Beauty of Orthodoxy

,,Faith is the source of courage, and this in turn is supported by courage.

In the difficulties of our weaknesses and the changes of our nature, which torment us, and in those caused by the devil himself, who wars against us relentlessly, we are left with a single weapon and a single help, courage. A product of our personality, it raises us to battle and watchfulness. We believe that we are not alone, but with God, who has called us into His army."

,,Here are the two tools with which we can lessen the old man within us, so that the new man may grow in Christ: fasting and humility.

With these two crowns, the greatest of those born of women, Saint John the Baptist, adorned himself, and with them every Christian must be adorned. These together, as the Holy Fathers teach us, make up the fullness of all virtues. They lessen the man of sin within us and help the spiritual man to grow. And, a wonderful thing, the more we lessen ourselves, the more transparent we become, the more Christ shines within us, as the Apostle says, that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

If Saint John the Baptist, sanctified from his mother's womb, fasted and humbled himself so much, how should our humility, ascetic labors, and fasting be, we who are full of sins! Therefore, fasting and humility must accompany us all the days of our life, because they make us like the great prophet and forerunner John; and even more, they make us like God, Who may grant us worthiness and help us to renew ourselves spiritually, through the prayers of His holy and great Friend, John the Baptist. Amen."

..If you say: "I have sinned beyond measure," but who is without sin on Earth? Let this suffice for your remembrance; declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified. Weep beforehand, while it is still the time of repentance, so that you do not weep when there will no longer be time for repentance. Let us do good while we can. For a father does not love his son as much as God loves the soul that repents. For such is the Master's love for mankind, that He does not turn away from any of those who run to Him. For the one who wills, there is never an unfavorable time to seek salvation."

,,Holy Communion is what makes our relationship with Christ alive, giving it a real and concrete content. If we do not receive communion, our relationship with Christ remains at a theoretical level."

,,In the spirit of the teaching of Saint Symeon the New Theologian, his disciple, Venerable Nikitas Stethatos, observes: "The swift path toward the elevation in virtue for beginners is the silence of the lips, the closing of the eyes, and the deafness of the ears." This quieting of the senses by closing the entrances "from the outside toward oneself" helps the mind "to know itself and its movements" and to stand "like a king in the midst of thoughts, both judging and discerning the good ones from the bad ones," accepting the good ones and placing them "in the barns of understanding... with which then, feeding itself, it grows strong and becomes filled with light," and rejecting the bad ones "into the depth of oblivion, shaking off their bitterness."