St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church

Theophany - the Revelation of the Divine Trinity

"The Trinity, praised, reverenced and adored, is one and indivisible and without degrees. It is united without confusion, just as the One God is also distinguished without separation. For the fact of those venerable living creatures (Isa. 6; Rev. 4:8) offering their praises three times, saying 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' proves that the Three Persons are perfect, just as in saying 'Lord,' they declare the One Essence. "

- St. Athanasius the Great

Thoughts for the New Year...

"What makes us Christians? 'Our faith,' everyone would answer. How are we saved? Obviously through the regenerating grace of baptism. How else could we be? We are confirmed in our understanding that salvation comes through Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Shall we cast away the standard of teaching we received? This would surely be grounds for great sorrow; if we now reject what we accepted at baptism, we will be found to be further away from our salvation than when we first believed. We would be no different from someone who dies without baptism, or who had been baptized with an unacceptable form. We made this profession when we first entered the Church; we were delivered from idols and came before the living God. Whoever does not hold fast to this confession as his sure foundation at all times, to the end of his life, makes himself a stranger to God's promises. "

- St. Basil the Great

Not Words Alone

"It is evident that just as words of concern alone do not help a naked or hungry person if food or clothing is not provided, so faith observed in name only does not save, for it is dead in itself if it is not made alive by works of charity, by which it may be made to come to life. Nor it that contrary to this statement which the Lord uttered, 'He who believes and is baptized will be saved,' for it must be understood there that only he truly believes who carries out in deed what he believes. And because faith and charity cannot be separated from one another - as Paul bears witness by saying, and 'faith which works through love' - appropriately the apostle John brings forward a statement about charity akin to James' about faith, saying, 'Anyone who has the world's substance and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the charity of God remain in him. "

- The Venerable Bede

On the Spiritual Value of the Services of the Church

"The Elder Iakovos had never read any of the profound and neptic works of the Church Fathers. He did not even know the Philokalia. He paid, however, very close attention to what was written in the Liturgical books. As years passed, he understood more and more. He would drink from the Book of the Paraklitiki and the Triodion. But what he liked best was the Pentecostarion. The joy and the Resurrectional troparia of its hymns penetrated deep into Fr. Iakovos' heart. There were times that felt very light, ready to fly high above. "
Note: It has often been said that the best text books for Theology are the daily Vespers and Matins services. You don't need to read a lot of heavy books or spend time going to school- You just need to pray the services of the Church. Praying is the best way to learn theology, because when you pray your mind is in your heart and your heart learns true theology. When you read and study, very often your heart is closed. But when you pray, it is open and able to receive the Truth.
Fr. Iakovos, who only had a 3rd grade education, was a true theologian and knew the mind of the Fathers even though he had never read them. How? Through the daily discipline of praying the Liturgical services.

- Greek Elder, Fr. lakovos of Aegina from The Garden of the Holy Spirit

The Judgment of Christ

"A man will appear at the Judgment of Christ with what he has when he departs from this world. Sinners! Let us consider this saying diligently and repent, lest we depart into the next world and appear before that judgment with our sins. Our compassionate God promised to show us His grace and mercy, but He did not promise us the morrow. Let us pay close attention to this and let us awake from sleep, and remembering our death let us correct ourselves and prepare for our departure, that we may have a blessed end. He who dies in repentance and faith and true prayer dies in the Lord. "

- St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

He Has Power Over All

"It is time to celebrate God for being 'Omnipotent' (Rev. 1:8). The name is given because as the omnipotent foundation of everything He preserves and embraces all the world. He founds it. He makes it secure. He holds it together. He binds the whole universe totally to Himself. He generates everything from out of Himself as from some omnipotent root and He returns all things back to Himself as from some omnipotent storehouse. Being their omnipotent foundation, He holds them all together. He keeps them thus in a transcendent bond and He does not permit them either to fall away from Him or to be destroyed by being moved from their perfect home. The Divinity is described as omnipotent because He has power over all, and is in total control of the world. He is so, called too because He is the goal of all yearning and because He lays a happy yoke on all who wish it, the sweet toil of that holy, omnipotent and indestructible yearning for His goodness. "

- St. Dionysms the Areopagite

After Holy Baptism

"Before Holy Baptism, the mind, being covered by the darkness of original sin, does not see clearly. But after Holy Baptism the mind becomes all light, reflecting the supernatural light of divine grace. As St. John Chrysostom said, the mind shines brighter than the rays of the sun, as long as it remains above the darkness of willful sinfulness. For this is how that good and eloquent tongue has interpreted that apostolic word: 'And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory. "

- St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

The Magi Came with Gifts

"Christ is not simply an inspired prophet or a wise teacher; but the Lord of life and death. He is the victor over Satan, sin, corruption and death. He comes to us as God, as a gift from outside of the realm of human possibilities, in order to rescue us from alienation, evil and mortality.
In Hebrew the name of Jesus is Yeshua, that is, 'God saves' or 'God is salvation', Christ is the Savior! Many Christmas carols tell us in few words the essence of the good news, 'Christ is born in Bethlehem' in the 31st year of Octavius Augustus' rule or 1 AD. In His incarnate nature, Jesus was born from Virgin Mary, having as father the righteous Joseph, two peasants of Nazareth ('Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?' John 6:4).
If He was born in a cave, as the Church hymnology proclaims, or in a manger as the Scriptures discretely mention the event, it is not very important; what shocks us is the humility and modesty in the coming of the most awaited one, the Messiah. It was then that the shepherds watched the herds destined for sacrificial services, in the very place consecrated by tradition where the Messiah was to be first revealed.
The long awaited announcement was made to the shepherds in a cosmic manifestation; Heaven and earth seemed to mingle, as suddenly an Angel stood before their dazzled eyes, as the glory of the Lord enwrapped them in a mantle of light. The long promised Savior, the Lord, was born and they recognized Him by the humbleness of the circumstances of His Nativity.
The Wise Men (the Magi) 'saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh' (Mt. 2:11).
Like the Magi, we offer our treasures and we offer the little child the most precious things we have. Instead of gold we submit ourselves fully to Him and we show our detachment from earthly goods. Instead of incense, we offer Him adoration, because He is not only the King of the universe the Lord of us all. Instead of myrrh we offer Him our sacrifice, because by His sacrificial death, He gave us eternal life! 0 Lord Jesus, we beseech Thee, please accept our offering! "

A Prayer of St. Silouan the Athonite

"0 holy Virgin Mary, tell us, thy children/ of thy love on earth for thy Son and God. Tell us how thy spirit rejoiced in God thy Savior! Tell us of how thou didst look upon His faircountenance, and reflect that this was He Whom all the heavenly hosts wait upon in awe and love. Tell us what thy soul felt when thou didst bear the wondrous Babe in thine arms. Tell us of how thou didst rear Him, how, sick at heart, thou and Joseph sought Him three long days in Jerusalem. Tell us of thine agony when the Lord was delivered up to be crucified, and lay dying on the Cross. Tell us what joy was thine over the Resurrection! Tell us how thy soul languished after the Lord's Ascension. We long to know of thy life on earth with the Lord but thou wast not minded to commit all these things to writing/ and didst veil thy secret heart in silence. "

David's Lord and David's Son

"David's Lord was made David's Son, and from the fruit of the promised branch sprang One without fault, the two-fold nature coming together in one Person, that by one and the same conception and birth might spring our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom was present both true Godhead for the performance of mighty works and true Manhood for the endurance of sufferings. "

- Pope, St. Leo the Great

Six Virtues

"The demons very much fear six virtues: 1) hunger, 2) thirst, 3) the Prayer of Jesus, 4) the Sign of the Cross, that is, he who makes the Sign of the Cross correctly upon himself, 5) frequent Communion of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ, if one worthily communes, and 6) undoubting hope in God. There is nothing more frightful than this weapon against the demons. "

- St. Paisius Velichkovsky

Our Holy Calling

"Let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling. Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us. Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. "

- St. Clement of Rome

Watchfulness and Prayer

"Watchfulness and prayer should be as closely linked together as the body to the soul, for the one cannot stand without the other. Watchfulness first goes on ahead like a scout and engages sin in combat. Prayer then follows afterwards, and instantly destroys and exterminates all the evil thoughts with which watchfulness has already been battling, for attentiveness alone cannot exterminate them. This, then, is the gate of life and death. If by means of vigilance we keep prayer pure, we make progress; but if we leave prayer unguarded and permit it to be defiled, our efforts are null and void. "

- St. Symeon the New Theologian

On Peace

"Let us first examine what peace is. Surely, it is nothing else but a loving disposition towards one's neighbor. "

- St. Gregory of Nyssa

To Endure and to Serve

"The mark of a great soul is to endure all things and to serve everyone. The example of this is near at hand: for the Son of Man Himself did not come to be served but to serve, and, what is even greater, He came to give His life as a ransom for many. For what could be greater and more marvelous than a man who not only serves, but who even dies for the sake of the one he serves? Yet the Lord's serving and His humble lowering of Himself to be with us has become the exaltation and the glory of Him and all creation. For before He became man, He was known only to the angels, but after His Incarnation and Crucifixion, His glory is even greater and He reigns over all the earth. "

- St. Theophylact of Bulgaria

Fear and Hope

"Having recognized our own weakness and the power of God, we are filled with fear and hope, so that we neither lapse through ignorance because we are too sure of ourselves nor, when some misfortune befalls us, fall into despair because we have forgotten God's compassion. "

- St. Peter of Damascus

Sowing to Please

"A brother said to Abba Poemen, 'If I give my brother a little bread or something else, the demons tarnish these gifts saying it was only done to please men.' The Elder said to him, 'Even if it is to please men, we must give the brother what he needs,' He told him the following parable, 'Two farmers lived in the same town, one of them sowed and reaped a small and poor crop, while the other, who did not even trouble to sow reaped absolutely nothing. If a famine comes upon them, which of the two will find something to live on?' The brother replied, 'The one who reaped the small poor crop.' The Elder said to him, 'So it is for us, we sow a little poor grain, so that we will not die of hunger.' "