Beauty of Orthodoxy

"Trusting in God for things that cannot be done humanly is a secret, unceasing prayer that brings wonderful results."

For this He established His Holy Church, so that she might cleanse us from sin, sanctify us, make us His friends, and grant us the blessings of Heaven.

The Church always stands with open arms to receive us. Let us run quickly, all of us whose conscience is burdened. Let us run to the Church, for she is ready to lift our heavy burden, to grant us boldness before God, and to fill our heart with joy and happiness."

,,May God grant that we too catch fire with love for God, just as much as God's heart is set ablaze with love for us! The fire of God's love seeks only the occasion; if you give It the opportunity to spark a little, you ignite the entire flame of His beneficent love."

,,Therefore, beloved, do not show indifference to your life on earth, because whether some sadness troubles you, or worldly cares, or irrational passions, here, in the church, they are all put to flight, they scatter, they are extinguished. On the contrary, at gatherings in the marketplace, at theaters, and in other places outside the church, we gather many cares, sadnesses, and spiritual weaknesses, with which we return to our homes. If you go to church continuously, you surely cast off the evils you received outside of it. But if you distance yourself from the church and leave, you will lose anyway even the goods you acquired from the Divine Scriptures, because, through gatherings and conversations outside the church, your spiritual wealth disappears little by little. And that this is the truth, leaving from here, take note of those who were absent from church today, and you will find how much difference there is between your desire and the sadness of others.[...]

And just as he who stands always upon a rock laughs at the waves, so is he who continually participates in gatherings and drinks from the divine words, as if finding himself upon the stone of the right judgment of things, and he will not be mastered by anything human, because he has placed himself above the assault of worldly things. For, having borne great fruit and spiritual improvement, not only from counsel, but also from prayer, and from the fatherly blessing, and from the gathering of the Church, and from the love of the brethren, and from countless other things, he thus departs, bringing boundless goods into his home.

Therefore, take note of how much blessing you enjoy today and how much loss those who did not come will suffer! For you will depart from church after having received the reward of the martyrs, while they, besides being deprived of this great gain, will also suffer another loss, gathering the many rubbish of cares for their useless preoccupations."

,,Sometimes, you cannot find an explanation for the state you are experiencing: your soul is full, but your life is empty. This contradiction can be explained very simply ‒ through the feeling and strong desire, the complete aspiration to attain the Lord, in whose path are placed vanities, the flesh, the bondage of the senses, the lack of love for the Lord, that is, the lack of things He requires, through which He is glorified in His children, through which His disciples are distinguished from others, and so on.

In short, for now, you still have more desire and aspiration than active love, more determination than deeds ‒ the soul is full, but life is empty.

This explanation by no means intends to diminish your labors, but merely shows the difference between one thing and another. Do not be troubled; continue to improve yourselves just as before, labor as much as it lies in your power through prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be stingy with anyone in giving your love ‒ this is absolutely necessary on the path to Him who is Himself love and All love."