Our aim must be to become holy…Saint Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kapsokalyvite

Saint Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kapsokalyvite

Commemorated on  2 December

There is one thing we must do, and that is turn to Him and love Him with our soul. Love for Christ: this is the best and sole remedy for the passions. 

“The flood of divine love fills the soul with joy and exultation.”

Prayer should not be seen as a chore or an obligation but rather an act of love.

The object is not to sit and afflict and constrict yourself in order to improve. The object is to live, study, to pray and to advance in love––in love for Christ and for the Church.

The Elder tells us,

Simplicity and gentleness are a very saintly mode of spiritual life, but you cannot learn this in an external way. It must suffuse itself mystically within you so that your soul embraces this mode of life through the grace of God.

Our heart must be pure and free from all impediments. It must be devoid of hatred, egotism and malice. We must love His and He must love us…. the secret is to ask for forgiveness.

The message is always the same. Love.  Love God with all your heart and you will receive His grace.  You will have a pure heart and your mind will be suitable for prayer.  No effort will be needed.

We benefit greatly from our illnesses, as long as we endure them without complaint and glorify God, asking for His mercy… 

We need to be careful not to harbor any resentment against those who harm us, but rather to pray for them with love… We need always to have thoughts of love and always to think good of others. We mustn’t think anything evil about others. Even a simple glance or a sigh influences those around us. And even the slightest anger or indignation does harm. We need to have goodness and love in our soul and to transmit these things.

If we pray with love for someone, whatever the distance that separates us, the good is transmitted. So distances do not affect the power of good and evil. We can transmit these across boundless distances. When someone prays for his neighbour, a good force proceeds from him and heals, strengthens and revives him. He sends light to his neighbour and this creates a shield around him and protects him from evil. When we possess a good disposition towards others and pray, then we heal our fellows and we help them progress towards God.

Our aim must be to become holy and God may then grant us additional powers. Grace does not come to those who are ego-centered. It comes only to those who are humble, selfless, and love God above all else.

Reference: Wounded With Love.

O Master who hast risen as a Star out of Jacob, Thou hast filled with joy the watchers of the stars, who interpreted wisely the words of Balaam, the soothsayer of old. As the first fruits of the Gentiles were they led unto Thee, and Thou has openly received them, as they brought Thee acceptable gifts. Glory to Thy power, O Lord.

As dew upon the fleece hast Thou descended into the womb of the Virgin, O Christ, and as drops of rain that fall upon the earth. Ethiopia and Tarshish and the isles of Arabia, the kings of Saba, of the Medes and all the earth, fell down before Thee, O Saviour. Glory to Thy power, O Lord.

Troparion (Tone 4)

“Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all. Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the Tree of Life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave. Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the fruit divine; if we eat of it we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ is coming to restore the image which He made in the beginning.”

 https://iconandlight.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/our-aim-must-be-to-become-holy-saint-porphyrios-bairaktaris-the-kapsokalyvite/