias the Priest, the begetter of the Forerunner, cries out with joy: "The promise of those who suffer has come to the holy Temple as one holy, to be dedicated to become the dwelling place of the King of All." Let Joachim the Forefather be glad, and Anna exalt, for the spotless Lady is offered to God as a three-year-old calf. O mothers, rejoice together, O virgins, skip for joy, and O barren ones, dance together, for the Kingdom of the Heavens has been opened to us, she who was preordained to be the Queen of all. Rejoice, O people, and exalt.
-Doxastikon of the Litia, by Leo the Master
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Most-Holy Theotokos, save us!
From the Blessing - Psalter of St. Arsenios of Cappadocia:
"85 (86) So that God saves the world when plague comes and people die."
O Lord, incline thine ear, and hearken to me; for I am poor and needy. 2Preserve my soul, for I am holy; save thy servant, O God, who hopes in thee. 3Pity me, O Lord: for to thee will I cry all the day. 4Rejoice the sold of thy servant: for to thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. 5For thou, O Lord, art kind, and gentle; and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee. 6Give ear to my prayer, o Lord; and attend to the voice of my supplication. 7In the day of my trouble I cried to thee: for thou didst hear me. 8There is none like to thee, O Lord, among the god; and there are no works like to thy works. 9All nations whom thou hast made shall come, and shall worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10For thou art great, and doest wonders: thou art the only and the great God. 11Guide me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: let my heart rejoice, that I may fear thy name. 12I will give thee thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for ever. 13For thy mercy is great toward me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 14O God, transgressors have risen up against me, and an assembly of violent men have sought my life; and have not set thee before them. 15But thou, O Lord God, art compassionate and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy and true. 16Look thou upon me, and have mercy upon me: give thy strength to thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. 17Establish with me a token for good; and let them that hate me see it and be ashamed; because thou, O Lord, hast helped me, and comforted me.
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
What crowns of praise shall we place upon the Hierarch, he who lately shown forth and illumined the Church with the lamp of piety? The new adornment of the Orthodox, and equal in zeal to the former Arch-priests. For by his way of life full of wisdom, he was glorified by Christ, Who grants to all, through him, the great mercy.
-Prosomoion of the Stichera for the Feast of St. Nektarios the Wonderworker
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
The noetic Powers and Generals, who ceaselessly stand before the Throne of the Master: Intercede with the Lord that peace may be granted to the world, and great mercy to our souls.
-Idiomelon of the Litia for the Feast of the Holy Archangels, by Cyprian
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
"I just communicated with Gerontissa Thekla from Montreal, and she told me that our holy Elder appeared to someone living in Crete. He lives ascetically, and would go to visit the Elder at St. Anthony's [in Arizona].
He has this picture of our holy Elder with a constant vigil lamp before it. The Elder told him that God is greatly saddened by the Greeks***, because they are not praying.
On November 3rd, the picture began to weep, not just tears, but it became soaked.
The Elder is praying for all of us."
-Maria
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***Note: By no means are the Greeks the only people that might not be praying as they should, but all people throughout the world, young and old, clergy, laity and monastics, should be repenting and praying as we should, entreating the Lord to save the world.
“Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, who lived as an ascetic in Arizona, appeared to a woman in Northern Greece, a long-time spiritual daughter of the elder. At the time of the appearance she was with her daughter-in-law; she was not asleep but actually in a state of alertness. At one point the woman was unresponsive, as if in ecstasy,* and this lasted for about 10 minutes, according to her daughter-in-law who was watching her. She did not realize or comprehend the time duration — i.e., for how long the vision lasted. It was something new for her (the content of the conversation) because she has seen the Elder before, after his repose, both in her sleep as well while she was awake. Due to all this (her shock), she contacted her spiritual father and asked whether this experience was real or a deception by the evil one.
She saw Elder Ephraim and he was very sad and was imploring Christ that the ongoing [direction of] events be averted (all this, of course, is in agreement with what the elder said to many while he was alive).
And he told her:
‘Repentance repentance repentance. Christ is very angry...
We people today should not be in this spiritual state we are in...
Huge tribulations are coming, you can not imagine how bad these will be...
Alas to all of you for what awaits you; you must repent as long as there is time...
You need to kneel and cry, to shed tears of repentance, that Christ soften...
This has to do with what is happening in America as well.
Many people will depart through all that is to come, many people will depart (they will die).
You have no mercy among you. You show no mercy to each other.
You are tough towards each other, you stand ready to eat (consume-destroy) each other ....
Tell all of this to your spiritual father and to others ....’
The woman who saw this was a spiritual daughter of Elder Ephraim and was in communication with him often up until his repose.
- f. I.
*Translator’s note: The Greek term here is χάθηκε. It was not immediately clear to us if this meant literally or spiritually. We received clarification that it was the latter and have made the change. We have also made other minor changes to improve the English translation and correct typos in the Greek version.
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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
