A vision of Elder Ephraim, and a picture of his purported to be weeping

Picture of Elder Ephraim of Arizona purported to be weeping (source)

"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

(source)

***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 Arizona (source)

“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.

(source)

Elder Ephraim of Arizona (source)

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

Homily II on St. Panteleimon by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)

  
Homily II on St. Panteleimon by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes: "A Lesson of Love"
"This I command you, to love one another." (John 15:17)
"The feast of a martyr is to imitate the martyr." [Quote of St. John Chrysostom]
The stars, my beloved, are not only contained in heaven, but our Church has its own, and the stars of the Church are the Saints (Martyrs, Confessors, Venerable Saints, Teachers and Fathers). The stars illumine heaven, but the noetic firmament of the Church is also illumined by the noetic stars, the Saints. They shine with their life, their virtues, their wonders. And like in heaven "star differs from star according to its radiance" (I Corinthians 15:41), thus among the Saints there are differences. One star of great prominence is today's Saint, the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon. Let's take courage to utter a few words, weaving a humble encomium to his memory.

St. Panteleimon was born in the era of terrible persecutions against Christianity, during the reign of Maximian (286-305AD), in a land whose name brings forth tears, in a land which gave birth to so many of the Saints and Martyrs: Asia Minor. Specifically, his homeland was Nicomedia of Bithinia. There was his church, but on a dreadful day in August 1922, the children of Hagar reduced it to rubble. Today in Nicomedia, the bells do not ring. I believe, however, that one day they will ring there again!

His parents were nobles, aristocrats. His father was Eustorgios, an idolater in the close court of the king. His mother, Euboule, was a Christian according to tradition, and implanted in the heart of the child the seed of the faith and of virtue. The Saint, however, had the misfortune of losing his mother. Only those who have lost their mothers can sense the loss which is left in a family by her absence.

However, the seed which his mother had sown within him was not lost. The child grew, became a man and was noted for his goodness. His rich father made provisions to send him to the best teachers, and even to the famous professor of medicine, Euphrosynos. He studied near him, excelled in his lessons and later finished as a great physician. He, however, was still an idolater, and did not believe in Christ.

One encounter, however, changed his life. While he was still young, he met a pious priest of Nicomedia, Ermolaos, who led him into the mystery of Christianity . "If you wish to become a physician," he told him, "you must know the first and greatest physician of souls and bodies, and this is our Lord Jesus Christ!" He related His life and miracles, and from then, the young man began to take care to believe.

The young physician wished to test if things said by Ermolaos were true. And one day, as he was traveling through the countryside, he saw a child who had died, and next to him was a serpent fleeing who had poisoned him. He knelt beside the body, and lifted up his eyes on high and said: "In the name of Jesus Christ, O child, arise, and you, O beast, depart." And immediately, the child came to life, and the serpent died. This event, along with others like it, strengthened within him faith in Christ. He told this to Ermolaos, and was baptized.

The healings which he continued to work were many and are written in his Synaxarion. Only one I will say, that he was serving as a physician in Nicomedia, which had at that time, before the founding of Constantinople, served as the first city of the nation. His fame had spread. He healed with medical drugs, but there where science lifted up its hands out of weakness, in those difficult situations, St. Panteleimon prayed and said: "In the name of Jesus Christ...", and the sick were healed wondrously. His successes however brought about the wrath of his fellow doctors. They condemned him to the king, and thus he was brought before him. Maximian tried to coerce him to become an idolater and to sacrifice to the idols, but he stood immovable. And thus began his martyrdom.
  

St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)

  

I will not relate his martyrdom in detail. The Saint's faith was great, and he was victorious through fire, and the sword, and iron nails, and ravenous beasts, and the wheel, and the sea, through everything. Many believed in Christ, not just through his wondrous healings, but through his manliness at the hour of his martyrdom. And aristocrats of the court and courtiers and patricians of the highest ranks, in addition to simple people came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because through all of the Saint's wonders, I discern that the greatest thing was his daily way of life: his love and his philanthropic offering, the sacrifice of himself in order to help his neighbor, his virtuous and chaste way of life, that which is sought of every Christian by the Lord.

In the end, according to the command of the emperor, the military guard led him two kilometers outside of Nicomedia, and there, before the sun had risen, around dawn, the lightning strike of the executioner's sword cut off the head of the Saint. And then, instead of blood, milk poured forth, according to the Synaxarion. And though his precious Relic was laid in the earth, it became a treasury and spring of wonders, while his holy soul flew to the heavenly mansions, to dwell among the Angels and Archangels, and from there, to intercede for everyone, and especially for his homeland of Nicomedia, that again she might see the glory of the faith and that the bells might ring there joyously through a national and religious resurrection.

As I said in the beginning, my beloved, "The feast of a martyr is to imitate the martyr", as described by the sacred Chrysostom. Are we celebrating a martyr? Then we should imitate him. Today, therefore, from the world of the bodiless spirits beyond, the voice of St. Panteleimon reaches us, and mystically speaks to the ears of our souls: "O Christians who are honoring me, become my imitators!"

The Saints are the most clear sign that Christianity is not a utopia, a theory, a philosophy, it is a reality, a harmonious life. They reveal that Christianity crosses the ages and rules in all stations. The Saints are the heroes of the faith and of virtue, the pinnacles of prototypes worthy of imitation.

Today, St. Panteleimon compels us, as the teacher of all, and especially those who are educated, rational, and who are scientists and physicians. There is a false idea that is cultivated by the children of darkness that science is not compatible with our faith. It is false, a satanic lie. Because we see today's Saint was an educated and wise scientist, and through this also believed in the Lord. And not only St. Panteleimon, but many other Saints of the Church. And not only Saints of the ancient eras, but many contemporary and great scientists of national fame (physicians, chemists, mathematicians, physicists, astronomers, and every specialty) believe in God and confess Christ. I know of scientists in Athens who believe, fast and pray, and--it may seem strange to you--arise at midnight to pray the prayer rope! I know of a surgeon in "Evangelismos" Hospital who never takes up the scalpel without kneeling to say: "Lord Jesus Christ, help me, the sinner." Science, not of dimwits, but of great minds, kneels before the Crucified One. In Germany, a surgeon wrote a book with the title: "Behind us stands God", in other words, behind our science is found Christ, the Physician of souls and bodies.

But the Saint is not just the teacher of learned scientists, but of all Christians. He teaches us a lesson which is most simple, but also the most difficult. It is the two words of the Nazarene, which we heard in today's Gospel: "This I command you, to love one another." (John 15:17) It is the lesson of love. And this is taught by St. Panteleimon, because he applied this himself [in his own life]. Whatever he had, he offered, and he became a servant of the people, and suggests to us that we become benefactors, philanthropists and merciful in our social circles. Because of this, I entreat you to be moved even more deeply to deeds of love and philanthropy. Do not wait for everything from the government, from others.

May God, through the intercessions of St. Panteleimon, protect our whole people, that we might with peace and love worship our Lord Jesus Christ unto the ages of ages. Amen.
(+) Bishop Avgoustinos
From a homily recorded in the old Church of St. Panteleimon in Florina on Saturday July 27th, 1968(source)

  

St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (source)

  

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

"And He opened His mouth and taught them..."

Icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, and type the Holy Trinity (source)

  
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-Matthew 5:1-12

 

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

Bishop Alexis of Bethesda on the Current Crisis

An ascetic in private prayer for the world (source)

  
3/25/2020 - "Some Thoughts on the Crisis and the Call of the Corona Virus"
by Bishop Alexis of Bethesda (OCA)
The Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Church love their flocks and ever strive to lead them to well-watered and rich pastures. They care for them, body and soul. In so doing, they are following their Master Christ who not only “cast out unclean spirits,” but also healed “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” (Matthew 10:1). In the Gospels, we see that Christ sometimes treated the soul first and the body second; at other times, the body first and the soul second. In the presence of the highly contagious and potentially lethal corona virus, the Bishops’ concern is for the bodily welfare of their people lest even a single lamb be needlessly lost. This is not from a lack of faith or dearth of compassion, but from unwavering faith and an abundance of compassion.
  
Compassion is expressed in giving each sinner the time necessary to repent, for in “hell there is no repentance” (Saint John of Damascus). Faith is expressed in the certainty that our Lord can always be in our midst, that He can always be by our side, for the Psalmist proclaims, “If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there” (Psalm 139:8). And if I am shut up in my home away from Church, “Thou art there,” even as the Lord was there for and with the Apostle Peter when he was locked up in prison, so He is there for and with us.
  
During times of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear, we naturally turn to God for refuge, peace, and courage. This is our birthright as baptized Orthodox Christians. Indeed, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change” (Psalm 46:1-2). With the corona virus, the earth has changed, but we do not fear. The faithful are isolated in their homes, physically separated from loved ones, and even unable to gather together as the Church for the celebration of the mysteries, but we do not fear, for God remains our refuge, our peace, and source of courage. Many are understandably discouraged and downcast about the decision to ban eucharistic gatherings in Church for the sake of the health of our neighbor whom we love. Yet, God remains our refuge, our peace, and our source of courage. Within this trial, this threat to so much that we hold so very dear, there is a call that is given and a promise that beckons. But to hear that call and see the fulfilment of that promise, we need to approach our Savior as His faithful children have always approached Him, not with self-righteous indignation or self-pitying despondency, but with humble, patient hope.
  
The call is to prayer of the heart. The promise is the purifying and illumining grace of the Holy Spirit. In the emphasis on more frequent communion over the past forty years, we might be tempted to neglect the necessary ongoing moment-to-moment inner communion with Christ by prayer, that talking with Him and walking with Him that characterized most of the lives of the Apostles before and after the institution of the Mystical Supper. Many of our greatest saints were deprived of Holy Communion for periods of time that for us would be unbearable to contemplate, but that for them were periods of continued growth from glory to glory, because they were never without Holy Communion with Christ through prayer. Prayer is not easy; it requires concentration, dedication, and love, but through the gates of prayer, we can touch Christ, Christ can touch us, and we can be healed. It is imperative for us all to learn to serve Liturgy at the Altar of the heart and the time is now at hand.
  
During this crisis of the corona virus, we are given the opportunity to become men and women of deep prayer. We are given the occasion to “enter into our closet, and when we have shut the door, pray to our Father which is in secret” (Matthew 6:6), offering Him our repentance, our gratitude, and our love. We can come to understand that “prayer is a safe fortress, a sheltered harbor, a protector of the virtues, a destroyer of passions. It brings vigor to the soul, purifies the mind, gives rest to those who suffer, consoles those who mourn. Prayer is converse with God, contemplation of the invisible, the angelic mode of life, a stimulus towards the divine, the assurance of things longed for, ‘making real the things for which we hope’” (Theodore, the Great Ascetic, Century 1:61).  As Saint Sophrony of Essex puts it, “prayer is infinite creation, far superior to any form of art or science. Through prayer we enter into communion with Him that was before all worlds…Prayer is delight for the Spirit.” (On Prayer, 9).
  
The Elder Aimlianos whose love for the Divine Liturgy was incomparable once said, “It is pointless to go to Church, unnecessary to attend Liturgy, and useless to commune, when I am not constantly praying” (The Church at Prayer, 14).  A spiritual life of private prayer is not a monastic prerogative, but the common inheritance of all the faithful. The saintly elder further notes, “The harm that befalls us if we do not know how to pray is incalculable. Incalculable? It is the only harm from which we suffer. There is no catastrophe that can compare to it. If all the stars and all the planets were to collide with one another, and the universe to shatter into smithereens, the damage would be far less than that which befalls us if we don’t know how to pray”  (The Church at Prayer, 10). The threat of the virus perhaps can open our eyes to the threat of not knowing how to pray to God in our heart. The threat of the virus may turn into a blessing that can enliven our spiritual life.
  
The temptation before us is to deafen our ears to this call to active, arduous prayer to approach God and instead to prefer more passive, easier ways for God to approach us. Now is not the time to try to devise any means to avoid this prayer in private, but it is the time to heed the call to prayer in our heart to the God of our heart. There is a rich, inner world beckoning to us, a world where God is all in God. Let’s take the gift of this time to enter into that world.  And if we do so, when we come together for the Divine Liturgy with a yearning magnified by distance apart, that Liturgy will be more radiant and more angelic than anything we have known before. Through a deep life of inner prayer, we will indeed learn how to set aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all.
(source)
  

The Holy Prophet Jonah (source)

  
4/3/2020 - "The Sign of the Prophet Jonah in our days"
by Bishop Alexis of Bethesda (OCA)
“For those with eyes to see and ears to hear,” these days of being in the belly of the whale, physically separated not only from one another, but also from our beloved Churches and places of prayer, we have a rare opportunity for spiritual growth. In this crisis that has overcome the entire inhabited world, we are given the sign of Jonah that calls forth a response from us all. Saint Ephraim the Syrian writes, “the sign of Jonah served the Ninevites in two ways. If they would have rejected it, they would have gone down to Sheol alive like Jonah, but they were raised from the dead like him because they repented.” The sign of Jonah that is given to us in our forced isolation out of love for our neighbor is a call to repentance, a call to change the way we look at the world around us, the world within us, and the world beyond us. As I suggested in an earlier reflection, it is an opportunity to become men and women of deep prayer who have learned to serve the Divine Liturgy on the altar of their hearts.
  
There are many books about how to pray from which believers can learn the art of prayer. There are many prayer books that have morning prayers, evening prayers, services of supplication, and akathists that the faithful can read on a daily basis. There are the Psalms of David that we can chant throughout the day enabling us to pour out our entire heart before God. And of course, there is the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me,” that every God-loving soul can say, again and again and again, so that it falls like a droplet of pure water upon our stony hearts refashioning them into hearts of flesh that can welcome the King of glory. But all these beautiful, holy words will enable us to touch the hem of Christ’s garment and to become more Christlike in the process only if we say them with the proper disposition of the heart, a heart that is humble, a heart that yields, a heart that can effortlessly utter the words of the Most Pure Virgin, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
  
This Holy Week and Pascha, the Covid-19 pandemic has given the faithful a hard saying. They will be deprived of celebrating these high and holy days in their parishes. They will be deprived of receiving holy communion. Nevertheless, they need not, now or ever, be deprived of Christ, for nothing, neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, can ever “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). It may be tempting to become angry or despondent, but neither of these states will enable us to pray to God or permit God to approach us. Neither of these responses will help us to receive the sign of Jonah given to our generation. What will enable us to pray is a humble acceptance of our condition in which we make peace with this world as it is, a willingness to yield before that which we cannot control, and then even further to give thanks for the fact that our own will, no matter how good and holy it may seem to us, is being cut off by the severe sanctions now in place. This may sound strange to those unfamiliar with our monastic tradition, but truly when the will is cut off, “the holy soul steadily ascends to heaven as upon golden wings” (Saint John of the Ladder) by virtue of holy obedience. In other words, gently, graciously, and gratefully yielding to this situation with humble acceptance will enable us to pray as we have never prayed before.
  
Obedience is not easy. It is “the tomb of the will,” but it is also “the resurrection of humility,” (Saint John of the Ladder), humility, which is “the very raiment of the Godhead” (Saint Isaac the Syrian). In humble obedience, we are following not only the path of the holy fathers of old, we are walking not only in the footsteps of the Apostles who strove to be obedient to every commandment of their beloved Lord, but we are also imitating our Lord Himself, who “as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phillipians 2:8). But death is never the last word with respect to obedience, the final word is always life, abundant life, life everlasting. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phillipians 2:9-11).
  
Let us receive humbly the sign of the Prophet Jonah in a way that leads to the light and life that are ours in Christ Jesus. This Pascha, let’s sanctify our homes and lives in wonderful ways. Let’s humbly do whatever is necessary to make one room in our home into a Church. If we don’t have an oil lamp burning before the icon of the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, let’s try to acquire one. If we don’t have a hand censer, charcoal, and incense, let’s decide to order them. And then with a humble, but grateful heart, let’s worship the holy Lord Jesus Christ, the only sinless One. Let’s venerate the icons in our homes, let’s light our vigil light, let’s cense our icons, let’s make our prostrations, and let’s make the words of whatever prayers we offer our own. Let’s mean what we say. Let’s trust in the Lord. Saint Isaac the Syrian once wrote, “The prayer of a humble man is like a word spoken from the mouth into an ear.” Let’s speak to God now as his humbled children, for in this time of trial, He will surely “hearken unto the voice of our cry” (Psalm 5:2) and in turn make our peace as a river and our righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18).
(source)
  

Christ in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before His Passion (source)

  

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

Elder Zacharias of Essex on the Coronavirus

The Desert Father in prayer (source)

  
Elder Zacharias of Essex on the Coronavirus

Many people are in confusion and others panic because of the threat of the Coronavirus epidemic that spread in the whole world. I think, however, that this should not happen, for whatever God does with us, He does it out of love. The God of Christians is a good God, a God of mercy and loving kindness, ‘Who loveth mankind’. God created us out of His goodness in order to share His life and even His glory with us. When we fell into sin, He allowed death to enter our life again out of goodness, so that we may not become immortal in our wickedness, but to seek for a way of salvation. Although we have fallen, God has never stopped to provide for us, not only material goods in order to sustain our race, but He also sent prophets and righteous, preparing His way so that He might come and solve our tragedy, and bring eternal salvation through the Cross and Resurrection of His inconceivable love. He came and took upon Himself the curse of sin, and He showed His love to the end: ‘Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end’ (John 13:1). All the things that God did when He created us, when He provided goods in order to sustain the world, when He prepared His way for Him to come on earth, when He came Himself in person and wrought our salvation in such an awesome way, all these things He did out of goodness. His goodness is boundless. He saves us and is so longsuffering towards us, waiting until we ‘come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim. 2:4) and bring true repentance, so that we may be with Him for all eternity. Thus, at every stage of His relationship with man, our God shows only His goodness and mercy, ‘which is better than life’ (Ps. 63:3); goodness is His Nature and He does all things for the benefit and salvation of man.

 

Consequently, when He shall come again to judge the world, will a different God judge it? Will it not be the same good God, the God of mercy and loving kindness, Who loves mankind? Let us be certain that we shall not appear before any other God than Him Who created us and saved us. And so, it is again with the same mercy and love that He will judge us. For this reason, we should neither panic nor waver, for it will be the same God that will receive us in the other life and will judge us with the same kindness and compassion. Some fear that the hour of their end has come. This plague of Coronavirus has also a positive aspect, because we have a few weeks from the moment it will assail us until our end. Therefore, we can dedicate this time to prepare ourselves for our meeting with God, so that our departure may not occur unexpectedly and without preparation, but after we have run through our whole life each time we stand in prayer before God, at times with thanksgiving unto the end for all the things God has done for us and at other times with repentance, seeking the forgiveness of our transgressions. Nothing can harm us with such a God, Who allows all things out of His goodness. We must simply keep thanksgiving unto the end and the humble prayer of repentance for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

As for myself, this plague is helping me. I longed to find again the prayer I had before, with which I can run through my whole life from my birth until now, thanking God for all His benefits ‘whereof I know and whereof I know not’; and also, with which I can run through my whole life repenting for all my sins and transgressions. It is wonderful to be able to run through your life praying, bringing all things before God with persistence in prayer. Then you feel that your life is redeemed. This is why this situation is truly helping me. I am not panicking but ‘I will be sorry for my sin’ (Ps. 38:18).

 

We must see the goodness of God in all the things that are happening now. The Holy Fathers did see His loving kindness. A similar epidemic occurred in the 4th century in the Egyptian desert, which harvested more than a third of the monks, and the Fathers were saying with great inspiration that, ‘God is harvesting souls of saints for His Kingdom,’ and they did not waver. The Lord Himself speaks in the Gospel about the last days, about the trials and afflictions which the world will go through before His Second Coming. However, we discern neither morbid sadness nor despair in His words. The Lord Who prayed in the garden of Gethsemane with a sweat of blood for the salvation of the whole world, says that when we see the terrible things that precede His Second Coming, we should lift up our heads with inspiration, for our redemption draws nigh (cf. Luke 21:28). Some tell me, ‘May God extend His helping hand.’ But this is precisely the hand of God. He desires and works our salvation ‘at sundry times and in divers manners’ (Heb. 1:1): ‘My Father worketh hitherto, and I work’ (John 5:17). This virus may be a means that God uses in order to bring many to themselves and to repentance, and to harvest many ready souls for His eternal Kingdom. Therefore, for those who surrender and entrust themselves to the Providence of God all will contribute for their good: ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’ (Rom. 8:28).

 

Thus, there is no room for morbid dismay. Neither should we resist the measures that the government is taking in order to diminish the spreading of the afflictions we see in the lives of so many people. It is wrong to go against the authorities. We should do whatever the Government says, because they are not asking for us to deny our faith, they are only asking us to take a few measures for the common wellfare of all people, so that this trial may pass, and this is not at all unreasonable. Some people take it too confessionally, they raise flags and play the martyrs and the confessors. For us there is no doubt: we shall show pure submission to the orders of the Government. It is unfair to disobey the Government since, when we fall ill, it is to their hospitals that we run and they are the ones who undertake all the expenses and our care.

 

This is the ethos of Christ that God showed in His life on earth and this is the apostolic commandment that we have received: ‘...be subject to principalities and powers, obey magistrates, be ready to every good work, speak evil of no man, be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men’ (cf. Tit. 3: 1-2); and ‘Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme...’ (see 1 Pet. 2:13-17). If we do not obey our governors who are not asking much, how will we obey God, Who gives us a divine law, which is far more sublime than any human law? If we keep the law of God we are above human laws, as the apologists of the 2nd century said during the Roman Empire which was persecuting the Christians. It is surprising to see in the country where we live, in the United Kingdom, that the footballers show such understanding and discernment so as to be the first to withdraw from their activities with docility towards the indications of the Government to take prophylactic measures. It would be sad for us, people of faith, to fail reaching the measure of the footballers and showing the same docility towards the authorities for which our Church prays.

 

If they ask us to stop our Church services, let us simply surrender and bless the Providence of God. Besides, this reminds us of an old tradition that the Fathers had in Palestine: in Great Lent, on the Sunday of Cheese fare, after the mutual forgiveness, they would go out in the desert for forty days without Liturgy; they would only continue in fasting and prayer so as to prepare and return on Palm Sunday to celebrate in a godly way the Passion and the Resurrection of the Lord. And so, our present circumstances force us to live again that which existed of old in the bosom of the Church. That is to say, they force us to live a more hesychastic life, with more prayer, which will however make up for the lack of the Divine Liturgy and will prepare us to celebrate with greater desire and inspiration the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Thus, we will turn this plague into a triumph of hesychasm. In any case, whatever God allows in our life is out of His goodness for the well-being of man, for He never wants His creature to be harmed in any way.

Certainly, if we will be deprived of the Divine Liturgy for a longer period of time, we can endure it. What do we receive in the Liturgy? We partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, which are filled with His grace. This is a great honour and benefit for us, but we also receive the grace of God in many other ways. When we practice hesychastic prayer, we abide in the Presence of God with the mind in the heart calling upon the holy Name of Christ. The Divine Name brings us the grace of Christ because it is inseparable from His Person and leads us into His Presence. This Presence of Christ which is purifying, cleanses us from our transgressions and sins, it renews and illumines our heart so that the image of God our Saviour, Christ, may be formed therein.

 

If we shall not have Easter in the Church, let us remember that every contact with Christ is Easter. We receive grace in the Divine Liturgy because the Lord Jesus is present in it, He performs the sacrament and He is the One imparted to the faithful. However, when we invoke His Name, we enter the same Presence of Christ and receive the same grace. Therefore, if we are deprived of the Liturgy, we always have His Name, we are not deprived of the Lord. Moreover, we also have His word, especially His Gospel. If His word dwells continually in our heart, if we study it and pray it, if it becomes our language with which we speak to God as He spoke to us, then we shall have again the grace of the Lord. For His words are words of eternal life (John 6:68), and the same mystery is performed, we receive His grace and are sanctified.

 

Furthermore, each time we show kindness to our brethren the Lord is well-pleased, He considers that we did it in His Name and He rewards us. We show kindness to our brethren and the Lord rewards us with His grace. This is another way in which we can live in the Presence of the Lord. We can have the grace of the Lord through fasting, alms giving and every good deed. So, if we are forced to avoid gathering in Church, we can also be united in spirit in these holy virtues which are known within the Body of Christ, the holy Church, and which preserve the unity of the faithful with Christ and with the other members of His Body. All the things we do for God is a Liturgy, for they minister unto our salvation. The Liturgy is the great event of the life of the Church, wherein the faithful have the possibility to exchange their little life with the boundless life of God. However, the power of this event depends on the preparation we perform before, through all the things we have mentioned, through prayer, good deeds, fasting, love for neighbour, repentance.

 

Therefore, my dear brethren, it is not necessary to make heroic confessions against the Government for the prophylactic measures that it takes for the good of all people. Neither should we despair, but only wisely machinate ways so as not to lose our living communication with the Person of Christ. Nothing can harm us, we must simply be patient for a certain period of time and God will see our patience, take away every obstacle, every temptation and we shall again see the dawn of joyful days, and we shall celebrate our common hope and love that we have in Christ Jesus.

(source)

  

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

Kontakion of St. Romanos: "On Adam's Lament"

The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (source)

 
The Guide of wisdom, Leader of prudence, Chastener of the senseless, and the Defender of the poor: fortify, grant understanding to my heart, O Master. Give me a word, O Word of the Father, for behold, I do not hold back my lips from crying out to You: O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen.

Adam sat and wept across from the delight of Paradise, and beating his eyes with his hands, he said: "O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen."

When Adam beheld the Angel turning him back, and closing the gate of the divine garden, he groaned greatly, and said: "O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen."

O Paradise, bear pain together with your master, who has been impoverished of you, and through the sound of your leaves, entreat the Fashioner to not close you. "O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen."

O Paradise full of virtue, all-holy, all-joyous, which was planted for Adam and was shut from Eve, entreat God for the fallen. "O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen."
-Excerpt from the Kontakion of St. Romanos: "On Adam's Lament", read on Forgiveness Sunday (source)
 
For the remainder of this beautiful Kontakion of St. Romanos, see here.
 

Forgive me, and may God grant us all forgiveness, repentance, and a blessed Lent!

 

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

"When the thrones are set up, and the books are opened..."

Icon of the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment (source)

  
When the thrones are set up, and the books are opened, and God comes to sit in judgment, O, what fear will be then! Angels stand around in fear, and the river of fire is drawn. O, what will we guilty people do then, who are in many sins? When we hear the calling of the blessed from the Father unto the Kingdom, the sinners will be sent unto perdition, and who will endure that terrible sentence? But You, O only Savior Who loves mankind, the King of the ages, before I reach my end, turn me back through repentance, and have mercy on me.


Having come to know the commandments of the Lord, let us do them. Let us feed the hungry, let us give drink to the thirsty, let us clothe the naked, let us enter in to the houses of the sick and visit those in prison, that He might say to us, when He comes to judge the whole earth: Come, the blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom that has been prepared for you.
-Idiomela from the Sunday of the Last Judgment
  
(source)
  

Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of glory at His Second Coming, to judge the living and the dead (source)

  

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

"I have squandered the essence of my Father's riches as a prodigal..."

Icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  

I have squandered the essence of my Father's riches as a prodigal, and having consumed them all, I have come to dwell in a desert land of evil citizens, and I am no longer able to bear to dwell with them, so I return, crying out to You, O compassionate Father: I have sinned against heaven and before You, and I am no longer worthy to be called Your son. Make me as one of Your hired servants, O God, and have mercy on me.
-Idiomelon from the Sunday of the Prodigal Son in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

(source)

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

St. Theophan the Recluse on Humility, Fear of God, Repentance and Love

Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior (source)

  

God is everywhere. And when He finds a heart that isn’t opposed to Him, a humble heart, He enters it and fills it with joy. The joy of the heart which has God within it is so great that it attaches itself to Him and never wants to separate from Him. The Lord doesn’t approach a heart puffed up with egotism. Such a heart is deeply sad, shrivels and slowly dissolves. It wallows in ignorance, sorrow and darkness.

 

No matter how sinful we are, as soon as we turn to the Lord in repentance and desire, the door of the heart opens to Him. Our inner uncleanness drains out and makes way for purity, virtue, the Savior Himself, the great Visitor of the soul, the Bringer of joy, light and mercy. This blessed state is a gift of God, not something we ourselves have achieved. And since it’s a gift, we ought, in humility, to thank the giver.

 

Humility! The basis of all the virtues and the fundamental requirement for spiritual fruition. Do you have humility? You have God, You have everything! You don’t have humility? You lose everything! So retain the feeling of humility in your heart. Our natural and normal relationship with God requires a heart which is impassioned, contrite and entirely devoted to Him, a heart which cries mystically at every moment: ‘Lord, You know all things; save me!’ If we surrender ourselves into His hands, He’ll do with and for us whatever’s best for our salvation, according to His wise and holy will.

 

The task of unceasing prayer is not only for hesychasts, but also for all Christians, whom the Lord enjoins, through His holy apostle, to ‘Pray without ceasing’. There are various stages of prayer before it becomes unceasing. They’re all the work of God, Who watches over the hearts of all of us to the same degree, be we monastics or lay people. And whenever a heart, whoever’s it may be, turns to Him, He approaches it with love and unites with it.

 

Icon of the Great New Ascetic Russian Fathers: Sts. Theophan the Recluse, Tikhon of Zadonsk, and Ignatios Branchaninov (source)

   

How fear of God is retained in the heart.

The fear of God is begotten from faith and is a requirement for spiritual progress. When it settles in the heart, then, like a good householder, it puts everything to rights. Do we have fear of God? If so, let us thank the Lord Who gave it to us and let us guard it as we would a valuable treasure. And if we don’t have it, let us do whatever we can to acquire it, in the knowledge that the reason for our lack is our own inattention and negligence.

 

From fear of God are begotten repentance, contrition, and lamentation over our sins. May this feeling, the precursor of salvation, never be absent from our heart. If we’re to retain the fear of God within us, we must keep in mind the whole time the remembrance of death and of the judgment, along with a sense of the presence of the Lord: God is always with us and in us, seeing, listening and knowing everything, even our most hidden thoughts.

 

When this triad- fear of God, remembrance of death and a sense of the divine presence- settles within us, then prayer surges from the heart spontaneously- then the hope of salvation becomes firm. It’s not so much the fear of God that preserves it; more the memory of the dread judgment. This remembrance, however, mustn’t produce dejection, but should rather inspire combativeness and repentance.

 

Let us try to remain unsullied by the filth of sin. And if, on occasion, we do sin, let us purify ourselves through confession. Trusting in God’s mercy in this way, we won’t lose heart. In any case, our Judge is merciful and loves us. He won’t be looking for something to condemn us for. On the contrary, he’ll try to find even the slightest reason to exonerate us.

 

God and the conscience.

If you decide, with all your heart, to always submit to the Lord and to please Him alone through the whole of your way of life, and if, in every predicament and need you turn to Him alone, in faith and devotion, then you can be sure that everything in your life, things spiritual and secular, will turn out successfully. It’s a great thing to realize that, without God, there’s nothing you can do about anything and, having come to understand this, to then have recourse to His assistance in full confidence. The conscience must direct the soul properly and inform it infallibly as to what is the right thing in every situation. It can’t do this, however, if it’s not pure and illumined.

 

So let’s clean it through ascetic efforts and observation of the Lord’s commandments, which liberate the heart from the passions, and let’s illumine it with the divine light by studying the Gospel. From there we’ll draw wise rules by which we will guide our conscience in the holy will of God.

(source)

  

St. Theophan the Recluse (source)

 

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

"The Savior, condescending to the race of mankind..."

The Circumcision of Christ (source)

  
The Savior, condescending to the race of mankind, accepted to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and did not refuse the circumcision of His flesh, He Who is eight days old from His Mother, but beginningless from the Father. Let us, O faithful, cry out to Him: You are our God, have mercy on us.
-Idiomelon from the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ
  
(source)
  

The Circumcision of Christ (source)

  

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

"She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her..."

Christ Crucified and His Precious Cross as the Tree of Life, mosaic from San Clemente in Rome (1118) (source)

  

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loves, he rebukes, and scourges every son whom he receives. Blessed is He who Finds Wisdom Blessed is the man who has found wisdom, and the mortal who knows prudence. For it is better to traffic for her, than for treasures of gold and silver. And she is more valuable than precious stones: no evil thing shall resist her: she is well known to all that approach her, and no precious thing is equal to her in value. For length of existence and years of life are in her right hand; and in her left hand are wealth and glory: out of her mouth proceeds righteousness, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue. Her ways are good ways, and all her paths are peaceful. She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her; and she is a secure help to all that stay themselves on her, as on the Lord.

-Proverbs 3:11-18, read at the Great Vespers for the Feast of the Precious Cross

 

(source)

 

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

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God..."

The Betrayal of Christ (source)

 
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for He is the Judge Who tries consciences and thoughts of the heart. Let no one enter troubling the spotless faith, but in meekness and fear let us approach Christ, that we might receive mercy and find grace, and receive help at the proper time.
-Idiomelon at the lighting of the lamps for Holy Monday
 
(source)
 

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

St. Gregory Palamas: "Taste and know that the Lord is bountiful..."

Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior (source)

  
Prayer changes from entreaty to thanksgiving, and meditation on the divine truths of faith fills the heart with a sense of jubilation and unimpeachable hope. This hope is a foretaste of future blessings, of which the soul even now receives direct experience, and so it comes to know in part the surpassing richness of God’s bounty, in accordance with the Psalmist’s words, ‘Taste and know that the Lord is bountiful’ (Ps. 34:8). For He is the jubilation of the righteous, the joy of the upright, the gladness of the humble, and the solace of those who grieve because of Him.”
–St. Gregory Palamas, The Philokalia Vol. 4
(source)
  

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

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: Are we recipients of God’s compassion?

Icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  

Are we recipients of God’s compassion?

The prodigal son from the first moment realised his mistake, his failure, but he did not immediately return to his father. Instead, he tried managing to live far away from him. Stubbornly, he tried to justify himself. But when he ends up in dire need, this causes him to come back to himself, to think correctly, to repent, and to take courage, the courage to go to his father and to confess everything he feels he did against him. There is always a tendency in man to want to appear honourable before God, having the conviction that he is something. Man must be hit hard, to feel that he is unworthy of salvation.  Man ought to rely οn God, οn the Father’s compassion. Every sinner is saved by the sacrifice of Christ and not by any human virtue of his.

  

When someone passes through the misfortune of the prodigal, when he is vanquished like this and is later found in the arms of God and enjoying his love, he will never leave no matter what. He is happy, because he has found the Father. He stays and tastes of his mercifulness.

  

No matter how much we have fallen, God is waiting for us to return without justifying ourselves, so as to give us all his goods. Today’s parable shows that he who fell greatly, very greatly, is saved, because he repented. He repented and was saved.

  

And so I wonder, are we the recipients of God’s compassion?

  

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications

(source)

  

Icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  

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

St. Silouan the Athonite on loving enemies

St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

 
"Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such a way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children."
-St. Silouan the Athonite
 
(source)
 

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

"O Prophet and seer of the great deeds of God..."

The Holy Prophet Elijah (Elias) the Tishbite (source)

  

Kontakion. Mode 2. Automelon.

O Prophet and seer of the great deeds of God, renowned Elias, who stayed the rain clouds by your word, intercede on our behalf with the Lord who alone loves humanity.
  
Oikos.

Seeing humanity's great iniquity and God's measureless love for humanity, Elias the Prophet was angry and troubled and spoke uncompassionate words to the compassionate God. "Vent Your wrath," cried he, "on them who renounced You, O Judge most just." But in no way did he move the heart of the Good to punish the ones who renounced Him. For He ever awaits the repentance of all, as the Lord who alone love humanity.

(source)

  

Holy Prophet Elijah (source)

 

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

Elder Joseph the Hesychast: "Why should you despair?"

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior (source)

  

"Since our sweet Jesus is so good, compassionate and kind, why should you despair ? We seek one small thing from Him, and He gives us so much! We ask for one beam of light , and He gives us Himself as all Light, Truth, and Love. So humble yourself and rest all your hope in Him."
-Elder Joseph the Hesychast

  

(source)

  

Elder Joseph the Hesychast and Cave-dweller (+1959) (source)

  

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

Homily on the Feast of Pentecost, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

The Great and Holy Feast of Pentecost (source)

  

Homily on the Feast of Pentecost, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

By the mercy of God, my beloved, we have reached the end of the feasts of Pentecostarion. The first feast is the Resurrection of the Lord, which is the greatest in the Orthodox Church. And in this way we differ from the [West], which celebrates Christmas with more grandeur. The Orthodox of the East, as the Queen of Feasts have Pascha. For forty days we hear “Christ is risen”. After the Resurrection, is the Ascension of the Lord, which we celebrated ten days ago. What meaning do these feasts have? In the Resurrection: Christ lives and reigns. In the Ascension: “Let us lift up our hearts.”
  

And today, my beloved, we have Pentecost, the great feast which is the fulfillment of the work of the divine economy, and signified the descent of the Holy Spirit. If you go to Mount Athos, in the Byzantine churches, you will see how Pentecost is depicted.
  

Byzantine iconographers, not like those today who are merchants of Christ, were artists who painted with faith and mixed their paints with their tears, and fasted in order to depict the icon of Christ and the Panagia, creating wonderworking icons. Out of ten-thousand icons today, I doubt if we would find one which is wonderworking. Every icon of course has its worth, due to whom it depicts, but another grace comes from the eye and hand of a sanctified iconographer.
  

Therefore, in the Byzantine icon of Pentecost, you will see that in the center is depicted a prophet, the Prophet Joel. He is depicted holding a scroll, on which is written the phrase: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh...” (Joel 3:1-2)
  

I wish to speak, but I hesitate. For what benefit is there from the feasts? For many now, a feast is a party, a gathering, a dance... We do not lessen our sins, but increase them. And for the Church a feast is joy and spiritual exaltation, while we celebrate according to a Judean or idolatrous manner. That terrible prophecy of God is fitting for us, when He says: “Your feasts, my soul hates.” (Isaiah 1:14)
  

I hesitate furthermore, for Pentecost is a feast which is the most difficult for a preacher among all the other topics. For what are we? Nature, worms, unclean animals, lowly-people, sinners, “having unclean lips among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) How can we speak today regarding the Holy Spirit, in an age which is known for its atheistic speeches, heresies, and generalized corruption?
  

In my place should be one of the Holy Fathers, whose spirits were intangible, and had not a molecule of carnality, and who, when they were praying, did not walk on the earth. And you, my listeners, should be purified, so that our spirits would be in harmony, and so that we be exalted above the heavens, like the Holy Apostles, so that the Holy Spirit would come upon us as well.
  

Behold why I hesitate to speak. But one phrase from today's prayers from the Kneeling Vespers helps to remove my hesitation. Believe me, I would not have even broached the topic, unless those words had strengthened me: “For in fear I stand before You, casting my soul's despair into the sea of Your mercy.” (From the Third Prayer of the Kneeling Vespers) I stand, it says, with fear before you, O Lord, and I the sinner, throw my soul's despair into the abyss of Your mercy.
  

I therefore throw myself into the incomparable mercy of God, and calling upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, I dare to utter a few words. For more properly, I don't speak myself; I become a microphone so that the opinions of the Fathers of our Church can be heard.
  

Pentecost! “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh...” The pouring out of the grace of the Holy Spirit, my beloved, in the Holy Scriptures and according to the Fathers of the Church, is characterized by many names. From all of this, I will take one alone, the name “gift”. Why is it called this? Because it is the culmination of everything that God has granted and continues to grant to us.
  

The grace of the Holy Spirit is not the only good thing which mankind has received from God. “In Him we live and move and have our being”, says the Apostle Paul (Acts 17:28), borrowing a phrase from the ancient poet (Aratos). We swim within the abyss of the energies and the gifts of God. What is there that we don't have as a gift from God!
  

I leave the gifts of the earth and the sea. I bring to mind the greatest gifts which come from on high, from heaven.
  

The first [great gift] is light, those countless rays of the sun, which travel at breakneck speeds, covering unimaginable distances. As one Saint said, every ray of the sun which shines upon a flower, a child, an old man, a beggar, a condemned man, upon the face of every person, what is it? It is an embrace by the heavenly Father. The hour when you sense the ray of the sun enlighten and warm you, it is as if God is saying: “O man, I love you.” How much would we pay for how many millions of kilowatts of energy from the sun? And instead of saying thank you, instead of “Glory to You Who has shown forth the light” (The Doxology), God receives blasphemies! And regardless, He sends His light “upon the thankless and sinners” (Luke 6:35).
  

Another [gift] is water, the rain which comes from the clouds, and falls upon the soil and makes it to grow all those things which nourish us. Every corner is a field. What could we pay for, and what does God receive for all of this water? The hen, when she drinks a sip of water, lifts up her head to heaven, as if to say: “Thank you, O Lord.”
  

Another is the air. Like the fish which swim in the water, and couldn't live outside of it, thus does man life within the ocean of the air. And only Earth has this atmospheric air. If we removed the atmosphere, we would die of asphyxia. Because of this, the astronauts carry with them Oxygen tanks. And think of how much it would cost if the Oxygen were sold by pharmacists. Only a few rich people could afford it. And for this, again there is thanklessness and ingratitude that our good God receives.
  

Besides these ordinary gifts of God, however, there are also extraordinary gifts, such as in the Old Testament, the manna, that sweet water, which was received by the mouths of the Jews who desired them. And those thankless ones watered the Son of the Virgin “with gall instead of mana” (hymn from Holy Friday). This is what man is.
  

Listen, my beloved, that up till now all of these gifts benefit me here. I told you understandable and simple things that we all know and can experience, and which penetrate our lives.
  

But man is not designed for here alone, for only this natural sphere, for the life of the body. He is not just a body. He is also a spirit, and primarily a spirit. He therefore, has another life, a life in the sphere of the spirit. And there, in the sphere of the spirit, he has need of other provisions. How can I make you understand? I seek the grace and the power of God.
  

Above all physical gifts which we sense, because we live with them and depend on them, is another great and uplifted gift. All of those gifts, ordinary and extraordinary, are small. Today's great gift is the Holy Spirit. “Taste of the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38) Great and necessary for our life is the light, the water, the air, but all of these are simply icons and symbols of that great gift, which is called the Holy Spirit.
  

The Holy Spirit has come! God has fulfilled His promises. It was prophesied of in the Old Testament by the Prophet Joel. It was the promise of Christ to His disciples, before He ascended into the Heavens. It was the completion of the work of the divine economy, the grand work of God for the salvation and glory of fallen man. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, the work of the divine economy would be imperfect and incomplete. Today, this work is completed. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit!
  

+Bishop Avgoustinos

On the Monday of the Holy Spirit, 1961.

  

(amateur translation of text from source)

  

The Holy Spirit descending upon the Disciple at Pentecost (source)

  

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