Brothers

Photo by Cornell Capa

I came across this great black and white of Orthodox monks at work in Zagorsk, Russia, 1958. It’s interesting to look at the range of facial expressions here. I wonder–what has most of them smiling?

via The New York Times

What Matters

“It cannot be assumed that a man will constantly see or feel the light or warmth of God. Yet both are constant and active, both in the light of this life as well as in its darkness, its coldness as well as its warmth, its happiness as well as its grief. The way of the spirit is not to be measured exclusively by periods of light, warmth, joy, or fruitful activity. Periods of impasse, of darkness engulfing the soul, of grief which oppresses the heart, periods of coldness paralyzing all spiritual emotion are inseparable parts of the narrow spiritual way. Such conditions seem adverse, painful, and deadly. What matters is how we face them. This is what determines our worthiness to proceed further, completing the blessed struggle until we receive our crowns.” -Matthew the Poor

Love Thinketh What?

“Do not regard the feelings of a person who speaks to you about his neighbor disparagingly, but rather say to him: “Stop, brother! I fall into graver sins every day, so how can I criticize him?” In this way you will achieve two things: you will heal yourself and your neighbor with one plaster. This is one of the shortest ways to the forgiveness of sins; I mean, not to judge. ‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.’ (Luke 6:37)”

-St. John Climacus

“If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor’s shortcomings. As it is said, “Charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8), and again, “Love thinketh no evil… hides everything, etc.”(1 Cor.13:5,6) As I said, if we have true love, that very love should screen anything of this kind, as did the saints when they saw the shortcomings of men.Were they blind? Not at all! But they simply would not let their eyes dwell on sins.”

-Saint Dorotheos of Gaza

“My children, avoid criticism — a very great sin. God is grieved whenever we criticize and loathe people. Let us concern ourselves only with our own faults — for these let us feel pain; let us criticize ourselves and then we will find mercy and grace from God.”

-Elder Ephraim of Philotheou Mount Athos

(via Our Garden of Virtues)

You Know What Hurts?

The truth, that’s what. Hope you’re enjoying making us squirm, Steve. Which is to say, thanks.

(via Pithless Thoughts)

In the Hour of Prayer

“In the hour of prayer, when our mind wanders to thoughts of bad things–or if these thoughts come without our wanting them–we shouldn’t wage an offensive war against the enemy, because even if all the lawyers in the world joined together, they wouldn’t make any headway with a little demon. Only through ignoring them can one chase these thoughts away. The same is true for blasphemous thoughts.” -Elder Paisios

The Goal of Reading

“The goal of reading is the application, in our lives, of what we read. Not to learn it by heart, but to take it to heart. Not to practice using our tongues, but to be able to receive the tongues of fire and to live the mysteries of God. If one studies a great deal in order to acquire knowledge and to teach others, without living the things he teaches, he does no more than fill his head with hot air. At most he will manage to ascend to the moon using machines. The goal of the Christian is to rise to God without machines.”
-Elder Paisios

(h/t Oh Taste and See).

Deeper into the Mystery of Christ

I picked up this quote at Steve’s blog and wanted to share it here too:

“This process of becoming Orthodox is not something that you can do just after 6 months of catechesis and a little bit of chrism on your forehead. It’s a life-long process, because it’s being transformed into Christ. And if we can keep our focus that coming into the Orthodox Church is not about joining a new organization; it’s not joining ‘the right church’; it’s not ‘joining the historical church or the apostolic church’; or it’s not ‘joining the right church instead the wrong church that I was in.’

“But rather, it’s an entrance deeper and deeper into the mystery of Christ. Then I think we’re on the right track. Because otherwise all we’re doing is getting stuck in our heads and caught up in judgment and condemnation. In other words, we’re just stuck in our passions and we might as well have not converted anyway, because we still haven’t left the world behind.

“Our task is to incarnate that life in Christ that is not of this world. We have to be in the world, but not of it.”
– Metropolitan JONAH, “Baptizing the Culture”

Ouch (in a good way).

The Gulag of Pitesti

In a comment on one of his recent posts, Fr. Stephen mentioned two names–holy men, priest/confessors Fr. Roman Braga and Fr. George Calciu of blessed memory. I decided to do some looking around to find out more about these men and came across this four-part video, where each of them share about their experiences in a Romanian Gulag. I thought it worth passing on here:

What suffering!

Ripened on the Field of Life

“…O Lord, inasmuch as Thou containest a sea of longsuffering and an abyss of kindness, do not allow me to be felled as a fruitless fig tree; and do not let me be burned without having ripened on the field of life. Snatch me not away unprepared; seize not me who have not yet lit my lamp; take not away me who have no wedding garment; but, because Thou art good and the lover of mankind, have mercy on me. Give me time to repent, and place not my soul stripped naked before Thy terrible and unwavering throne as a pitiful spectacle of infamy.”

-St. Ephraim the Syrian

Read more on Seth’s blog.

The Treasure House within You

Be at peace with your own soul
then heaven and earth will be at peace with you.

Enter eagerly into the treasure
house that is within you,

And you will see the things that are in heaven,
for there is but one single entry to them both.

The ladder that leads to the Kingdom
is hidden within your soul…

Dive into yourself and in your soul
and you will discover the stairs
by which to ascend.

-St. Isaac of Syria