A Miracle Wrought Through Almsgiving

   In speaking of the significance of almsgiving and mercy, Fr. Cleopa stressed the importance of these virtues by relating the following story:

   Emperor Nicephorus of Constantinople reigned from 1078 until 1081. He decided to build a cathedral that would be almost as grand as St. Sophia. When it was ready, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Alexandria as well as the patriarch of Constantinople were all invited to consecrate the beautiful new church built by the emperor. Announcements had been made about the consecration for several months in advance so that everyone would have time to travel to the great city of Constantinople; remember that during that time there were no cars, planes or trains. Everyone had to travel either in carts pulled by oxen, horses or donkeys, and those from great distances had to cross the sea in boats.

Saint Macrina the Elder

The Bridge of Theology

The Holy family and Saint Macrina the elder at its head

   She is called “confessor of the Faith.” In her family there are so many saints that she is known as the “mother and grandmother of saints”. She should be given another title­ - Bridge of Theology - for her invisible contribution to the understanding of our faith and its expression in the world.

   Born about AD 270, Saint Macrina the Elder grew up as a pagan. Most of the city she lived in was pagan until Saint Gregory Thaumaturgis arrived.

   The Heritage of Saint Gregory

   Saint Gregory Thaumaturgis and his brother, both pagans and thirsty for learning, traveled to Alexandria as young men to study philosophy. It was there that some of the most influential meta­physical work was being conducted. The two men arrived at the peak of the "flowering of a tradition that had flourished at Alexandria" since the first century of Christian thought - the melding of early Christian thought and pagan philosophy that has given rise to our modern understanding of Christian faith and theology.

Lettre à David Balfour (XV)

Archimandrite Sophrony

Les afflictions sont le signe de la faveur de Dieu. - De la vaillance dans les afflictions qui sont l'essence de la bienveillance de Dieu envers nous. Rendre grâce à Dieu pour celles-ci. Les afflictions sont le chemin vers la déification.

Mont Athos, 21 janvier (3 février) 1933.

   

Vénéré Père David, Bénissez!

   Frère bien-aimé dans le Seigneur, paix à votre âme dans le Seigneur.

   Notre vie est «un flot irrésistible» (Septante, Ps. 123,4). Ce ne sont pas seulement les débutants, - tels que nous, aspirant seulement à nous engager sur la voie de l'ascèse -, qui sont éprouvés. Les pères parfaits qui avaient atteint les hauteurs ultimes de la contemplation, eux non plus, ne demeuraient pas inébranlables. Ne soyez pas troublé par les afflictions et les incertitudes qui s'emparent de vous, mais tenez ferme par la foi quand les vents changent, c'est-à-dire les états d'âme. A cet égard, il est bon de nous affermir dans la conscience de ce que toutes les tentations qui nous arrivent sont d'un grand profit: elles enseignent la lutte spirituelle, elles permettent de se connaitre soi-même. Une âme vaillante doit même aimer les tentations car, en les surmontant, elle devient plus forte, plus ferme, plus expérimentée, plus sage: elle devient capable de s'élever vers la contemplation.

A Miraculous Healing

   One day, I entered the office of Fr. Sophrony. I used to always seek for an opportunity to have contact with him. I would go two or three, or several times a day to see him. I never asked questions, but I always knew that he would say something to me, and every time he said something, it was an opening of a horizon, of a spiritual horizon. There were many times when just one word made me understand many things from the lives of the prophets and of the holy apostles and of the saints; just one word.

Sickness and death of children

   God does sometimes call children to martyrdom or all martyric suffering in their lives. A child's illness is a trial of faith and endurance for all concerned, not least the parents. They have to bear it while at the same time strengthening their child and his brothers and sisters. God's Providence for the sanctification of His children is always a blessing, but sometimes the blessing comes heavily disguised.  

   Sick children are often imbued with faith and wisdom beyond their years - in many cases, beyond their parents’ own faith too. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them” [Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16]. If we are able to do this, they, and we too, will grow. The ill child is often the teacher, keeping our trust in the Lord alive even while our hearts bleed.

La théologie des offices liturgiques en l'honneur du Précurseur

Mural dans l'église de
Saint Jean le Baptiste - Douma - Liban

   En nous penchant de près sur les textes liturgiques composés pour ces solennités en l'honneur de saint Jean le Baptiste nous pourrons juger de la place de la figure du Précurseur dans la théologie orthodoxe. Nous nous proposons d'analyser quelques expressions relevées de manière non exhaustive dans l'hymnographie byzantine de ces fêtes.

   L'Ange du Christ

   L'hymnographie byzantine parle du Précurseur comme de "l'Ange du Christ" ou de "l'Ange de Dieu". Ces deux expressions synonymes, jouant sur le terme grec "άγγελος" signifiant à la fois ange et messager, font écho à la prophétie de Malachie, reprise dans l'Évangile de Matthieu, où le Seigneur affirme:

   J'enverrai mon messager (mon ange) devant ta face, qui préparera ta voie devant toi (Mal 3,1; Mt 11,10).

   Selon les paroles du Christ lui-même (Mt 11,10), c'est de Jean le Baptiste qu'il s'agissait dans ce passage.

Abesses Paisia and Magdalena of Sevsk Convent.

   We are recounting here the story of two disciples of Saint Macarius of Optina (+ 1860).

   “Mother Paisia” was born in 1740, and in 1779 became Abbess of the “Sevsk Convent”, not far from Optina. She was an outstanding abbess, quite influential in her neighboring area. She kept the Convent under strict surveillance, upholding in it the principles of monastic life. It was once visited by Elder Athanasius of Ploschansk (the disciple of Saint Paissius Velichkovsky), together with his disciple Macarius of Optina and Elder Basil Kishkin, the restorer of Glinsk Monastery. This visit left a deep impression on the sisters of the Convent, influencing them to read the writings of the Holy Fathers. Even young girls read these writings, learning The Ladder of Divine Ascent almost by heart. During Elder Athanasius' lifetime, Elder Macarius was made the official spiritual father of the Sevsk Convent. There were several very holy nuns in this Convent, some of them virtual saints.

On Saints and Divine Love

   How great and how many are the athletes of virtue, the saints and with which crowns they are decked, is clearly demonstrated by the accounts written on them. Even if they don’t contain all their contest, yet even a few suffice to show the character of the life they have lead. It is not by wearing away all the gold that is applied to it but by being rubbed against a little of it that a stone shows to be a good coin or bad. Likewise in the case of an archer, one could learn accurately from the discharge of only a few arrows whether he uses the bow well, hitting the target, or if he shoots outside, being unpractised in the skill. It is possible in the same way too to test the other men of skill, not to mention them individually: athletes, runners, actors of tragedy, pilots, shipwrights, doctors, peasants, and, in a word, all the others who put their hand to some skill; for slight experiment is sufficient to prove the skill of those with knowledge and convict the ignorance of those who adopt the mere name. Therefore, as I said, the recording of even a few of the achievements of each one is sufficient to teach their whole purpose in life. It is our present task to examine, inquire, and discover exactly from what impulse they embraced this way of Life, and by what thoughts they attained the very summit of philosophy; for that it was not through confidence in the strength of the body that they became enamored of what is beyond human nature, transcended the limits imposed on it, and jumped beyond the bounds fixed for contestants in piety, experience is a clear teacher.