Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew's Skete on the Repose of St. Paisios

The wondrous body of St. Paisios the Athonite during his funeral (source)

  
"Gerontissa (Eldress) Philothei, from the Monastery of Souroti, told me that, as soon as St. Paisios reposed, his face shown, and his whole body began to pour forth fragrance and lightning!!! And he went from being very pale from his afflictions, to becoming totally white!

"A sign of his great humility and the many signs from God that he had in his life.

"St. Paisios had very many revelations, some of which he revealed to people, but he asked them to not make them known until he had died!

"His life was a martyrical one, and his battle with the devil and with the demons was not insignificant!

"To live one's whole life as a monk, this shows that he had a leonine soul, for otherwise he could not have withstood the attacks of the enemy, being totally alone."
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew's Skete, Mount Athos

(source)
  

Icon depicting the dormition of St. Paisios the Athonite (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete: "God is everywhere present..."

Christ Pantocrator (Source)

  
"God is everywhere present. Wherever God is, there also is His Uncreated Light. The Uncreated Light of our Triune God fills all things. Therefore, no place is a place of darkness. All is all-bright with the Uncreated Light of our Triune God, Who shines with His Light and with his incomparable Divine Love. In other words, God bombards us with incomparable tons of His Divine Love. And woe to him who does not accept this Love, for he will experience it as incomparable hell, as incomparable hate and incomparable darkness in the other life.

"With this teaching, all of the thoughts of modern man are put into order, that say that, if God is incomparable love, how is it possible for us to go to hell for all eternity with so many torments? God neither condemns to hell, nor is hell His creation. God out of love made all things, and whatever He created is wholly light and love. Darkness and punishment were not created by God. We have created them with sin and with death, we have created darkness and hell. Therefore, God, does not condemn us to hell, but we self-condemn ourselves on our own.

"It is like the sun which shines wholly bright, and there are eyes of men who desire to go blind and do not wish to see the light of the sun, even forever. In this eternal self-blinding, one remains in darkness even though he was given the chance to see. Every human being has this pure choice and is free, and God honors this and does not intervene. And man lives his life and works his sins and God does not stand in his way, but unless he turns in repentance and chooses to follow His righteousness, then he can't condemn God for the hell that he will experience in the next life."
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete, Mount Athos

(source)

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Demetrios: How much love he had for Christ!

St. Demetrios the Great Martyr and Myrrh-streamer (source)

  
"St. Demetrios was an only child and remained an orphan from a young age. He did not commit any sins of the flesh and never shed his seed upon the earth! Do you understand what a good disposition he had and how much love he had for Christ!


Even though he was a military governor of Thessaloniki, he lived humbly with utter asceticism. He was taught by God, he had the gift of prophecy, and is the greatest myrrh-streamer of Orthodoxy!


Scientists in Paris did a chemical analysis of the myrrh which streams from St. Demetrios, and revealed that the myrrh is made up from 33 components which do not exist anywhere else on the planet Earth!!! The myrrh is a heavenly "essence", and is a gift of the Holy Spirit.


St. Demetrios had revealed that, when he stops to stream forth myrrh, then the sins of the people of Thessaloniki will have exceeded every limit..."
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete
(source)
   

St. Demetrios the Great Martyr and Myrrhstreamer, before his home city of Thessaloniki that he protects (source)

      

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Christ's Holy Light that Recreates, Gives Light and Sanctifies

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Holy Light from the Sepulcher of Christ, Jerusalem (source)

  
The greatest miracle* in the world is the Holy Light in Jerusalem, which springs forth every year from the All-holy Tomb [of Christ] on Great Saturday (between noon and 2pm).

It descends from heaven and everyone sees it, Orthodox and non-Orthodox. It is the Uncreated Light, which for a few minutes (4-10) does not burn! No one on earth can make fire that does not burn.

The Holy Light does not burn, it does not corrupt because it is in essence a spiritual Light, which recreates, gives light and sanctifies! Many take the Holy Light with candles and lamps, and whatever sick part of their body is crossed is healed!

After a few minutes, the Holy Light transforms from something Uncreated to something created and it begins to burn. And if this did not occur, the candles and lamps would never burn out and evil people would play "games" with the Holy Light and we would have blasphemies and perversions.

At some point, however, the Holy Light will cease to come. It will be the time of the antichrist. The Holy Light is the resounding confirmation that Orthodoxy is the only Truth, the only true religion...
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete.
  
(source)
  
*Elder Ephraim of course is not minimizing the astounding miracles that occur on a daily basis, such as the transformation into the Body and Blood of Christ in every Divine Liturgy. He is referring to extraordinary, overt and external miracles.
  

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!
Truly, the Lord is risen!

"Panagia had a silent life..."

Copy of the wondrous icon of Panagia Vimatarissa of Vatopedi Monastery (source)

  
Panagia had a silent life. Within, however, she prayed ceaselessly! Her prayer of the heart did not have any measure of comparison. It is something inconceivable to men, and even to the Angels, and because of this Panagia is the rector of all of the teachers of noetic prayer.

A short time before Panagia left this world, the disciples of Christ entreated her to give them a unique teaching, as a spiritual inheritance. Panagia told them:
"Life is like trade, and man resembles a merchant. Blessed is he who trades rightly with the time of his life! Trade your life as my Son said, that you might gain the Kingdom of the Heavens."

We use our time, either doing good works to obtain the Kingdom of the Heavens, or working sins, towards our damnation.
-Elder Ephraim of St. Andrew Skete
  
(source)

  

Most-holy Theotokos, save us!

"With every "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," it is like casting an atomic bomb in the heart of the devil..."

Jesus Christ enthroned in glory (source)

  
When a man says: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," do you know what happens? It brings energy, it brings the Grace of the Holy Spirit puts it in action. He orders this "fire" of Divine Grace, to be worked throughout the earth. And how is this done? It brings joy to the angels, and brings sadness and enflames the demons. It is a further hell for the demons.
  
With every "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," it is like casting an atomic bomb in the heart of the devil (and because of this, [the devil] fervently puts up roadblocks) and it will be heard unto the ages of ages, not because we ourselves have this Grace, but because the name of Jesus Christ itself carries this energy and Grace and has so much power, as much power and Grace that His Godhead has!
  
For this Grace to be energized in essence in ourselves, we must have the following presuppositions:
A) frequent sacramental life
B) to have been forgiven by all men,
C) to proceed through life with purity in body and soul,
D) to have a spiritual guide, and,
E) to have an order and daily program of spiritual duties in the realm of silence and compunction.
-Elder Ephraim of St Andrew Skete, Mount Athos
  
(source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!