Christ the Wisdom and Power of God – Page 5

The Sting of Thorns

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.

Finding the Beauty

Parish Mosaic Before Completion

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 hidden there. 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

Efforts

Congratulation on your Saint’s Day Protodeacon Gordian! May God grant you many years!

Desire and effort must come from you. God will provide the power and the result. ~ St. Paisios

Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God, for to journey without direction is wasted effort. ~ St. Mark the Ascetic

Much effort and labour is needed, for a man to be changed and to be the good tree that brings forth good fruit. Strive then, for nothing else but to change, renew, and correct yourself. And pray for this… ~ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Nothing is permanent, which can be a consolation but also a warning. I don’t like change very much, unless it’s going in the direction I want it to go! When one’s anxious it’s hard to find the way back to God – and my Godfather would remind me that that’s the evil one’s doing. We are reminded to keep asking for God’s help and that the efforts are what matter. ~ Anonymous

Nothing comes without effort. The help of God is always ready and always near, but is given only to those who seek and work, and only to those seekers who, after putting all their powers to the test, cry out with their whole heart: ‘Lord help us!’ ~ St. Theophan the Recluse

Remember that God, during your prayers, is watching for your affirmative answer to the question which He is inwardly asking: “Do you believe I am able to do this?” To which question you must reply from the depth of your heart, “Yes Lord.” (St. Matthew 9:28) ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Pearls of Wisdom

…unless you have suffered affliction – virtue has not been tested. ~ St. Mark the Ascetic

Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife. ~ St. Leo the Great

…For the Holy Spirit, sweet and gracious, draws the soul to love the Lord, and in the sweetness of the Holy Spirit the soul loses her fear of suffering. ~ St. Silouan the Athonite

For one to be ill is a divine visitation. Illness is the greatest gift from God, and when the only thing that man can give back to God is pain. ~ Anonymous old monk

It is absurd to be grateful to doctors who give us bitter and unpleasant medicines to cure our bodies, and yet be ungrateful to God for what appears to us to be harsh, not grasping that all we encounter is for our benefit and in accordance with His providence. For knowledge of God and faith in Him is the salvation and perfection of the soul. ~ St. Anthony the Great

I have consciousness of my sinfulness, but I live with hope. It is bad to despair, because someone who despairs becomes embittered and loses willingness and strength. Someone who has hope, on the contrary, advances forward. ~ St. Porphyrios

Prayer should be our first response, not the last hope. ~ Archpriest Andrei Tkachev

We are like broken glass that reflects in small fragments until the power if God makes us whole again. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

Glory be to God for everything! Dry your tears. Your Guardian Angel will carry those little tears away to the Throne of God. ~ St. Barsanuphius

With the Choicest Fruits of the Sun

Before the Blessing – Zoe’s Transfiguration Fruit Basket with beautiful handwoven cloth (08-19-2021)

…with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months, with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills, with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness… ~ Deuteronomy 33:14 – 16

The Light of the Lord’s Transfiguration does not come into being or cease to be, nor is it circumscribed or perceptible to the senses, even though for a short time on the narrow mountain top it was seen by human eyes. Rather, at that moment the initiated disciples of the Lord ‘passed’, as we have been taught, ‘from flesh to spirit’ by the transformation of their senses, which the Spirit wrought in them, and so they saw that ineffable light, when and as much as the Holy Spirit’s power granted them to do so. ~ St. Gregory Palamas

Memory Eternal, Nathalia on your Name Day! One of her many wise quotes… “We must be practical my dear, and accept what God gives us.”

Holy Mandylion

Outdoor Mosaic of Christ the Holy Wisdom and Power of God – Festal Icon and Feast Day of St. Sophia Orthodox Church, Canada.

Greetings on today’s wonderful Feast! (Sometimes this Feast Day is transferred to the nearest Sunday after the Feast of the Dormition)

On this day (August 29/16) we celebrate the first century Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ Not-Made-by-Hands’ later transference from the city of Edessa to Constantinople, in the year 944.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. ~ St. John 21:25

Mandylion is the Byzantine Greek word for small towel or cloth (pronounced man-dee-lee-o).

The Holy Mandylion is the miraculous Image known as the first icon, which our Lord Himself, produced .

In the mystical theology of the Orthodox Church, Wisdom is understood as the Divine Logos (God the Word), Who became Incarnate as Jesus Christ. The name St. Sophia comes from the Greek Ἁγία Σοφία (Hagia Sophia) and signifies “Holy Wisdom” meaning “Jesus Christ”…The Wisdom and Power of God. (1 Corinthians 1: 24,30; 1 Corinthians 2:7)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. ~ First chapter of 1 John

Troparion Tone 2 Melody, of Today’s Feast

(A troparion and kontakion are short sung hymns sung in a certain melody which teach about a special saint, prophet or Feast Day)

We bow down, before Thine all pure Image O Good One, Asking forgiveness of our transgressions, O Christ God; for Thou wast well pleased to ascend the Cross in the flesh of Thine own will, that Thou mightest save what Thou hadst created from slavery to the enemy. Wherefore, we cry out to Thee in thanksgiving: Thou hast filled all things with joy, O our Saviour, Who hast come to save the world.

Kontakion in Tone 2 Melody, of Today’s Feast

O Uncircumscribable Word of the Father, knowing the victorious image, uninscribed and divinely wrought, of Thine ineffable and divine dispensation towards man, of Thy true Incarnation, we honour it with veneration.