Reflections – Page 46

Fragrance of Humility

As with the appearance of light, darkness retreats; so, at the fragrance of humility, all anger and bitterness vanishes. ~ St. John Climacus

Humble-mindedness will bring all the virtues. ~ St. Anthimos of Chios

What salt is for any food, humility is for every virtue… Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet. ~ St Isaac the Syrian

God gives us His Grace, when we are humble… If the grace of God comes, everyone and everything changes; however, in order for it to come, we must humble ourselves first. ~ Elder Porphyrios

…reading and spiritual knowledge are good, but only when they lead to greater humility… ~ St. Peter of Damaskos

God descends to the humble as waters flow down from the hills into the valleys. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Meekness and humility of heart are virtues without which it is impossible to inherit the Heavenly Kingdom, to be happy on earth, or to experience inner calm. ~ St. Anthony of Optina

Seek God daily. But seek Him in your heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, for your heart has become a throne of God. But in order to find God, become humble as dust before the Lord, for the Lord abhors the proud, whereas He visits those that are humble in heart, wherefore He says: “To whom will I look, but to him that is meek and humble in heart?” ~ St. Nektarios of Aegina

The Christian needs two wings in order to soar upward and attain Paradise: humility and love… Humility consists, not in condemning our conscience, but in recognizing God’s grace and compassion. ~ St. Kosmas Aitolos

The natural property of the lemon tree is such that it lifts its branches upwards when it has no fruit, but the more the branches bend down the more fruit they bear. Those who have the mind to understand will grasp the meaning of this. ~ St. John Climacus

Just as water and fire cannot be combined, so do self-justification and humility exclude one another. ~ St. Mark the Ascetic

Bee Ye Kinde

And bee ye kinde one to another, tender hearted, forgiuing one another, euen as God for Christs sake hath forgiuen you. ~ Ephesians 4:32; from the 1611 Original King James Version with archaic English spelling.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. ~ Ephesians 4:32; the Authorized King James Version, the Cambridge edition with updated English Spelling from 1769.

It is beautiful.

The most accurate translations available [of the Bible] in English are the King James (or Authorized) Version (KJV or AV), the New King James Version (NKJV), and The English Standard Version (ESV)… The King James is in fact generally so accurate that one could reconstruct the original text with a high degree of accuracy by translating the text back into Hebrew and Greek, though unlike many [other] translations that are so woodenly literal they actually distort the meaning of the text… ~ Fr. John Whiteford

The Beauty of the Lord

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. ~ Psalm 48:1-2

The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God. ~ St. John of Damascus

Fullness of Blessing

Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of al “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment. ~ St. Basil the Great, on the Holy Spirit

Lighting Our Little Lights

Two Bright Lights from my life: Metropolitan Vitaly and my godmother Princess Eve Galitzine, Memory Eternal!

A Conversation with Metropolitan Vitaly, 1986

Having been baptised recently, you are very happy and think everything is good- all of our sins have been erased from the Book of Life, and we are now assured of being admitted into Heaven, Paradise. But, for some reason, even though we’ve been baptised, we continue to commit many of the same sins. And when we meet with others, we sometimes find it difficult to get along with them. This is because both we and other people are full of passions which don’t get along with one another. I am asking you to be realistic. It is important to realize that the Church is not a Society of Saints, but a hospital in which we can sometimes hear screaming. And like all hospitals there are some doctors in it. And it is necessary to to take bitter medicine to help us struggle with our passions. Saints are people who have struggled with, and overcome their passions. They are healthy people, but they’re still in the hospital… We are all sinners, but we in the Church want to struggle with our sins. …

When we go before an icon it is important not just to bow down with our bodies, but to bow down our souls. Why do we light a candle before the icon? When we light a candle we are lighting our little light before Christ, and the burning candle symbolizes our life from beginning to end. In this context, all our actions must come from the inside, not the outside, including our work and everything we’re doing… All our life is a fight against two things, our soul and our body/flesh. The fight goes on until we die… We must always try to remember our goal of acquiring the Grace of the Holy Spirit, then we’ll be intelligent Christians.

What We Say

But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ~ St. Matthew 12:36

When we are talking and someone interrupts us, we should not continue. It means that he should not hear that which we would have said. The Angels do thus… When you have thought of criticism … judging others, ask God to take hold of you at that hour so that you can love that person as He loves. Then God will help you see your condition. If Christ were visible, could you criticize? …What we say remains to eternity. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia

Forgiveness is better than revenge. ~ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

As Sounding Brass

Rome, Italy – 2008

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. ~ 1 Corinthians 13: 1

When you have thought of criticism… judging others, ask God to take hold of you at that hour so you can love that person as He loves. Then God will help you see your condition. If Christ were visible, could you criticize? ~Gerontissa Gavrielia

What we say remains to eternity. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia

A dog is better than I, for he has love and does not judge. ~ St. Xanthias: The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil.
~ St. Seraphim of Sarov

You have not yet acquired perfect love if your regard for people is still swayed by their characters – for example, if, for some particular reason, you love one person and hate another, or if for the same reason you sometimes love and sometimes hate the same person. ~ St. Maximos the Confessor

Christ Has Ascended!

Ascension Icon, 6th century – St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai

Traditional Ascension Greeting: “Christ has Ascended!“

The Feast Day of Christ’s Ascension comes forty days after Pascha. Today from the Mount of Olives, the risen Lord ascends to Paradise upon a Divine Cloud! He ascends in the Flesh, to the place where He Was before Time.

Some Ascension Customs

Of course, if at all possible, the most important thing to do on the Ascension, is to attend Divine Liturgy!

As with any Great Feast, those who have to work on this day try to give some of their earnings to the poor.

Cloud-watching today is popular, as Christ went up in a cloud. If the weather is good, some go for a mountain hike, as Jesus went up the Mount of Olives for the Ascension. Throw a blanket on the grass or scrub, lay back, enjoy the clouds (search for a Lamb-shape), and have a picnic. If there are white wildflowers available to pick and you’re not too far from home, pick a few and bring them home to your icon corner. If you live where there are olive trees, a few branches are also collected for the icon bouquet.

Last year on the Ascension, there were rainbow clouds in our area, and a super large one was shaped like the Greek letter Omega!

Clergy traditionally wear white vestments today. Some lay people also wear white on the Ascension – because of the clouds, and decorate their icon corner with white flowers.

It’s also a custom to take a dip in the ocean on the Ascension, as the sea draws its water from the clouds.

On the Ascension, farmers share the milk with friends, neighbours and relatives. Remaining milk is used to make the traditional rice pudding.

Here’s something sweet and new… Some families make “Cloud Cookies” for the Ascension. Bake a flat sugar cookie, and after cooling, decorate the top with blue icing for the sky, and then pop a few white mini marshmallows on top, as clouds.

An old English country custom was to collect rainwater if it rained on the Ascension, and drink it. I tried this once. However, as I live in the city, rainwater from the overhead clouds tasted a bit odd… so I shared the remainder with my thirsty garden!

Traditional response for the Ascension greeting is, “From Earth to Heaven!”

His footprint is imprinted into the rock and can be seen in the Chapel of the Ascension, which was built over the spot.

How beautiful is the Mystery of Today!

Every Flower Breathes

My daughter’s wedding bouquet, arranged with some of our garden flowers.

Christ is Risen!

By the power of the Holy Spirit every flower breathes. Thy breath I feel in the quiet movement of the fragrant fields. Observing the harmony of colours I admire Thee. Wherever I look, I see all around me the beauty of the Great One in the little. Glory and thanks to the life-creating God Who covers the earth with flowery meadows, crowns the fields with golden ears of grain and embellishes them with blue cornflowers, and my soul with the joy of contemplation. Be glad and sing to Him: Alleluia! ~ Kontakion 3; The Akathist of Thanksgiving by Met. Tryphon of Turkestan

As the field is adorned by a multitude of flowers, so should the field of my own soul be adorned by all the flowers of virtue; as the trees bring forth flowers and afterwards fruit, so must my soul bring forth the fruits of faith and good works. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Truly, He is Risen!

Put on Love

Christ is Risen!

The Greek word for charity (love) is agape, and caritas in Latin. Charity is not just giving alms (impersonally) to the needy. Charitable love is possible only by uniting our own love of God with others, as Christ commanded.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ~St. John 13:34

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ~ St. John 15:10-12

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:2-3

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ~ Colossians 3:14

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ~1 John 4:7-8

As the memory of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not bring about the illumination of knowledge in the soul. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Love of God loves always to give wings to the mind to speak of God and Divine things; and love of neighbour disposes it always to think well of him. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Love is a bomb the destroys all evil. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia

If the face of a loved one clearly and completely changes us, and makes us cheerful, gay and carefree, what will the Face of the Lord do when He makes His Presence felt invisibly in a pure soul? ~ St. John Climacus

God is love. So he who wishes to define this tries with bleary eyes to measure the sand in the ocean. ~ St. John Climacus

Patience, forgiveness and joy are the three greatest characteristics of divine love. They are characteristics of all real love – if there is such a thing as real love outside divine love. Without these three characteristics, love is not love. If you give the name ‘love’ to anything else, it is as though you were giving the name ‘sheep’ to a goat or a pig. ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovic

Truly, He is Risen!