Orthodox Faith

A prayer from the heart has more power than a thousand words, especially for someone who won't listen. ☦️St. Paisios the Athonite

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." —The Holy Apostle Paul to the Colossians (1: 15) Saint Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993) considered the image on Shroud of Turin as the authentic image of the crucified Christ. St Sophrony always had a photo of the negative as inspiration when he painted (wrote) icons of Christ. But for St Sophrony, writing icons was neither simply an imitative effort nor simply a work of the imagination. The icon, he said, “is a vision of another, transfigured world, granted to man through grace. The iconographer must first purify his heart so that the light of God can pass through him without distortion. Then he paints not according to his imagination, but according to the life of the Church and the experience of the Saints.” Many of the icons at St John the Baptist Monastery in Essex were painted by St Sophrony, including Christ at the Last Supper, shown here, written in the early 1980s.

I cannot describe to you how much our Panagia likes chastity and purity. Since she is the only pure Virgin, she wants and loves everyone to be like that. As soon as we cry out to her she rushes to our help. You don’t even finish saying, ‘All-holy Theotokos, help me’ and at once, like lightning, she shines through the nous and fills the heart with illumination. She draws the nous to prayer and the heart to Love. ✠ St Joseph the Hesychast

"If a pagan asks you to show him your faith, take him into church and place him before the icons." ☦️ St. John of Damascus

Life in Christ means nurturing our soul. St Paisios of Mount Athos emphasized that we must trust God always, seek simplicity, humility, and acquire thankfulness in all things.

Rejoice Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have borne the Saviour of our souls!

"Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons" Mark 3:14-15 On the day after the Feast of the Glorious and First-Ranked among the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29/ July 12) we commemorate all of the Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, the son of Alphæus, Jude, the brother of James, Simon the Zealot, and Matthias (Synaxis June 30/ July13) O holy Apostles of Christ Pray to our merciful God, That He may grant us remission of our sins!

“Confess, partake, and fear nothing. Confession is the key to the kingdom of heaven. With all illnesses and sorrows, go to church. Here is our spiritual and physical hospital. Confess and partake more often, do not blame anyone, kiss your cross in the morning and in the evening. And everything will pass: illnesses, obsession, and thoughts of blasphemy and fornication." ☦️St. John Kronstadt

Christ the Pantocrator is one of the most widespread icons of Christ— found even in the post-schism churches of the West. The word “Pantocrator” is translated from Greek as “the one who governs everything, the one who can do everything.” Let us praise Him thus: “The very elements of nature obey You. Nothing happens by chance. What happens to us does not happen at random. Not a single hair from our heads falls to the ground without Your powerful will. We are in Your hands. What we are, whatever good we have in us, comes from You, the source of every goodness.” —Father Emmanuel Hatzidakis Photos: Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily; Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, UK.

"It is futile, in fact it is precisely absurd, to speak of reforming society, of changing the path of history, of emerging into an age beyond absurdity, if we have not Christ in our hearts; and if we do have Christ in our hearts, nothing else matters." ☦️ Fr. Seraphim Rose

“The first to enter heaven was a thief. And the first to enter hell was an apostle of Christ. And how all this happened is a great lesson for us. Therefore, one should never despair nor give up on another.” Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

What can be impossible for God, Who is able to give life to stone and form man out of it? He can miraculously accomplish the same with a painted image. "All things are possible to him that believeth"; [Mark 9:23] and the Highest miraculously comes down from heaven to him that believeth. He is similarly united with, and works miracles by, the sign of the life-giving cross. My Life in Christ, ☦️ St John of Kronstadt

O All Holy Trinity, have mercy on us!

Among the 318 bishops who gathered at the First Ecumenical Council (7th Sun. of Pascha) were many confessors who bore the marks of torture upon their bodies. At Nicea, they would confront not the instruments of physical torture, but the heresy of Arianism which was spreading across the Empire and infecting the Church. At Nicea, the Church stood victorious in unity against the gates of hell and its disguises. She proved herself bigger than the pernicious beliefs that individual members, even priests and bishops, might promote. Our Lord's promise, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18), was fulfilled at Nicea and continues to be fulfilled until His coming again.

Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.

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