St. Gregory Palamas: "This is the Festival of the virgin birth!"

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

"This is the Festival of the virgin birth! Our address must be exalted therefore in accordance with the greatness of the feast, and enter into the mystery, as far as this is accessible and permissible, and time allows, that something of its inner power might be revealed even to us. Please strive, brethren, to lift up your minds as well, that they may better perceive the light of divine knowledge, as though brightly illuminated by a holy star. For today I see equality of honour between heaven and earth, and a way up for all those below to things above, matching the condescension of those on high. However great the heaven of heavens may be, or the upper waters which form a roof over the celestial regions, or any heavenly place, state or order, they are no more marvellous or honourable than the cave, the manger, the water sprinkled on the infant and His swaddling clothes. For nothing done by God from the beginning of time was more beneficial to all or more divine than Christ’s nativity, which we celebrate today. The pre-eternal and uncircumscribed and almighty Word is now born according to the flesh, without home, without shelter, without dwelling, and placed as a babe in the manger, seen by men’s eyes, touched by their hands, and wrapped in layers of swaddling bands. He is not a spiritual creature coming into being after previously not existing; nor flesh which is brought to birth but will soon perish; nor flesh and mind united to form a rational creature, but God and flesh mingled unconfusedly by the divine Mind to form the existence of one theandric hypostasis, who entered the Virgin’s womb for a time. By the good pleasure of the Father an the co-operation of the Spirit, the Word who transcends being came into being in this womb and by means of it, and now He is delivered from it and born as an infant, not loosing but preserving the signs of virginity. He is born without suffering, as He was conceived without passion, for as His mother was shown to be above the pleasure of passion when she conceived, so she is above grievous pains when she gives birth. “Before the pain of travail came upon her, she escaped it” as Isaiah says (Isaiah 66.7 LXX), and she brought forth in the flesh the pre-eternal Word. Not only is His divinity inscrutable, but the manner in which He was united with the flesh is past understanding, His condescension unsurpassable, and the human nature He assumed divinely, ineffably sublime, and so far above all thought and speech, that it does not admit of any comparison with creation. Even though you see in the flesh the child born to the Maid who knew no husband, He is still beyond compare. It says, “He is fair in beauty beside the sons of men” (Psalm 45.2 LXX). It does not say “fairer” but simply “fair”, so as not to compare incomparable things: the nature of God Himself to that of mere men..."
-Excerpt from the Homily on the Nativity of Christ by St. Gregory Palamas

(source)
  

The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

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

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!

"You trampled upon the basest pleasures..."

Sts. Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries (source)

  
You trampled upon the basest pleasures, and clearly proceeded towards the divine height of martyrdom through grace, O Cyrus and John, lights for the whole world. Therefore, we entreat you that we be delivered from the darkness of sin and from afflictions, as you pray to the God of all.
-Kathisma from the Matins for the feast of Sts. Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries

(source)
  

St. Cyrus the Unmercenary (source)

  

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

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "God calls all of us and can make each of us a saint..."

Synaxis of All Saints (source)

  

1st Sunday of Matthew 

June 15th, 2014   Bl. Augustine

Matthew 10: 32-33, 37-38; 19: 27-30

‘’The saints make manifest the Holy Spirit’’ 

                A characteristic of the spiritual life is that a person continually makes a new start. He never tires. Fatigue, boredom, despondency, laziness are all human and earthly; they don’t have anything to do with the man of God though. A new day, a new life. A new hour, a new life. Especially today as we close the festal cycle attached to Pascha and start again in some way from the beginning, we should have the attitude that now we are being born, now we are meeting Christ, now we are starting.

                Man tires easily and becomes bored above all when he is not expecting some pleasure from what he does. He becomes active, he comes to life only when he pursues something that pleases him. If he is required to make some sacrifice without expecting to be pleased, then he feels a lack of will, a boredom. His whole self feels heavy. He becomes confused, like he’s not sure what he ought to do. Within him is upheaval.

                 These things are straightforward, though, because we not only have before us the Gospel, but also a two thousand year history, the experience of the Church, and of all the saints. In the Lives of the Saints we find the Gospel put into practice. Studying the Gospel alongside the Lives of the Saints, which saints we imitate, we are not deceived. Why do we become deceived? Because deep within us we want to be deceived. So we are the ones who choose the lie. We think what we think and instead of accepting the truth, we accept a lie. Instead of being influenced by that which is true, we’re influenced by that which is false, illegitimate. The Saints, however, did not do this. What did they do then? Just as Christ, the Son, made manifest his Father, and the Holy Spirit made manifest Christ, so the saints within Orthodox Church make manifest the Holy Spirit, as we observe the fruit of the Spirit in their lives: This is precisely what made them saints, what deified them.

                We are all children of God. God calls all of us and can make each of us a saint, can deify us. Do we want it?

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Translated by Fr. Matthew Penney (source)

  

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

St. Isaac the Syrian: "The Lord is found hidden within the commandments..."

Jesus Christ "The Land of the Living", mosaic from the Chora Monastery, Constantinople (source)

 
The Lord is found hidden within the commandments which He Himself gave, and is revealed to those who seek Him. For exactly like a sensible home is to the clean air, so the rational mind corresponds to the divine grace. For the more material you remove from the dwelling place, the more it is filled with clean air. And on the contrary, the more material that is placed in the dwelling place, the more the clean air departs. By the words "materials of the house", we think of containers and goods, and by the words "materials of the nous", we think of vainglory and pleasure. Therefore, the more one removes vainglory and pleasure, the more our heart is filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit with the working of His commandments.
-St. Isaac the Syrian

(amateur translation of text from here)

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