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| Mother Gavrilia. |
I
travelled a lot in my life and happened to move from one place to another,
without any material security, but always with the protection of the Angels. I
used to say, as I still do: "I am going from something good to something
better". Always gladly, even if it meant something worse or physically
harder. Because I know that it is in God's Plan. This is what you should do all
the time, my child. No matter where you are. No matter who is near you. No
matter who offends you or upsets you. No matter who loves you. EVERYTHING that
happens is in God's Plan, and because of that you will love it...
Q:
Mother, I have noticed that you give to everyone what he needs: love, help,
comfort and much more. At the same time I have realized that there is something
like a protection, like a distance, that prevents anyone or anything from
harming you or...
Mother
Gavrilia: Yes. Although I believe that I am not the one protecting myself...
Q: ...
but the Angels, as you say!.
Mother
Gavrilia: It is the «Encompass us ... » Still, the «distance» you have mentioned
is true. Do you know why?. When we are with God, we have no «problems», neither
«psychological» nor any other «personal problems». We solve them with the Holy
Bible, with our Spiritual Guide, with the Writings of the Fathers, with Christ
Himself Who tells us: «Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest» ... When man reaches the point of believing so, of
working so, of living so, then this «distance» you mentioned, dear, will always
exist - in spite of all our love. The fact that I have no «problem» to tell to
the other one is what causes this «distance». I listen to the problem of the
others and have only love to give them. When this happens, everyone will come
to you, because people need to talk of what troubles them. You will be the one
who listens - in God, always.
Q: So,
are the Angels protecting us from everything?.
Mother
Gavrilia: Yes. As you say, the Angels are protecting us. I have seen it
happen many times. It is as if they raise a protective wall around us. We say
it every evening in Compline: «Encompass us with your Holy Angels, so that
guided and guarded by their Host, we may attain the unity of the Faith». Do you
know how important this is?. Never to lose Faith?. To have it constantly?. I
have just remembered an instance which you may consider trivial. But it did
happen to me. When we reached Faran (in the Sinai Desert) everything was very
nice. The small cells, all new, had door and window screens. So, the first
night I went to sleep feeling very safe. I am in the desert now, I thought, and
will have nothing of what I had in India - no snakes, no scorpions, no
mosquitoes. Great stillness ... Then, what happened to me at daybreak?. What
did I see?. The floor was covered with a carpet formed by enormous ants - a
whole carpet!. But look at the Wonder: Around the bed, at a distance of about
50 cm., the floor was absolutely free of ants. They had left something like a
margin ... I called Sister Catherine to help me. For I may have great faith and
courage, but faced with an ant I felt unable to do anything!. I can neither
step on it nor chase it away ... So, she came with a broom and swept them out.
This happened to make me see, once again, the «I am here» of the Guardian
Angel. This is how it happens with everything and everyone ...
Mother
Gavrilia: Yes. And we must become aware of it. We must recognize it clearly.
Then, little by little, God will grant us the holy power of Discernment to put
it into practice...
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| The Guardian Angel. |
Mother
Gavrilia: Be sure of that. Don't listen to the world talking of temptations
and temptations and temptations again. They have reached the point where they
have the Tempter instead of Christ!. So ... You will leave yourself in the
Hands of God, saying «yes», «yes», «yes» ... And if it is something spiritually
detrimental to you, God will make it «no». That's it.
Q: So,
the Guardian Angel does exist?.
Mother
Gavrilia: Yes. He is within us.
Q: In
everyone?
Mother
Gavrilia: Yes. He dwells in every one of us.
Q: Is
it perhaps the voice of our conscience?
Mother
Gavrilia: No, it is not. Because the voice of conscience is the voice of
God. This is why, even without having read much about God, we do not feel «all
right» when we disobey any of His Commandments. All of us have this «feeling»,
all men, whether the socially developed or the so-called «primitive». It is
impossible for a person to sin and not to be aware of it. Actually, many
persons have told me that when they sin, they sense a taste of bitterness in
their mouth as if they had swallowed quinine, or feel a sadness which stays
with them long afterwards ... Therefore, this voice is not their own. It is
the voice of God, who dwells in them. Now, the Guardian Angel is someone else
... And he has his «friends» ... For there are also other Angels protecting us
- not just one ... Once, Father Elias Mastroyannopoulos spoke beautifully on
the Angels, at the Monastery of Tinos. He said how willing to help us the
Angels are. This is their purpose. All we have to do is call for their help and
everything will become much easier than it would have been otherwise.
Q: I
gather you have good relations with the Angels. Do we chase our Angels away when
we ignore them?. And how can we become friends with the Angels?
Mother
Gavrilia: This is a personal matter. You will find out by yourselves. A good
book has been published: The Holy Liturgy - An Interpretation. It contains a
great deal on Angels. Because, as you know, in our Liturgy Angels have a
ministering part - «the Cherubim and Seraphim, with six wings and many eyes»,
they all attend ... The whole Sacrificial Service in the Sanctuary is performed
with them...
Reference:
Mother Gavrilia.The Ascetic of Love. Nun Gavrilia. (2000)