How great is our God; the God of the Orthodox Christian

How great is our God; the God of the Orthodox Christian

A young American man had visited St. Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona with his friends. At some point, Elder Ephraim who was in his room hearing confessions came out of the room, approached the young man and asked him: – Do you have a good cell phone, a modern one, the latest and greatest one my child? “Why are you asking Elder?” said the young man. “I want you to call a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece so that I can speak to the monks there,” the Elder replied.

The elder gave the young man the monastery’s phone number and told him: “My child, call this number in an hour, and when the line connects, give me the phone so I can talk with them.”

Let us not lose our time in vain. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who force themselves.

Let us not lose our time in vain. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who force themselves. Bear in mind the departure of our souls, the final hour and moment of that difficult separation. Keep in mind how the demons seek to snatch the poor soul at this final hour and lead it to Hades. Oh, what grief! What pain of soul! How the soul sighs then! Alas, what a sorrowful situation it is in at that moment! How many promises a person will make to God that he will change his life, that he will walk the path of repentance and hardship, as long as he does not die!

All of us shall reach this hour and encounter the above and much more, and we shall then promise much more earnestly that we shall take the path of repentance and spiritual warfare. Let us imagine that this has already happened and that God has heard our request.

CONSCIENCE AND OBEDIENCE Source: “Counsels from the Holy Mountain, ” selected from the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim, St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery, Florence, AZ (1999), pp. 130-136.

When a person remains completely obedient to his conscience and implements whatever it tells him, he is not reproved by it anymore— not that its voice has weakened, but rather because of his good obedience, his conscience has nothing to reprove. The Apostle John says that when a man’s conscience does not condemn him, he has confidence toward God. (cf. ijn3:2i).

It is impossible for a person to proceed without ever stumbling somewhere, because from all sides the devil, the world, and the flesh are continuously inserting obstacles into his life, and he stumbles in proportion to his carelessness. Therefore, when he falls, he should arise at once and seek forgiveness. When one repents in proportion to the gravity of his fall, his conscience, which used to bother him, stops reproving him.

We must guard our conscience on three points—with respect to God, with respect to our neighbor, and with respect to things. One guards his con-science with respect to God when he avoids the various sins. He guards his conscience with respect to his neighbor when he does not grieve him, judge him, slander him, scandalize him, or push him towards evil deeds. He guards his conscience with respect to things when he does not cause destruction or damage to material things through carelessness, negligence, or unscrupulousness.

When you see something burning or being damaged and you do not pick it up and protect it, this is unscrupulous-ness. When your clothes get torn and you neglect them, and then they get completely ruined, this is unscrupulousness. When you are able to work but instead of working you wander around here and there, this is also un-scrupulousness. When you leave your food out and it goes bad and you throw it away, this is unscrupulousness be-cause you should have taken care to eat it before it went bad. Therefore, unscrupulousness is when one errs in any way with respect to material things, and also when one offends God in any way.

THE UNION OF HEART AND NOUS Source: From the translated book “My Elder: Joseph the Hsrtc -_T and Cave-dweller, ” pp. 558-562, St. Anthony’s Greek Monastery, Florence, AZ.

One year before the repose of Elder Joseph, while I was saying the prayer in sync with my breathing during vigil, something amazing happened. A state of prayer came to me that I cannot find words to describe. Suddenly, my nous entered my heart, and my nous, my heart, and the prayer became one! I could not tell where I was. All I can say is that the prayer was being said within my heart, and I felt sublime sweetness and an indescribable bliss. I do not know how long this lasted. When I regained my senses, I felt an inexpressible tranquility and sweetness, and I had many tears.

Afterwards, I went to Geronda and said:

“Something has happened to me, Geronda.”

“What happened to you?”

“While I was praying, suddenly my nous became enclosed within my heart. I became unaware if there was anything else in the world.” And I described that state of grace to him. Then Geronda said to me:

“From this state of prayer, the nous will later ascend above. From this point on, the rapture of the nous begins. During and after this state, the nous leaves and goes to theoria. When I first experienced this state, I went and stayed in a cell so small that I could barely fit inside. It was so small that I nearly asphyxiated. I stayed in it for a year. Make sure that you hold on to what you felt and experienced; do not lose it!” Another time when I told Geronda what I was experienc¬ing, he ecstatically exclaimed:

“Oh, blessed obedience! Obedience—you are truly sovereign [among virtues]. My child, in order to taste these heavenly blessings, Gero-Arsenios and I shed much blood in ascesis. But you disciples, merely through diligent obedience, are enjoying the same grace we had. Hold on to obedience with all your soul; there is no path easier and higher than this."

Find an excuse

 Please do not criticize each other, because this is full of ego and pride. But find an excuse for your brother’s error which is a testimony of humility and love. The person who does this will find a lot of grace from God.