cloisters of our hearts

Filling Our Hearts to the Brim

Thailand image by sippakorn yamkasikorn from Pixabay

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. ~ Jesus Christ (St. John 4: 23-24)

While we think mostly on an earthly plane, in the Gospels – Christ speaks on the true spiritual plane… drawing us to the realization of Who life is. Like the Samaritan Woman at the Well (Gospel of St. John, Chapter 4), when we desire to obtain the promise of Living Water, realizing who we are, we have to choose and accept the belief in Christ. These things are necessary for everyone. If we don’t desire something, why would we make any effort for it? If we don’t want to look honestly at ourselves, what would we ever want to change? If we never realize Who Christ is, why would we ever seek Him? We may speak to God about what we want, what we think we need, and wonder why we don’t have it right now. We speak carnally, but He answers us spiritually. He wants to give us something far greater. We want water from a well where we’ll thirst again. But He wants for us to have eternal life. ~ Archpriest John Adams ☦️

What does the heart seek
when its soul is parched, withered,
– what does my heart say?

It says encouragingly… Let us draw and drink deeply from the Divine Well of Living Water… Let us Fill Our Hearts to the Brim with Him, in Spirit and Truth!

Sweet Lights of Hope

Image by Katherine Hanlon at Unsplash

As the candle is pure (pure beeswax), so also should our hearts be pure. As the pure candle is supple, so also should our souls be supple until we make it straight and firm in the Gospel. As the pure candle is derived from the pollen of a flower and has a sweet scent, so also should our souls have the sweet aroma of Divine Grace. As the candle, when it burns, mixes with and feeds the flame, so also we must struggle to achieve theosis. As the burning candle illuminates the darkness, so must the Light of Christ within us shine before all, that God’s name be glorified. As the candle gives its own light to illuminate one in the darkness, so also must the light of the virtues, the light of love and peace, characterize a Christian. The wax that melts symbolizes the flame of our love for our fellow men. ~ St Symeon of Thessaloniki (c. 1381–1429)

May we let the Sweet Lights of Love and Hope in Christ illumine us all!

Warts and All

Nestled in a bed of sweet woodruff, a damaged hosta disregards harmful beetle bites and perseveres growing, to thrive anew.

Today is the last day of Pascha-tide.

Christ is Risen!

There are days and times in the life of a spiritual person when he feels an emptiness within himself, a weakness of soul something is missing. Something within him has left, and he does not quite know how to come to himself how to bring back the initial strength and Grace, which his soul had. He does not know how to bring back the fullness which he lost. In this case the Holy Fathers teach us: resume the prayer; begin prayer again either with the mouth, with the mind or with the heart and this lost fullness will return. You will find it again. Provided that you force yourself to Pray. ~ Elder Ephraim in Counsels from the Holy Mountain

Every choice we make has a consequence. Each day affects the next… but, the past is the past. Although we can’t go back to change the past, sometimes we are trapped within a particular groove that exists in the past. Or, perhaps occasionally, an incident from the past slips in and raises its ugly head to create turmoil in the heart. We know where these temptations come from, so we must be vigilant. Lord have mercy!

It is with Hope’s Patient Persistence, His Infinite and Unconditional Love, and Forgiveness, that we are given strength to proceed beyond the past… Moving Forward with Hope, because…

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)

I cannot reflect on what is past, because I live in the present moment… Yesterday does not exist. Tomorrow belongs to God, as yesterday did… So I keep quiet in God’s Eternal Present!... ….By living in yesterday we delay tomorrow’s march. We cannot live in the past which does not exist, and so give it existence it does not have… ~ St. Gavrilia (Gerontissa Gavrilia)

What has happened has happened, it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

May we wrap ourselves today in the Eternal Present of God and Focus Forward, warts and all – notwithstanding!

Lord, help.

Here I am.

Now.

Greeting you From Earth to Heaven on tomorrow’s beautiful Feast of Christ’s Ascension… where we joyfully exclaim one to another Christ Has Ascended! Let us climb the Mount of Olives in our hearts and declare… Glory to Thy Ascension, O Most Greatly Merciful One!

Praise From the Heart

Christ is Risen!

Let your mind wonder, but keep your heart with God. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Blessed is God who uses corporeal objects continually to draw us in a symbolic way to a knowledge of God’s invisible nature. O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open for me the great door to your treasure-house, that I may enter and praise you with the praise that comes from the heart. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Warming Our Frosty Hearts

Shards of ice crystals cover my windshield, hindering clear vision. With a bit of effort, they can be scraped off and kept off… by keeping the car engine warm.

God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil – for the devil is cold – let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for Him but also for our neighbour, and the cold of him who hates the good, will flee before the heat of His countenance. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov

It is of great significance if there is a person who truly prays in a family. Prayer attracts God’s Grace and all the members of the family feel it, even those whose hearts have grown cold. Pray always. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives)

If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it, then do deeds of love, even though you do them without love in the beginning. The Lord will see your desire and striving, and will put love in your heart. ~ St. Ambrose of Optina

Ripples of Prayer

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Prayer breathes hope… ~ St. John of Kronstadt

The Angels and the Saints are also near to us in their names, as their names and our faith in them are near to our hearts; for they are nothing else but the breath of God, and are “one spirit with the Lord”. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

God does not interfere in our lives, but waits for us to ask Him to help us, for He respects our freedom. ~ St. Paisios the Athonite

Life is a Liturgy. It is not only in the church that the Liturgy takes place; the Liturgy is outside the church building too. The entirety of life should be a Liturgy – if you feel the existence of God… You never finish your prayer. The definition of prayer is this: the feeling of the presence of God in you. And if you have this feeling of the presence of God, you engage in a continual prayer. ~ Archimandrite Roman

Below is a new documentary filmed by the Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary: The Little Convent.

The Holy Protection Convent in Bluffton, Alberta, is a place of precious spiritual beauty, which many (our family included), hold very dear and close in our hearts.

In this post-Christian world, we are so blessed there still are monastics… as their daily prayers asking God’s help for the whole world, ripple and resound continually!

Silence is Golden

Romanian Orthodox Church Cloister image by Erich Westendarp from Pixabay

May we robe ourselves
with healing, golden, silent
pray’rs in cloistered hearts…

And garments of Grace –
woven with Divine Wisdom
and Peace from Above.

The friend of silence comes close to God. ~ St. John Climacus

You must allow yourself to approach silently nearer and nearer to yourself: the past, the present and the future in this moment of silence… all the waters of your life which flow away and run out and which are collected in the one basin of a heart aware of itself. ~ Fr. Antony Hughes

…Silence is the prerequisite for inner stillness, and only inner stillness enables us truly to listen to God, to hear His voice, and to commune with Him in the depths of our being. Yet silence and stillness are, like prayer itself, gifts that God can and wants to bestow upon us. ~ Very Rev. John Breck – On Silence and Stillness

…He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: ~ Psalm 23:2-3