St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church

The Life-Giving Body

"The Church is the life-giving body of the God-man Christ, and by Him and in Him the body of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity works the salvation of the world in the Church through the acts of His grace which deliver each member of the Church from sin, death, and the devil, and fill it with the eternal life, the eternal truth, the eternal justice, the eternal love. The true Church is 'in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' Thus, each member of the Church is only a true member when he is 'in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,' when he lives in God and is saved by His grace and by the struggle. "

- St. Justin Popovich

We are not mistaken if we make images of God Incarnate

"If we attempted to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body: invisible, uncircumscribed, and without form. Again, if we made images of men and believed them to be gods, and adored them as if they were so, we would be truly impious. We do neither of these things. But we are not mistaken if we make images of God incarnate, who was seen on earth in the flesh, associated with men, and in His unspeakable goodness assumed the nature, feeling, form, and color of our flesh. For we yearn to see how He looked, as the Apostle says, 'Now we see through a glass darkly.' Now the icon is also a dark glass, fashioned according to the limitations of our physical nature. Though the mind wear itself out with effort, it can never cast away its bodily nature. "

- St. John of Damascus

A Life to be Embraced and Lived

"Orthodoxy is not a 'religious option' in a consumer-driven culture: it is the fullness of the faith as given to us in Christ. Were Orthodoxy simply an option from a range of choices - our task would be to provide advertising and consumer information. However, because it is a gift from God and not the creation of man, it is a life to be embraced and lived. The first task of our life as Orthodox Christians has always been to become Orthodox Christians, and to continue becoming. "

- Fr. Stephen Freeman

More Wisdom from St. John Kronstadt

"Wherever someone goes, he always comes back home afterwards. So it is with the Christian, whoever he may be, whether he is a person of distinction or a simple one, rich or poor, learned or ignorant; wherever he may be, whatever station he may occupy in society, whatever he does, he must remember that he is not at home, but on a voyage, on the way, and that he must return home—to his father, mother, to his elder brothers and sisters; and that this home is heaven, his father—God; his mother—the Most-pure Mother of the Lord; his elder brothers and sisters—the angels and saints of God; and he must also remember that all his earthly duties and works are artificial, whilst his real duties are the salvation of his soul, the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, the cleansing of his heart. "

"The Christian has no reason to have in his heart any ill-feelings whatever against anyone - such ill-feeling, like every other evil, is the work of the devil; the Christian must only have love in his heart; and as love cannot think of evil, he cannot have any ill-feeling against others. For instance, I must not think that anyone else is evil or proud without having positive reasons to think so, or I must not think that it will make him proud if I show him respect, or that if I forgive him he will again offend me and will mock at me. We must not let evil in any form nestle in our heart; but evil generally appears in too many forms. "

"We often hear from others, or sometimes read in the works of others, what God has placed in our mind and heart, what we ourselves have cherished - that is, we often meet our favorite thoughts in others, and it seems to us as though they had been taken away from us, as though they had been new ones and formed our own exclusive property. Presumptuous thoughts! What? Is there not only one God, the Lord of all intellects? Is not His Spirit in all who seek for truth? Have we not one sole enlightener, 'which lighteth every man that cometh into the world' (Jn 1:9). Glory to the one God, Glory to Him Who loves all and bountifully bestows upon all His spiritual and bodily gifts! Glory to Him who is no respecter of persons and Who reveals the mysteries of His love, omnipotence and wisdom unto babes (Lk. 10:21)! "

"As a poor man does not believe that he may in the future become a rich and very distinguished person, so many Christians do not believe that they shall possess a wealth of future blessings, and shall be made to 'sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Eph. 2:6). We may well wonder how, without any special merits on our part, we can expect such high honor and glory, such riches. We are self-loving, covetous, avaricious, and therefore we are unable to understand how such infinite love, such a wise and compassionate Father can exist; it is as though we still cannot believe that 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'(John 3:16). "

"Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement. "

"What a grand creature is man - what a wonderful creation of God, created after His own image! If even in a fallen state he is capable of accomplishing the many wonderful works which he has produced and still produces, as we constantly see, both in history and in the present time, then of what might he not be capable in a state of holiness and perfection! But that which in him is above all deserving of attention, wonder, reverence and the most heartfelt gratitude is that he may be likened to his Creator - God; that he is predestined to immortality, to eternal bliss in God, and with God; that he will some day shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of his heavenly Father. "

Glory to Thee, 0 Lord!

"What shall I give Thee, 0 Lord, in return for all Thy kindness?

Glory to Thee for Thy love!
Glory to Thee for Thy mercy!
Glory to Thee for Thy patience!
Glory to Thee for forgiving us all our sins!
Glory to Thee for coming to save our souls!
Glory to Thee for Thine Incarnation in the Virgin's womb!
Glory to Thee for Thy bonds!
Glory to Thee for receiving the cut of the lash.
Glory to Thee for accepting mockery.
Glory to Thee for Thy Crucifixion!
Glory to Thee for Thy burial!
Glory to Thee for Thy Resurrection!
Glory to Thee Who was preached to men and women!
Glory to Thee in Whom they believed.
Glory to Thee Who was taken up into Heaven!
Glory to Thee Who sits in great glory at the Father's right hand!
Glory to Thee Whose will it is that the sinner should be saved!
Through Thy great mercy and compassion! "

- St Ephraim the Syrian

Such Faith and Such Trust

"You must possess a warm and living faith that, in His great and loving kindness, God Himself wishes and is ready to give you all that is needed for you to serve Him rightly and to bestow upon you every blessing you need. Such faith and such trust will become for you a vessel which God in His infinite mercy will fill with the treasure of His blessings. And the bigger and more capacious your vessel, the richer the gifts with which your prayer will each time come back to what is deepest within you.
How can one think that the Almighty and Unchanging God, Who commanded us to pray to Him and promised to give us the blessings we ask, should refuse them to us and should not send us His Spirit, if with diligent and patient prayer we beg them from Him? Has He not said: 'How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ask it of Him' (Lk. 11:13)? "

- Lorenzo Scupoli - Unseen Warfare

Reflection -

"The more a man advances in spiritual knowledge and in purification of the heart, the more it appears to him that the depth in which he finds himself is even lower and that the height to which he strives is even higher. When one spiritual giant on his death bed heard that his companions were praising him because of his great asceticism, he began to weep and said, 'My children, I have not even begun my spiritual life.' When St. Ignatius, that God- bearer, lay chained in the dungeon, he wrote to the Ephesians: 'I do not command you as though I stand for something. Even though I am in chains for the Name of Jesus Christ; nevertheless, I still have not perfected myself in Him. Now I am beginning to be His disciple, and I speak to you as a collegium of my teachers.' "

The Holy Mandylion

"The icon called the Holy Mandylion (the Holy Napkin) is also known as the 'Holy Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ not-made-with-hands.' What does this mean? Holy Tradition tells us that in the time that our Lord was preaching the Gospel and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people, there was in the city of Edessa, on the banks of the Euphrates, a certain Prince Avgar, who was riddled with leprosy. He heard of Christ, the Healer of every pain and sickness, and sent a portrait painter, Ananias, to Palestine with a letter to Christ, in which he begged the Lord to come to Edessa and heal him of his leprosy. In the event of the Lord's not being able to come, the prince commanded Ananias to paint His likeness and bring it, believing that the portrait would heal him. The Lord replied that He could not come, as the time of His Passion was at hand, and He took a napkin and wiped His face, leaving a perfect reproduction of His most pure face on the napkin. The Lord gave this napkin to Ananias, with a message to say that the prince would be healed by it, but not entirely, and He would therefore send him later an envoy who would rid him of the remainder of the disease. Receiving the napkin, Avgar kissed it and the leprosy fell from his body, with just a little remaining on his face. Later, the Apostle Thaddeus (Aug. 21), preaching the Gospel, came to Avgar, healed him secretly and baptized him. Then the prince smashed the idols that stood at the city's gateway and placed the napkin with the face of Christ above the entrance, mounted on wood, surrounded by a gold frame and ornamented with pearls. The prince also wrote above the icon on the gateway: '0 Christ our God, no one who hopes in Thee will be put to shame.' Later, one of Avgar's great-grandsons restored idolatry, and the Bishop of Edessa came by night and walled in the icon above the gateway. Centuries passed. In the time of the Emperor Justinian, the Persian king, Chozroes, attacked Edessa, and the city was in great affliction. The Bishop of Edessa, Eviavios, had a vision of the Most Holy Mother of God, who revealed to him the secret of the icon, walled-in and forgotten. The icon was found, and by its power the Persian army was defeated.
How marvelous and touching was Avgar's letter to Christ. Holy Tradition relates that having been inspired to write Him, telling Him that he had heard of His miraculous power to heal the sick, and having begged Him to come and heal him, he continued: 'I hear this also, that the Jews hate You and prepare some sort of wickedness against You. I have a city; it's small but beautiful, and abounds in every good thing. Come to me here and live with me in my city, which will provide for all the needs of us both.' Thus wrote a pagan prince, at the time that the princes of Jerusalem were preparing death for the Lord, the Lover of mankind. And thus Christ rewarded his faith by producing the first icon, the Icon not-made-with-hands, the Holy Mandylion! "