St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Church

From the Scriptures: The Spirit which is of God

"But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.' But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.' "

- I Corinthians 2:9-13

Ask from God

"You must ask in prayer, 'Give me faith. Give me the love of Jesus. Give me humility.' These things are all gifts. Only God can grant them. Pray. Pray. Pray. "

- Gerontissa Macrina

Look at the Saints

"Look at the Saints! They were not all hermits; and they were like us at first and were not sinless, and they were also engaged in worldly affairs, cares and duties, and many of them had a family as well. But while doing their worldly occupations and duties, they did not forget at the same time their duties as Christians; and while living in the world, they made their way at the same time into the Kingdom of Heaven and often led others with them as well. In exactly the same way, if we wish, we can be at once good citizens, faithful husbands and good fathers, and also good and faithful Christians. True Christianity is never and nowhere a hindrance, but on the contrary is everywhere and for everything beneficial. A true Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ and emulates Him in everything. The spirit of Christianity is pure, selfless, spiritual love - love which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. People call love many things but not all are Christian love. "

- St. Innocent, Apostle to America

The Spiritual World

"Those who deny the spiritual world deny it because they look only with their bodily eyes, and cannot see it. But the spiritual world would not be spiritual if it were visible to bodily sight. Every man, then, who has a mind unblinded and a heart not desensitized by sin, can sense in his whole being, every day and every hour, that we are not alone in this world; that we are not in the exclusive company of dumb nature, of rocks, plants, animals, and other creatures, elements an phenomena, but that our souls are in constant contact with the invisible world, with invisible beings. "

- St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Into the Cares of the World...

"When a man despises the grace given him, and forthwith falls into the cares of the world, he delivers himself over to his lusts; and thus in the time of persecution he is offended (cf. Mt. 13:21), and becomes altogether unfruitful. Now the prophet points out the end of such negligence, saying, 'Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord carelessly' (Jer. 48:10). For a servant of the Lord should be diligent and careful, moreover burning like a flame, so that when, by an ardent spirit, he has destroyed all carnal sin, he may be able to draw near to God, Who, according to the expression of the saints, is called 'a consuming fire' (Heb. 12:29). "

- St. Athanasius the Great

Wisdom of St. John of Kronstadt

"Everything in the Gospel and the Church is the breath of the Spirit of Truth; it is spiritual peace, life and sweetness. "

"In the Church especially is accomplished the mystery of the cleansing from sins. Reverence, therefore, the place where your soul is cleansed from all impurities, where you are reconciled to God, where you receive the true life of the spirit. How many times the Lord has here granted me the cleansing from my sins, without which I could not have enjoyed God's gifts-the greatest of life's gifts, the gifts of peace and joy, and earthly blessings besides! Glory to Thee, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 'He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.' "

"Why is it necessary to pray at home and go to church to attend Divine service? And why is it necessary for you to eat and drink, and walk in the fresh air every day, or to work every day? In order to support the life of the body, and strengthen it. It is also absolutely necessary to pray in order to support and stimulate the life of the soul, to strengthen the soul, which is sick with sins, to cleanse it, just as you employ certain kinds of food and drink to cleanse the body from injurious humors, or impurities. If, therefore, you do not pray, then you behave most unwisely, and unadvisedly, supporting, gratifying, and strengthening your body in every way, but leaving your soul in neglect. Every man is dual, for he consists of soul and body. "

"In church I am truly as if in heaven upon earth; here I see the images of the Lord, of the Most Pure Mother of God, of the holy Angels; here is God's throne, here is the life-giving cross, here is the eternal Gospel, that word of God, by which all things were created; here are the images of the Saints; I feel myself in the visible presence of God, of His Mother, of the heavenly powers, and of all the Saints. This is truly heaven on earth: here I know that I am, and feel myself indeed a member of Christ and of His Church, especially during the celebration of the most heavenly Liturgy, and the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. 0, how I ought to live, think, feel, speak, in order to worthily be in this heaven on earth! I ought to live worthily of the high calling to which I am called by the grace of the much-endowing God. How I ought to live, in what meekness, humility, purity, abstinence, in order to worthily name my Lady, the Most Pure Mother of God, my Master, the Lord of glory! Lord, make me worthy of such an abode! I desire to live worthily of the Christian. "

"The tree firmly fixed in the earth by its roots grows and brings forth fruit. The soul of a man firmly fixed in God by faith and love, as by spiritual roots, also lives, grows spiritually, and brings forth the fruits of virtue pleasing to God, through which the soul lives now and shall live in the future world. The tree, when uprooted from the ground, ceases to live by the life which it received from the heart through the roots. Similarly, the soul of the man which has lost faith and love to God and does not dwell in God, in Whom alone it can live, spiritually dies. What the earth is to the plants God is to the soul. "

"A day is the symbol of the transitoriness of earthly life: it begins with the morning, then comes the day itself, followed by the evening, and, with the coming of the night, the whole day has passed away. So, likewise, life passes away. First, childhood, like the early morning I then, adolescence and manhood, like the full day and noon; and then old-age, like evening, if God grants it; and afterwards inevitable death. "

"The sign of the cross as a blessing from a priest or a bishop is an expression of the blessing or of the favor of God to a person in Christ and for Christ's sake. What a joyful, significant and precious ceremony this is! Blessed are all who receive such a blessing with faith! How attentive should the priests themselves be in bestowing their blessing upon the faithful! 'And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them' (Numbers 6:27). "

Praying Before Confession

"Someone once asked Fr. Epiphanios: 'What should we ask for. Elder, in our prayer before Confession?'
'Ask for recollection of sins, boldness to confess them, and repentance.' "

- from a remembrance of Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

Praying Before Confession

"Orthodoxy does not change from one day to the next, or from one century to the next. Looking at the Protestant and Roman Catholic world, we can see that certain spiritual writings get 'out of date.' Sometimes they come back into fashion again, sometimes they go out. It is obvious that they are bound up with worldly things, which appeal to people at one time, or rather to the spirit of the times. This is not so with our Orthodox holy writings. Once we get the whole Orthodox Christian outlook - the simply Christian outlook - which has been handed down from Christ and the Apostles to our times, then everything becomes contemporary. You read the words of someone like St. Macarios, who lived in the deserts of Egypt in the 4th century, and he's speaking to you now. His conditions are a little different, but he's speaking right to you, in the same language. He's going to the same place, he's using the same mind, he has the same temptations and failings, and there's nothing different about him. It's the same with all the other Fathers from that time down to our century... They all speak the same language, one kind of language, the language of spiritual life. which we must get into...
The genuine, unchanging teaching of Christianity is handed down in unbroken succession both orally and by the written word. from spiritual father to spiritual son, from teacher to disciple. There was never a time when the Church was without Holy Fathers, or when it was necessary to discover a 'lost' Patristic teaching. Even when many Orthodox Christians may have neglected this teaching (as is the case, for example, in our own day), its true representatives were still handing it down to those who hungered to receive it. How important it is for us, the last Christians, to take guidance and inspiration from the Holy Fathers of our own and recent times, those who lived in conditions similar to our own and yet kept undamaged and unchanged the same ever-fresh teaching.

- Fr. Seraphim of Platina(1982)