Orthodox Wisdom

From the publisher: In the 1790s, the brightest promises of the Enlightenment turned violent with the eruption of the French Revolution. Europe watched in shock as the French, intoxicated with promises of freedom, equality, and reason, sent their king — along with thousands of nobles, clergy, and commoners — to the guillotine. Legitimate fears that the revolution might destabilize the entire continent provoked a whirlwind of responses. Amid this upheaval, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, first confronted by undercover agents of republican ideology and later by Napoleon’s advancing armies, turned to one of its most renowned teachers, Saint Athanasios Parios, for a response.This reading is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of An Apology for Christianity by St. Athanasios Parios📖 Philokalic Library Volume 2: An Apology for Christianity by St. Athanasios Parioshttps://newromepress.com/philokalic-library-volume-2-an-apology-for-christianity?srsltid=AfmBOorC6pe_vWoFBjKuc44EYxDGo7SzKujPMSmMDP2KHttiXigp6qXg🎧 Introduction to the Philokalia - St. Nikodemos the Hagioritehttps://youtu.be/nH8--dllcbk⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______St. Athanasios writes:In order for evil to be somehow restrained, it must certainly be countered by a fear of punishment from those in political authority. We read in Leviticus the command that anyone who blasphemes the true God ought to be led out of the camp and stoned by the synagogue (cf. Leviticus 24:16). It is of course absolutely true that the law of grace does not prescribe death today, although such measures may certainly be applied to their polluted writings, that is, they may be condemned, reviled, and burned, as the holy synods defined. Indeed, Holy Scripture affirms that both the impious individual and his impiety should be equally despised (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). But it does not seem that the writings of the godless Voltaire were dealt with in this way by the royal authority in France. Thus the aforementioned Don Clémence was right to complain in his introduction, pointing out that, if the severity of the royal laws had been applied to those works to the degree that they merit-ed, that is, if they had been consigned to the outer darkness, he would not have bothered to write against them. Certainly this ought to have been carried out by the king of France, since his title professes him to be "Most Christian." He should have sought out and destroyed the God-hating books of the godless Voltaire, which concern essentially no other subject, nor have any other purpose, than to prove the entirety of Holy Scripture to be a myth and a lie and our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God to be a fraud._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Metropolitan Philaret of New York, a Russian bishop who served in the United States and Australia, describes the criteria for true Christian Patriotism and why being a patriot is virtuous.This is an excerpt from: Patriotism & War - Metropolitan Philaret of New York🎧 https://youtu.be/Za6rSKXyulM📖 https://www.orthodoxethos.com/post/patriotism-war-metropolitan-philaret-of-new-york-excerpt-from-on-the-law-of-god📖 Find the full text in his book: Living According to God’s Will by Met. Philaret of New Yorkhttps://churchsupplies.jordanville.org/products/living-according-to-god-s-will⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you:https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______Met. Philaret writes:Naturally, one will love one's own family and the relatives he grew up with, most of all, and secondly, the whole country, the people to which one belongs. One is tied to this people both by state and civil obligations and by culture and customs. One is bound to one's people, to one's own homeland, and one loves them. This love for homeland is that Christian patriotism which cosmopolitanists so strongly struggle against.Christian patriotism is, of course, alien to those extremes and errors into which "super-patriots" fall. A Christian patriot, while loving his nation, does not close his eyes to its inadequacies, but soberly looks at its properties and characteristics. He will never agree with those "patriots" who are inclined to elevate and justify everything native (even national vices and inadequacies). Such "patriots" do not realize that this is not patriotism at all, but puffed up national pride - that very sin against which Christianity struggles so strongly. No, a true patriot does not close his eyes to the sins and ills of his people; he sees them, grieves over them, struggles with them and repents before God and other peoples for himself and his nation. In addition, Christian patriotism is completely alien to hatred of other peoples. If I love my own people, then surely I must also love the Chinese, the Turks or any other people. Not to love them would be non-Christian. No, God grant them well-being and every success, for we are all people, children of one God._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Explore the intricate battle against thoughts as guided by St. Paisios. He highlights how the devil attacks our minds, encouraging vigilance and persistent prayer. Learn the importance of replacing bad mental habits and the purification of the heart. St. Paisios discusses cultivating good thoughts and interpreting life's trials positively. He warns against conversing with sinister thoughts and emphasizes the significance of spiritual practices to achieve inner peace. A compelling journey into the depths of the spiritual life awaits!

Elder Justin Parvu, a revered Romanian Orthodox elder and former political prisoner, shares profound insights from his life dedicated to faith. He discusses the perils of modern nihilism and the importance of resisting societal pressures, particularly regarding mandated vaccines. Emphasizing a call to martyrdom, he advocates for spiritual weapons like prayer and humility against oppressive regimes. Elder Justin firmly believes in the Church’s duty to oppose anti-Christian laws, urging a dedicated clergy to unite believers in active resistance for Christ.

St. Tikhon’s pointed advice to monk suffering from apathy and despondency. “If you follow these four instructions, believe me, little by little you will attain both zeal and inclination.”📖 Read St Tikhon’s letter here:https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/a8455a5a/files/uploaded/Moot%201.1.pdf🎧 On Love for God - St. Tikhon of Zadonskhttps://youtu.be/-OTb5r9wHlA🎧 Duties of Husbands & Wives in Marriage - St. Tikhon of Zadonskhttps://youtu.be/noirUMn89ac⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______St. Tikhon writes:I see from your letter that you have been assailed by the spirit of dejection. This is a grievous passion, against which Christians seeking salvation must struggle fiercely.As a lazy horse, driven by a whip, is compelled by man to walk and to trot, even so must we coerce ourselves into performing every kind of labor, and how the more to pray. God, beholding your efforts and your labor will grant you zeal and inclination.Zeal is acquired by variety in our occupations- that is, by turning from one task to another. And so you must do as follows: pray, then perform some manual task, then read a book, then meditate on your spiritual condition, on eternal salvation, and so on. And do these things alternately. If dejection grips you fiercely, leave your room, and walking up and down, meditate on Christ; lift your mind to God and pray. Thus dejection will leave you.If you follow these four instructions, believe me, little by little you will attain both zeal and inclination._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

A homily to stir up our hard hearts to sincerely repent, both now, wherever we are, and before our priest where we receive reconciliation with Christ and the Church.Reading from: Season of Repentance: Lenten Homilies of Saint John of Kronstadt, p. 76-81📖 Season of Repentance: Lenten Homilies of Saint John of Kronstadthttps://bookstore.jordanville.org/9780884653844📖 My Life in Christ by St. John of Kronstadthttps://bookstore.jordanville.org/my-life-in-christ-Hardcover📖 The Life of Saint John of Kronstadthttps://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/986?srsltid=AfmBOooRVQ-AviJsWWeLqIOZ2qhT6w-7YTpOEEjKKMnVb_k_wRxJ4x2M🎧 Difficulties in Prayer - St. John of Kronstadthttps://youtu.be/9b6nz3ZfJCs🎧 What Has the Feast of Pascha Left In Our Souls? - St. John of Kronstadthttps://youtu.be/uWCkPqxuBt8⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______St. John teaches:What is required of a repentant person is compunction for his sins, the intention to correct his life, faith in Christ, and hope in His mercy.A great number of people come to confession with complete indifference in their souls, and, if they were not asked anything, they would either say nothing, or would speak very generally about how they "are sinful, spiritual father, having committed every sin." If only they said that in sincere recognition of their guilt, but no, what is worse, they say that without any conscience of their sins, and often they do it so that confession will be over quickly. Beloved! Let us not turn God's deed of extreme mercy toward us sinners into an occasion for God's wrath. Why are we so insensitive?! Have we nothing to regret during confession?!Can you not see your sins? Pray to God, so that He will grant you to see them; it is not in vain that you have often repeated after the priest in Church: Lord! Grant me to see my failings!The intention to correct his life is also required of the repentant person; pay attention to this. On your way to confession, tell yourself: after confession I will try with all my strength to correct my life from all the sins of which I wish to repent. I will deceive myself no more;I will not lie to God, nor will I insult again the mystery of repentance. Help me, Lord; strengthen the powers of my soul, Lord!Finally, a repentant person also must have faith in Christ and hope in His mercy. Every person who approaches confession must believe that during the Mystery Christ Himself stands invisibly and receives his confession; he must believe that only Christ can forgive sins, as He, through His suffering, through His Most-Pure Blood, and through His death, obtained for Himself from the Heavenly Father the right to forgive us all our transgressions without insulting the divine justice, and that He, according to His mercy, is always ready to forgive our every sin, if only we confess them with heartfelt compunction and have the intention to be better from now on, and to have faith in Him in our hearts. “Your faith has made you well. Go in peace” (Mark 5:34). He speaks within each person who repents as he should, after receiving absolution from the priest.Let us all repent with pure hearts; let us all take care to correct our lives; let us bring to God the fruits of repentance. Amen._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

Abba Pambo, a 4th century Egyptian desert father, speaks prophetically about the state of the Church and the world in the last times.📖 Text is from the Gerondikon (Sayings of the Desert Fathers). The translation I read can be found here:https://orthodoxheritage.org/2003%20Issues.pdf🎧 The 38 Sayings of St. Anthony the Greathttps://youtu.be/YNh81oWWJUc⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______And I’ll tell you this, my child, that the days will come when the Christians will add to and will take away from, and will alter the books of the Holy Evangelists, and of the Holy Apostles, and of the Divine Prophets, and of the Holy Fathers. They’ll tone down the Holy Scriptures and will compose troparia, hymns, and writings technologically.The church leaders will consider useless anything concerned with salvation, as much for their own souls as for the souls of their flocks, and they will despise any such concern. All will show eagerness and energy for every matter regarding their dining table and their appetites. They’ll be lazy in their prayers and casual in their criticisms.As for the lives and teachings of the Holy Fathers, they’ll not have any interest to imitate them, nor even to hear them. But rather they will complain and say that “if we had lived in those times, then we’d have behaved like that”.And the bishops shall give way to the powerful of the world, giving answers on different matters only after taking gifts from everywhere and consulting the rational logic of the academics. The poorman’s rights will not be defended, they’ll afflict widows, and harass orphans. Debauchery will permeate these people. Most won’t believe in God, they’ll hate each other and devour oneanother like beasts. The one will steal from the other, they’ll be drunk and will walk about as blind.The disciple again asked: What can we do, in such a state?And Abba Pambo answered: My child, in these times whoever will save his soul and prompt others to be saved will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. John Maximovitch describes the usual journey of the soul after death and how those still on earth can best help departed souls to be uplifted by the grace of God.Text here: http://livingorthodoxfaith.blogspot.com/2009/11/life-after-death-by-st-john-maximovitch.html?m=1📖 Man of God: St. John of Shanghai and San Franciscohttps://hvcbookstore.com/St-John-of-SF/Man-of-God📖 The Soul After Death by Fr. Seraphim Rosehttps://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/product-p/sad.htm📖 The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God by St. John Maximovitchhttps://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/product-p/ven.htm🎧 An Exorcism In Our Own Days by St. John Maximovitchhttps://youtu.be/HA7_5npF2Oc⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/_______But when it leaves the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and evil. Usually it inclines toward those which are more akin to it in spirit, and if while in the body it was under the influence of certain ones, it will remain in dependence upon them when it leaves the body, however unpleasant they may turn out to be upon encountering them.At this time (the third day), it passes through legions of evil spirits which obstruct its path and accuse it of various sins, to which they themselves had tempted it. According to various revelations there are twenty such obstacles, the so-called “toll-houses,” at each of which one or another form of sin is tested; after passing through one the soul comes upon the next one, and only after successfully passing through all of them can the soul continue its path without being immediately cast into gehenna. Some souls find themselves (after the forty days) in a condition of foretasting eternal joy and blessedness, and others in fear of the eternal tortures which will come in full after the Last Judgment. Until then changes are still possible in the condition of souls, especially through offering for them the Bloodless Sacrifice (commemoration at the Liturgy), and likewise by other prayers.O relatives and close ones of the dead! Do for them what is needful for them and what is within your power. Use your money not for outward adornment of the coffin and grave, but in order to help those in need, in memory of your close ones who have died, for churches, where prayers for them are offered. Show mercy to the dead, take care for their souls. Before us all stands that same path, and how we shall then wish that we would be remembered in prayer! Let us therefore be ourselves merciful to the dead._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

So many in the West today are learning about Orthodoxy but may not yet have a concrete answer to the fundamental question: What is Orthodoxy? Archbishop Averky offers us the answer. 📖 What is Orthodoxy? (Orthodox Life, May-June, 1976) https://orthodoxlifemagazines.blogspot.com/2015/10/v41-1.html 🎧 Archbishop Averky: His Significance for the Ecumenical Orthodox Church - by Fr. Seraphim Rose https://youtu.be/04DCg8rZsDg 🎧 I Have Not Come To Bring Peace, But A Sword - Archbishop Averky of Jordanville https://youtu.be/e3FiL7CCN9M ⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/ https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/ _______ Alas! How few people there are in our times, even among the educated, and at times even among contemporary "theologians" and those in the ranks of the clergy, who understand correctly what Orthodoxy is and wherein its essence lies. They approach this question in an utterly external, formal manner and resolve it too primitively, even naively, overlooking its depths completely and not at all seeing the fullness of its spiritual contents. The superficial opinion of the majority notwithstanding, Orthodoxy is not merely another of the many "Christian confessions" now in existence, or as it is expressed here in America "denominations." Orthodoxy is the true, undistorted, unperverted by any human sophistry or invention, genuine teaching of Christ in all its purity and fullness — the teaching of faith and piety which is life according to the Faith. Orthodoxy is not only the sum total of dogmas accepted as true in a purely formal manner. It is not only theory, but practice; it is not only right Faith, but a life which agrees in everything with this Faith. The true Orthodox Christian is not only he who thinks in an Orthodox manner, but who feels according to Orthodoxy and lives Orthodoxy, who strives to embody the true Orthodox teaching of Christ in his life. At the same tire one must realize and remember that Orthodoxy is not only and always that which is officially called "Orthodox," for in our false and evil times the appearance everywhere of pseudo-Orthodoxy which raises its head and is established in the world is an extremely grievous but, regrettably, an already unquestionable fact. This false Orthodoxy strives fiercely to substitute itself for true Orthodoxy, as in his time Antichrist will strive to supplant and, replace Christ with himself. Orthodoxy is not merely some type of purely earthly organization which is headed by patriarchs, bishops and priests who hold the ministry in the Church which offically is called "Orthodox." Orthodoxy is the mystical "Body of Christ," the Head of which is Christ Himself (see Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, 24 et seq.), and its composition includes not only priests but all who truly believe in Christ, who have entered in a lawful way through Holy Baptism into the Church He founded, those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith and in piety. _______ Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!

The full passage of St. Paisios’ famous saying: Be the Bee Reading from “Spiritual Counsels, Vol. III: Spiritual Struggle”, p. 29-31 📖 “Spiritual Counsels, Vol. III”: https://www.holycross.org/products/spiritual-struggle-elder-paisios?srsltid=AfmBOooXR9CN7PYCrw_LtAPzstMv45LrxH5kcB9DeLsMIOd7zKxBD9gj 🎧 Spiritual Laws - St. Paisios the Athonite https://youtu.be/8E9PIINma_Q 🎧 The Fragrance of Reverence - St. Paisios the Athonite https://youtu.be/RVEI8v6IXqU ⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery: https://orthodox-world.org/ https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/ _______ Some people tell me that they are scandalized because they see many things wrong in the Church. I tell them that 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 the 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 see, no matter what you tell him, maintains a positive and good thought. _______ Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!