… A five minute prayer with all your body aching is more precious than a prayer lasting the whole night in bodily comfort. ~ Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) [of Essex, England]
Tag: Thoughts choking me
Rays of Grace
Sunrise on Hawaiian Beach – 2014
Grant unto me, my Lord, that with peace in mind I may face all that this new day is to bring. Grant unto me grace to surrender myself completely to Thy holy will. Instruct and prepare me in all things for every hour of this day. Whatsoever tidings I may receive during the day, do Thou teach me to accept them calmly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will. ~ Excerpt from Morning Prayer of the Optina Elders
…the greatest prayer you can make for someone is to be able to say to the Lord truthfully, “I love this person. Thy will be done in his or her life…” ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia
When a bad or gloomy thought, fear of temptation threatens to afflict you, don’t fight it to try to get rid of it. Open your arms to Christ’s love and He will embrace you, then it will vanish by itself. ~ St. Porphyrios
Intrusive Imagination
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
Flowers Speak
Through a tree we were made debtors to God; so through a tree we have our debt canceled. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons
If you put something fragrant on to burning coals, you motivate those who approach to come back again and to stay near, but if you instead put something with an unpleasant, oppressive smell, you repel them and drive them away. It is the same with the mind. If your attention is occupied with what is holy, you make yourself worthy of being visited by God, since this is the sweet savour which God catches scent of. On the other hand, if you nurture evil, foul and earthly thoughts within you, you remove yourself from God’s supervision and unfortunately make yourself worthy of His aversion. ~ St. Gregory Palamas
The Thoughts We Nurture
Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what are life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
With Mind and Heart
When the soul knows the love of God by the Holy Spirit, then he clearly feels that the Lord is our own Father, the closest, dearest Father, the best. And there is no greater happiness than to love God with all the mind and heart, and our neighbour as ourself. And when this love is in the soul, then all things bring joy to the soul. ~ St. Silouan the Athonite
No matter how much we may study, it is not possible to come to know God unless we live according to His commandments, for God is not known by science, but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and learned men came to the belief that God exists, but they did not know God. It is one thing to believe that God exists and another to know Him. If someone has come to know God by the Holy Spirit, his soul will burn with love for God day and night, and his soul cannot be bound to any earthly thing. ~ St. Silouan the Athonite
Understand two thoughts, and fear them. One says, “You are a saint,” the other, “You won’t be saved.” Both of these thoughts are from the enemy, and there is no truth in them. But think this way: I am a great sinner, but the Lord is merciful. He loves people very much, and He will forgive my sins. ~ St. Silouan the Athonite
To the Pure
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their minds and their consciences are defiled. ~ Titus 1:15
He who busies himself with the sins of others, or judges his brother on suspicion, has not yet even begun to repent or to examine himself so as to discover his own sins ~ St Maximus the Confessor
Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement. ~ St. John of Kronstadt
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 mind and permit them to land! ~ St. Paisios of Mt. Athos
Be the Bee
…if you ask a fly, “Are there any flowers in this area?” it will say, “I don’t know about flowers, but over there in that heap of rubbish you can find all the filth you want.” And it will go on to list all the unclean things it has been to. Now, if you ask a honeybee, “Have you seen any unclean things in this area?” it will reply, “Unclean things? No, I have not seen any; the place here is full of the most fragrant flowers.” And it will go on to name all the flowers of the garden or the meadow. You see, the fly only knows where the unclean things are, while the honeybee knows where the beautiful iris or hyacinth is. As I have come to understand, some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee only see the good in everything they see. The stupid person thinks stupidly and takes everything in the wrong way, whereas the person who has good thoughts, no matter what he sees, no matter what you tell him, maintains a positive and good thought. ~ St. Paisios of Mt. Athos
The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others. ~ St. John Chrysostom
The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things. ~ Wisdom of Sirach 11:3
Conquered on the Inside
Christ is Risen!
There are saints who are very anxious, who had nervous tics, and also who were very brusque. Others were exceptionally slow. Some saints had physical defects. What makes a saint is not outward perfection, it’s that the old man is conquered on the inside. The saints are not yet totally transfigured, and the old man continues to be visible on the outside. These appearances can trick us and hide their inner reality from us. ~ Elder Sergei of Vanves
Take care to distinguish between your thoughts, as the Fathers teach. Stop and look, decide which ones are good and which ones are bad. Then, disassociate from any that you find to be bad, believe nothing they tell you, do not believe for an instant that they are part of who you are. This is of the utmost importance, because if we accept bad thoughts, then they will stay with us and make us believe that they are actually a part of us. ~ Elder Sergei of Vanves
Truly He is Risen!