St. Paisios the Athonite on the Condition of the Modern World

This is a short but poignant audio recording of St. Paisios the Athonite with English subtitles in which he discusses the condition of modern man with regards to faith, works, thoughts, etc., and how to receive the true joy and peace of God. May he intercede to the Lord for us all and for all who are sick, suffering and distressed throughout the whole world! (source)

  

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!

St. Luke of Simferopol: "We must resist their evil works..."

St. Luke of Simferopol (source)

  
"The enemy of men, the devil and his angels, the demons, know very well how to whisper into our ear and to pass on to us evil under the guise of the good and to hypnotize our conscience. If that which passes into our mind corresponds to our hidden desires and our passions, then very easily they will be understood by our heart. We must resist their evil works. We can do this more easily if we manage to think of how much these things that we hear correspond with the Will of God and if we shut our ears to the devil."
(source)

"Holy people hate sin and do not accept the sin that tortures them. They are righteous and do not commit sin because they hate sin, not because they fear a God Who is a punisher."
(source)
-St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol the Blessed Surgeon
  

St. Luke of Simferopol (source)

     

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

St. John of the Ladder's advice for those living in the world

St. John writing his Ladder of Divine Ascent (source)

  
Some people living carelessly in the world have asked me: ‘We have wives and are beset with social cares, and how can we lead the solitary life?’ I replied to them: ‘Do all the good you can; do not speak evil of anyone; do not steal from anyone; do not lie to anyone; do not be arrogant towards anyone; do not hate any one; be sure you go to church; be compassionate to the needy; do not offend anyone; do not wreck another man’s domestic happiness; and be content with what your own wives can give you. If you behave in this way you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven.’
-St. John Klimakos, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step I
(source)
  

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

Elder Ephraim of Arizona on the remembrance of God, and on good thoughts

St. Isidore of Pelusium, in prayer and contemplation of God (source)

  
Elder Ephraim of Arizona on the remembrance of God, and on good thoughts
It is not so easy for the demons to harm a person who keeps the constant remembrance of God in his soul. They can tempt him, but it is difficult for them to harm him. This is because he does not permit them to trip him up, for he is armed with the weapon of the constant remembrance of God. Whoever has his soul’s eyes open and sees God is not easily harmed by the enemies. The very spiritual men of old did not need spiritual books. They did not have such a great need to read many patristic books, because they constantly meditated upon things about God. Whatever they saw immediately gave them an opportunity to meditate upon something, to discover something unknown. All of creation was a university for them. Wherever they turned their eyes, they saw something to meditate upon—sometimes the providence of God, other times His wisdom; sometimes His judgment, other times His teachings, and so on. With the eyes of their soul they saw invisible things. Meditating upon them filled their hearts with spiritual knowledge.

We people of today—since we do not have the eyes of our soul open—do not have the ability to remain in the spiritual meditation. Even when we do see something, we need religious books to know something about God. The minds of these spiritual men were so strong that they could conceive thoughts and ideas with deep wisdom. Our minds are so weak that they can barely retain anything. The Fathers then were, for the most part, simple people; yet, they acquired full knowledge, because the Holy Spirit helped them understand the Scriptures.
The remembrance of God is an all-powerful weapon, a mighty suit of armor against Satan and the various sins. When the mind ceases to remember God and meditate upon divine things, man is overcome by negligence, indolence, forgetfulness, and then by evil desires!
If you see your mind rushing towards the world, know that your soul lacks divine consolation, which is why it turns to the world for consolation. 
When a person’s soul is warm towards God, he is enlightened and feels compunction, and it is impossible for his mind to incline towards the world at the same time. The soul inclines towards the world when it is not united, in a sense, with God. The mind is an area, a place. If God does not occupy it, then the enemy will occupy it. This place cannot remain empty, having neither God nor evil, sin, temptation, or the activity of Satan. The mind is like a mill that is turning. Whatever is thrown into the funnel, which leads to the millstones below, will come out as flour of that type. If you throw wheat in, you will get wheat flour. If you throw thorns in, you will get thorn flour—a harmful substance. The mill is always turning; the mind of man is always working—like a mill. Do you want to have good results? Put good material into the mill. Do you want to find compunction, tears, joy, peace, etc.? Put good thoughts into the mill of your mind—for example, thoughts about the soul, about the Judgment, the remembrance of death, and so on—and then you will get corresponding spiritual results! But if a person puts sinful thoughts into the mill of his mind, he will definitely have sin as a result. The material that will be given to the mind depends on the intentions of man. And these intentions will be either commended or censured. We should always strive to have salvific thoughts and beneficial images in our mind, so that we do not leave room for Satan to throw in his garbage—sinful thoughts and fantasies!
(source)
  

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

"Elias the Prophet, whose thoughts were in heaven..."

 

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

  
Elias the Prophet, whose thoughts were in heaven, when he saw all Israel prostituting itself from God and clinging to idols, on fire with zeal he drew in the clouds, dried up the earth and shut the heavens with a word, saying: There will be no drop upon the earth, except at my bidding. He is now our host, for ungrudgingly he grants inexpressible grace to us who honour him with faith.
-Prosomoion of the Aposticha, Fouth Tone

(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!

St. Luke of Simferopol on the Fragrance of Christ

Icon of the Theotokos and Christ, the "Unfading Rose" (source)

  

The rose does not speak, but puts forth a strong fragrance. We too, should put forth fragrance, pour forth spiritual fragrance, the fragrance of Christ. The fragrance of our deeds should be heard from far around: good, pure, and righteous deeds, full of love. Only thus can the Kingdom of God appear within our hearts, appearing not through words, but with power. Amen.

-St. Luke of Simferopol

  

(source)

  

St. Luke of Simferopol (source)

  

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

St. Porphyrios: When our soul is sanctified, it shines with goodness

The Adulteress saved from stoning by Christ, as He wrote the sins of those persecutors in the sand (source)

 
Man has such powers, that he can transmit good or evil to his environment. These are very delicate matters. They require great care.

We must see everything in a good manner. We should not think anything evil about others. And even a glance and a sigh can effect our fellow man. And the slightest indignation brings evil. Let us have goodness and love within out soul, let us transmit these.

Let us pray that we not be indignant towards men who hurt us. Only let us pray for them with love. Whatever our fellow man does, let us not think evil of him. Always  let us pray lovingly. Always let us think of the good.

We must never think regarding the other that God will give them some evil or punish them for their sin. This thought brings a very great evil, without us perceiving it.

Many times we are indignant, and we say to the other: "Do you not fear the righteousness of God, do you not fear that He will punish you?"

Other times we further say: "God cannot even punish you for that which you have done", or, "My God, do not do evil to that man for that which he did to me", or, "May he not suffer the same lot".

In all of these cases, we have deep within us the desire that the other be punished. Instead, however, of confessing our anger at their offense, we use another way of showing our indignation, appearing to entreat God for him. Thus, however, in reality we are cursing our brother.

And if, instead of praying, we say: "may you find it from God, that God might repay you for the evil you have done", then again we are praying for God to punish him.

Furthermore, when we say: "regardless, God sees everything", the state of our soul works in a mysterious way to bother the soul of our fellow man and he suffers evil. Do you understand, therefore, how our evil thoughts, our evil disposition bothers others? Because of these, we must find the way to purify the depth of ourselves from every evil. When our soul is sanctified, it shines with goodness. We silently sent out our love without saying words.

Christ never wants evil. Instead, He commands: "Bless those who curse you..."
 
(amateur translation of Greek text from source)
 

Christ on the Cross, Who prayed to forgive those who crucified Him (source)

 

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