Field of Thistles Overlooking Local Mountain Inlet
For each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ~ St. Luke 6:44
From a distance, nettles may seem fresh and green, but up close we see they’re ugly and tangled. The thorns in our lives can either be difficult people or painful circumstances.
Christ said to St. Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.(2 Cor. 12:9)
When the stinging thorns of life claw or scratch at us, God always responds to our prayers – and according to our salvation… with the healing balm of grace.
Fragility is given strength to endure prickly situations, and we are guided to do what’s right.
May we not become as thorns ourselves… in the lives of others.
Repentance is the gate of mercy which is opened to all who seek it. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian
Repentance raises the fallen, mourning knocks at the gate of Heaven, and holy humility opens it… Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honour your patience… Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life… Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair… Repentance is purification of conscience… Repentance is a striking of the soul into vigorous awareness.~ St. John Climacus
Prayer does not consist merely in standing and bowing your body or in reading written prayers… it is possible to pray at all times, in all places, with mind and spirit. You can lift up your mind and heart to God while walking, sitting, working, in a crowd and in solitude. His door is always open, unlike man’s. We can always say to Him in our hearts; Lord, Lord have mercy. ~ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
I recall an old-time Protestant hymn my grandmother would belt out occasionally… whether pushing a buggy down a grocery store aisle, or washing dishes in the kitchen. I can’t remember the verses, but sure loved its sweet refrain!
🎵 Mercy there was great and grace was free, Pardon there was multiplied to me, There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary! 🎵
Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start. Endure the trial of yourself and your own faults and sins peacefully, serenely, because you know that God’s mercy is greater than your wretchedness. Be merciful with yourself and with others. Think and talk about things no more than necessary. Flee imagination, analysis, figuring things out. ~ Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko
You’ve got to get out of your head and go into your heart. Right now your thoughts are in your head, and God seems to be outside you. Your prayer and all your spiritual exercises also remain exterior. As long as you are in your head, you will never master your thoughts, which continue to whirl around your head like snow in a winter’s storm or like mosquitoes in the summer’s heat. If you descend into your heart, you will have no more difficulty. Your mind will empty out and your thoughts will dissipate. Thoughts are always in your mind chasing one another about, and you will never manage to get them under control. But if you enter into your heart and can remain there, then every time your thoughts invade, you will only have to descend into your heart and your thoughts will vanish into thin air. This will be your safe haven. Don’t be lazy. Descend. You will find life in your heart. There you must live. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse
Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land! ~ Elder Paisios of Mount Athos
When the mind (nous) is not scattered in worldly things and is united to God, then the “Good day” that we say becomes a blessing. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. ~ St. Luke 6:21
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 14:17
…The Lord wants us to bathe our soul in tears, by repentance to constrain it by the pangs of the conscience to press it, to clothe it with good deeds… ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Contrite tears give rest, and it is also said that even one pained, deep sigh can weigh more than a bucketful of tears. Amid the afflictions and stress of daily life, when we understand and weep for our own sins (but not in a hopeless way), the Holy Spirit comforts us with spiritual joy, hope and peace. He is our Gladsome Light.
What a wonderful day the Lord has provided for us!
We are but the small shards of Creation’s Grand and Beautiful Mosaic!
Christ manifested Himself to the world; He filled it with light and joy; He sanctified the waters and diffused His light in the souls of men. ~ St. Proclus
Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hiddenthere. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty nonetheless, and what he did was to call out this beauty. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Every one of us is in the image of God, and every one of us is like a damaged icon. But if we were given an icon damaged by time, damaged by circumstances, or desecrated by human hatred, we would treat it with reverence, with tenderness, with broken-heartedness. We would not pay attention primarily to the fact that it is damaged, but to the tragedy of its being damaged. We would concentrate on what is left of its beauty, and not on what is lost of its beauty. And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also – and this is not always as easy – with regard to groups of people, whether it be a parish or a denomination, or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ~ 2 Corinthians 6:2
True spirituality is not a search for perfection, a way into the “next world” or power to control; it is a search for union with God in this present moment ~ Fr. Antony
Whoever lives in the past is as if dead. Whoever lives in the future in his fantasy (or imagination) is naive, because the future belongs only to God. The Joy of Christ is found only in the present, in the Eternal Present of God. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia quote
We can only meet God in the present moment. This is an area where God chooses to place limits on His own power. We choose whether or not to live in the present moment. Because we can encounter God only in that present moment, whenever we live in the past or in the future, we place ourselves beyond His reach. ~ Archimandrite Meletios Webber
…Whenever you discern something… which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
In love did He bring the world into existence; in love does He guide it during this its temporal existence; in love is He going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state, and in love will the world be swallowed up in the great mystery of Him who has performed all these things; in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised. And since in the New World the Creator’s love rules over all rational nature, the wonder at His mysteries that will be revealed then will captivate to itself the intellect of all rational beings whom He has created so that they might have delight in Him, whether they be evil or whether they be just. ~ St. Isaac of Syria
The soul leaves all surface appearances, not only those that can be grasped by the senses but also those which the mind itself seems to see, and it keeps going deeper until by the operation of the spirit it penetrates the invisible and incomprehensible, and it is there that it sees God. The true vision and the true knowledge of what we seek consists precisely in not seeing, in an awareness that our goal transcends all knowledge… ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ~ Psalm 139:9-10
The Church of Blachernae was originally built beside a miraculous holy well, by the Emperor Justinian in the latter years of his reign (559-560 AD), and enclosed with remaining construction material from the Cathedral Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
Damaged later by fires and rebuilt twice (in the 11th and 15th century), the present church still contains the holy well. Additional exterior construction seen today was added in 1867.
Blachernae Church’s Holy Well in 2006 Visit
Several of the Theotokos’ relics were kept in this church; her robe, veil, and part of her belt were transferred from Palestine, during the fifth century.
This feast day celebrates the appearance of the Mother of God at Blachernae (Constantinople, Turkey). In the year 911, the city was threatened by a barbarian invasion. St. Andrew, with his disciple St. Epiphanius, and a group of people in the church, saw the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist, and several other saints and angels during a vigil service in the Church of Blachernae. In tears, the Theotokos approached the centre of the church, knelt down and remained in prayer for a long time. As a sign of her protection, she rose, took her omophorion (scarf-like veil), and held it aloft, thereby covering all the people present in the church. By her miraculous intervention, danger was averted and the city spared from violence and suffering.
Each human soul is precious to the Mother of God!
May the joy, comfort and glory of the Most Holy Theotokos’ Protection, encompass all and shine within our hearts.
Below is an English version of the original 6th century AkathistHymn to the Theotokos, attributed to St. Roman the Melodist . (Today is also his day too!)
Greetings and Congratulations to the dear Nuns at Holy Protection Convent on this, their Special Day!
