Advice from Hell..!!.Father Arsenie Boca.

Father Arsenie Boca.

Arsenie Boca (29 September 1910 – 28 November 1989) was a Romanian Orthodox monk, theologian, mystic, and artist. He was persecuted by the Communists and named among the 100 greatest Romanians. He was born in Vața de Sus, Hunedoara County, Romania, died at Sinaia M Father Arsenie has not yet been canonized as a saint. Nonetheless pilgrims from all over Romania flock to pray at his grave which is located in Prislop Monastery, Romania.

 In October 2015 the Romanian Orthodox Church announced that it was considering the cause of his recognition and proclamation as a saint.

In an old book from the Holy Mountain, a confessor skilled in giving advice left the following lesson contained in this story:

''A priest fearing God and caring greatly for his flock was daily struggling by all possible means to turn around those lost on the way to perdition, keeping them steadfast in His word. However, he saw with grief that the fruits of his labor were in vain. His flock had dispensed with their hypocrisy but they were still rotting in the .same sins he had found them in. His work, made up of useless sermons, daily counsels or confessions, proved to be in vain. Nothing moved them from the swamp of their sins.

"What was the poor priest to do? How could he set them straight?

Enthusiastic in his labor for God, tormented every day knowing he was responsible for their souls, he entreated God to tell to him why he was incapable of attracting people to repentance.

"One Saturday evening after Vespers, he was resting with sad countenance on a rock in the garden, overwhelmed by his priestly duties, disappointed that his labor bore no fruit. As he was sitting there lost in meditation, behold, God opened the eyes of his troubled soul onto a dreadful vision: a fearsome, armored mob, black as coal, appeared before him in a dark cloud of evil spirits. It was a council of demons led by Satan, the overbearing, frowning master of darkness. Suddenly, from the midst of the council, a devilish voice shrieked, causing the sky to vibrate:

The devil hates Geronda.!!.Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast and 

his disciple Father Ephraim of Arizona.

Elder Joseph the Hesychast was a monk and elder on Mount Athos. He reposed in 1959, and he has wide acclaim for being the spiritual father  of Elders Ephraim of Philotheou, Joseph of Vatopedi, Charalampus of Dionysiou and others, who are directly credited for revitalising six of the twenty monasteries on Mount Athos.

Even the demons know quite well who Elder Joseph was!. When exorcisms were being read over a possessed woman in Thessalonica, she began shouting: "That Joseph! He went to Philotheou. He's protecting Philotheou monastery, and I can't do anything to them!". Everyone who heard this, wondered how she knew about elder Joseph and that his skull was at Philotheou. She herself, of course, didn't know anything, but the demon inside her did!.

Le Temps de l’Apocalypse.Père Séraphin de Valaam.

Père Séraphin à la bibliothèque
 du monastère Saint Jean Baptiste
 - Douma - Liban.

Entre le 5-8 Août 2019, le monastère Saint Jean-Baptiste, Douma, Liban, a eu la bénédiction de recevoir, le Père Séraphin, disciple de Père Sophrony Sacharov, starets de Valaam, ancien ami de la communauté. À l’occasion, il a adressé une parole spirituelle, que nous avons la joie de la partager avec nos lecteurs.

L’Écriture Sainte nous dit qu’il y a un temps pour tout sous le soleil. Un temps pour parler, un temps pour être silencieux, un temps pour rire, un temps pour pleurer, un temps pour construire, et un temps pour détruire…

Je pense qu’il nous est donné maintenant le privilège de vivre le temps de la destruction totale, le temps de l’Apocalypse. Père Sophrony disait, il y a environs 30 ans de cela, que bien sûre nous ne savons pas quand la fin du monde va arriver, mais nous pouvons dire une chose de façon sûre absolument, que nous sommes déjà entré dans le temps, le processus de l’Apocalypse. Mais il ajoutait que ce n’est pas pour nous une raison de paniquer, d’avoir peur… Au contraire, il disait que  vivre les derniers temps, c’est un grand privilège!.

The Church in the world.Father Georges Florovsky.

Father Georges Florovsky.

 Protopresbyter Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (23 August 1893- 11August1979) was a
prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, and writer, active in the ecumenical movement. His writing is known for its clear, profound style, covering subjects on nearly every aspect of Church life.

Historical failures of the Church do not obscure the absolute and ultimate character of its challenge, to which it is committed by its very eschatological nature, and it constantly challenges itself.

Historical life and the task of the Church are an anti­nomy, and this antinomy can never be solved or overcome on a historical level. It is rather a permanent hint to what is "to come" hereafter. The antinomy is rooted in the prac­tical alternative which the Church had to face from the very beginning of its historical pilgrimage. Either the Church was to be constituted as an exclusive and "totalitarian" society, endeavoring to satisfy all requirements of the believers, both "temporal" and. "spiritual," paying no attention to the existing order and leaving nothing to the external world­ it would have been an entire separation from the world, an ultimate flight out of it, and a radical denial of any external authority. Or the Church could attempt an inclusive Christianization of the world, subduing the whole of life to Christian rule and authority, to reform and to reorganize secular life on Christian principles, to build the Christian City. In the history of the Church we can trace both solu­tions: a flight to the desert and a construction of the Chris­tian Empire. The first was practiced not only in monasticism of various trends, but in many other Christian groups and denominations. The second was the main line taken by Christians, both in the West and in the East, up to the rise of militant secularism, but even in our days this solu­tion has not lost its hold on many people. But on the whole, both proved unsuccessful. One has, however, to acknowledge the reality of their common problem and the truth of their common purpose. Christianity is not an in­dividualistic religion and it is not only concerned for the "salvation of the soul " Christianity is the Church, i.e. a Community, the New People of God, leading its corporate Life according to its peculiar principles. And this life can­not be split into departments, some of which might have been ruled by any other and heterogeneous principles.

When Thy Light shines on me.Saint Symeon the New Theologian.

"In Thy light shall we see light".
(Theophanes the Greek. Late 14th and early 15th centuries)

I weep, I am pierced with sorrow, when the light shines on me,

that I see my poverty and that I realize where I am,

what world I live in, what mortal world, mortal myself;

and I am filled with joy, with bliss, when I understand

what condition God has bestowed upon me, what glory,

and I consider myself like an angel of the Lord

completely adorned with the immaterial garment.

Thus joy kindles my love for the Giver

and the One who transforms me, God - and

love causes streams of tears

to gush forth and makes me still more brilliant.