Words from the Saints -- January 28, 2021

"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. Maximos the Confessor

"If you have anything against any man, forgive it: you come here to receive forgiveness of sins, and thou also must forgive him that has sinned against you. Else with what face will you say to the Lord, 'Forgive me my many sins,' if you have not yourself forgiven your fellow-servant even his little sins." --St. Cyril of Jerusalem

"But it is one thing not to sin, another to do well. 'Depart from evil,' he says, 'and do good.' The first part we forsake, the second part we follow. In this last lies perfection." --St Jerome

"A great means to preserve continual peace and tranquility of soul is to receive everything from the hands of God, both great and small, and in whatever way it comes." --St. Dorotheus

"The book of Psalms heals the old wounds of the soul and gives relief to recent ones. It cures the illnesses and preserves the health of the soul. Every Psalm brings peace, soothes the internal conflicts, calms the rough waves of evil thoughts, dissolves anger, corrects and moderates immorality." --St. Basil the Great

"Do not think that every affliction is a consequence of sin. For there are some who do God's will and yet are tested. Thus it is written that the ungodly and wicked shall be persecuted (Psalm 37:28), but also that those who 'seek to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution' (2 Timothy. 3:12)." --St. Mark the Ascetic

Prayer List for the Week of January 24, 2021

For healing: Fr. Daniel, Fr. Nikolaos, Fr. Serhii, Fr. Victor, Matushka Myra, Matushka Katherine, Monk Meletios, Ross, Justin, Steven, Marian, Roger, Nancy, Claire, Patricia, Mark, Nikolai, Anastasia, William, Annabelle, Alice, Kathleen, Walter, Jay, Denise, Denise, Heather, Alexander, John, Karen, Pamela, Robert, Eric, Michael, Melissa, Marianne, Ryan, Joanne, Rose Mary, Marianne, Timothy, Jon, Emily, Charles, Carlos, Hank, Nicholas, Katrina, Valentine, Mary Jane, Nicholas, Alicia, Kathleen, Thomas, Mary Jo, Margaret, John, Jennifer, Clara, Joan, Sarah, Alex, Nicholas, Barbara, Margaret, Alyssa, Danielle, Nicholas, Eliakim, Christopher, Elizabeth

For God’s protection: all captives; all persecuted Christians throughout the world

For God’s protection: all those in the military

For God’s mercy and peace: those who are in hospice care

For God’s mercy, direction and protection: those who are unemployed, poor, hungry and/or homeless

*** We pray for: those who love us; those who hate us; those who have no one to pray for them; those

who have asked us to pray for them, even though we are unworthy. ***

Departed: Konstantina, Ella, Joanne, Ruth, John, Diane, Walter, Anna

Readings for the Week of January 24, 2021

1/24: Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 17:12-19

1/25: 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; John 10:1-9

1/26: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23; Mark 8:22-26

1/27: Hebrews 7:26-8:2; John 10:9-16

1/28: Hebrews 10:35-11:7; Mark 9:10-16

1/29: Hebrews 11:8, 11-16; Mark 9:33-41

1/30: Hebrews 13:7-16; Matthew 5:14-19

Words from the Saints -- January 21, 2021

"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." --St. Jerome

"Men are often called intelligent wrongly. Intelligent men are not those who are erudite in the sayings and books of the wise men of old, but those who have an intelligent soul and can discriminate between good and evil. They avoid what is sinful and harms the soul; and with deep gratitude to God they resolutely adhere by dint of practice to what is good and benefits the soul. These men alone should truly be called intelligent." --St. Anthony the Great

"The truly intelligent man pursues one sole objective: to obey and to conform to the God of all. With this single aim in view, he disciplines his soul, and whatever he may encounter in the course of his life, he gives thanks to God for the compass and depth of His providential ordering of all things. For it is absurd to be grateful to doctors who give us bitter and unpleasant medicines to cure our bodies, and yet to be ungrateful to God for what appears to us to be harsh, not grasping that all we encounter is for our benefit and in accordance with His providence. For knowledge of God and faith in Him is the salvation and perfection of the soul." --St. Anthony the Great

"We have a love for the causes of involuntary thoughts, and that is why they come. In the case of voluntary thoughts we clearly have a love not only for the causes but also for the objects with which they are concerned." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Ascetic struggle--fasting, vigils, patience, forbearance--produces a clear conscience." --St. Thalassios the Libyan

"Many have fought in various ways against circumstances; but without prayer and repentance no one has escaped evil." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"The Lord frequently hides from us even the perfections we have obtained. But the man who praises us, or, rather, who misleads us, opens our eyes with his words and once our eyes are opened our treasures vanish." --St. John Climacus

"The Wise Thief’s whole life had been one of theft and crime. But evidently his conscience had not died, and in the depths of his heart something good remained. Church Tradition even holds that he was that very thief who, during Christ’s flight into Egypt, took pity on the beautiful Baby and forbade his accomplices to kill Him when they attacked the holy family. Did he perhaps recall the face of that Child when he looked upon the face of the One hanging next to him on the Cross?" --St. John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco

Prayer List for the Week of January 17, 2021

For healing: Fr. Daniel, Fr. Nikolaos, Fr. Serhii, Fr. Victor, Matushka Myra, Matushka Katherine, Monk Meletios, Ross, Justin, Steven, Marian, Roger, Nancy, Claire, Patricia, Mark, Nikolai, Anastasia, William, Annabelle, Alice, Kathleen, Walter, Jay, Denise, Denise, Heather, Alexander, John, Karen, Pamela, Robert, Eric, Michael, Melissa, Marianne, Ryan, Joanne, Rose Mary, Marianne, Timothy, Jon, Emily, Charles, Carlos, Hank, Nicholas, Katrina, Valentine, Mary Jane, Nicholas, Alicia, Kathleen, Thomas, Mary Jo, Margaret, John, Jennifer, Clara, Joan, Sarah, Alex, Nicholas, Barbara, Margaret, Alyssa, Danielle, Nicholas, Eliakim, Christopher, Elizabeth

For God’s protection: all captives; all persecuted Christians throughout the world

For God’s protection: all those in the military

For God’s mercy and peace: those who are in hospice care

For God’s mercy, direction and protection: those who are unemployed, poor, hungry and/or homeless

*** We pray for: those who love us; those who hate us; those who have no one to pray for them; those who have asked us to pray for them, even though we are unworthy. ***

Departed: Konstantina, Ella, Joanne, Ruth, John

Readings for the Week of January 17, 2021

1/17: Colossians 1:12-18; Luke 13:10-17

1/18: Hebrews 13:7-16; Matthew 5:14-19

1/19: Galatians 5:22-6:2; Matthew 19:16-26

1/20: 2 Corinthians 4:6-15; Luke 6:17-23

1/21: Philippians 1:12-20; Luke 12:8-12

1/22: 2 Timothy 1:3-8; Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30

1/23: Philippians 3:20-4:3; Mark 2:23-3:5

Words from the Saints -- January 14, 2021

"When God revealed Himself, He united Himself with our mortal nature in order to deify mankind through this close relation with deity. Since this is so, through His flesh, constituted by bread and wine, He implants Himself in all believers." --St. Gregory of Nyssa

"A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Do not wish what concerns you to be as seems (best) to you, but as God wishes; and you will be free from cares and thankful in your prayer." --St. Nilus of Sinai

"Examine yourself to see whether you have within you a strong sense of your own self importance, or negatively, whether you have failed to realize that you are nothing. This feeling of self-importance is deeply hidden, but it controls the whole of our life. Its first demand is that everything should be as we wish it, and as soon as this is not so we complain to God and are annoyed with people." --St. Theophan the Recluse

"If a man has no worries about himself at all for the sake of love toward God and the working of good deeds, knowing that God is taking care of him, this is a true and wise hope. But if a man takes care of his own business and turns to God in prayer only when misfortunes come upon him which are beyond his power, and then he begins to hope in God, such a hope is vain and false. A true hope seeks only the Kingdom of God... the heart can have no peace until it obtains such a hope. This hope pacifies the heart and produces joy within it." --St. Seraphim of Sarov

"Pay attention carefully. After the sin comes the shame; courage follows repentance. Did you pay attention to what I said? Satan upsets the order; he gives the courage to sin and the shame to repentance." --St. John Chrysostom

Readings for the Week of January 10, 2021

1/10: Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17

1/11: Hebrews 13:7-16; Luke 6:17-23

1/12: Acts 18:22-28; John 10:39-42

1/13: Galatians 3:23-4:5; Luke 20:1-8

1/14: Acts 2:38-43; Luke 4:1-15

1/15: Galatians 5:22-6:2; Luke 12:32-40

1/16: Acts 12:1-11; John 21:14-25

Prayer List for the Week of January 10, 2021

For healing: Fr. Daniel, Fr. Nikolaos, Fr. Serhii, Fr. Victor, Matushka Myra, Matushka Katherine, Monk Meletios, Ross, Justin, Steven, Marian, Roger, Nancy, Claire, Patricia, Mark, Nikolai, Anastasia, William, Annabelle, Alice, Kathleen, Walter, Jay, Denise, Denise, Heather, Alexander, John, Karen, Pamela, Robert, Eric, Michael, Melissa, Marianne, Ryan, Joanne, Rose Mary, Marianne, Timothy, Jon, Emily, Charles, Carlos, Hank, Nicholas, Katrina, Valentine, Mary Jane, Nicholas, Alicia, Kathleen, Thomas, Mary Jo, Margaret, John, Jennifer, Clara, Joan, Sarah, Alex, Nicholas, Barbara, Margaret, Alyssa, Danielle, Nicholas, Eliakim, Christopher, Elizabeth

For God’s protection: all captives; all persecuted Christians throughout the world

For God’s protection: all those in the military

For God’s mercy and peace: those who are in hospice care

For God’s mercy, direction and protection: those who are unemployed, poor, hungry and/or homeless

*** We pray for: those who love us; those who hate us; those who have no one to pray for them; those who have asked us to pray for them, even though we are unworthy. ***

Departed: Archbishop David, Marguerite, Ruth, Konstantina, Ella, Joanne, Ruth, John

Words from the Saints -- January 7, 2021

"If love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10), he who is full of rancor towards his neighbor and lays traps for him and curses him, exulting in his fall, must surely be a transgressor deserving eternal punishment." --St. Maximos the Confessor

"The will of man is a brass wall between him and God and a stone of stumbling. When a man renounces it, he is also saying to himself, 'By my God, I can leap over the wall' (Psalm 18:29). If a man's will is in line with what is right, then he can really labor." --St. Poemen

"Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment." --St. Basil the Great

"Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man’s fortune; and many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger." --St. Basil the Great

"What, my friends, do we think love is if not fire? And what is sin if not rust? Hence it is said that 'many sins are forgiven her because she has loved much' (Luke 7:47). This means she has completely burned away the rust of sin because she is mightily aflame with the fire of love. The more the heart of a sinner is consumed by the fire of love, the more fully is the rust of sin consumed." --St. Gregory Dialogos, Pope of Rome

"A man who is carried away by his thoughts is blinded by them; and while he can see the actual working of sin, he cannot see its causes." --St. Mark the Ascetic

Prayer List for the Week of January 3, 2021

For healing: Fr. Daniel, Fr. Nikolaos, Fr. Serhii, Matushka Myra, Matushka Katherine, Monk Meletios, Ross, Justin, Steven, Marian, Roger, Nancy, Claire, Patricia, Mark, Nikolai, Anastasia, William, Annabelle, Alice, Kathleen, Walter, Jay, Denise, Denise, Heather, Alexander, John, Karen, Pamela, Robert, Eric, Michael, Melissa, Marianne, Ryan, Joanne, Rose Mary, Marianne, Timothy, Jon, Emily, Charles, Carlos, Hank, Nicholas, Katrina, Valentine, Mary Jane, Nicholas, Alicia, Kathleen, Thomas, Mary Jo, Margaret, John, Jennifer, Clara, Joan, Sarah, Alex, Nicholas, Barbara, Margaret, Alyssa, Danielle, Nicholas, Eliakim, Christopher, Angie

For God’s protection: all captives; all persecuted Christians throughout the world

For God’s protection: all those in the military

For God’s mercy and peace: those who are in hospice care

For God’s mercy, direction and protection: those who are unemployed, poor, hungry and/or homeless

*** We pray for: those who love us; those who hate us; those who have no one to pray for them; those who have asked us to pray for them, even though we are unworthy. ***

Departed: Archbishop David, Andrew, Ana, Marguerite, Ruth, Konstantina, Ella, Joanne

Readings for the Week of January 3, 2021

1/3: 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8

1/4: 1 Corinthians 4:9-16; John 1:18-28

1/5: Isaiah 35:1-10; Acts 13:25-32; Matthew 3:1-11; Isaiah 1:16-20; Acts 19:1-18; Mark 1:1-8; Isaiah 12:3-6; Romans 6:3-11; Mark 1:9-15; Isaiah 49:8-15; Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7; Luke 3:1-18

1/6: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Matthew 3:13-17

1/7: Acts 19:1-8; John 1:29-34

1/8: Romans 6:3-11; John 3:22-33

1/9: Ephesians 6:10-17; Matthew 4:1-11

Words from the Saints -- December 31, 2020

"No other book so glorifies God as does the Psalter (Book of Psalms). It profits the soul; it glorifies God together with the angels." --St. Basil the Great

"It is necessary that the Holy Spirit enter our heart. Everything good that we do, that we do for Christ, is given to us by the Holy Spirit, but prayer most of all, which is always available to us." --St. Seraphim of Sarov

"Without sorrows there is no salvation. On the other hand, the Kingdom of God awaits those who have patiently endured. And all the glory of the world is nothing in comparison." --St. Seraphim of Sarov

"Seek to learn on earth those truths which will remain ever valid in Heaven." --St. Jerome

"A true Christian is made by faith and love toward Christ." --St. Herman of Alaska

Readings for the Week of December 27, 2020

12/27: Acts 6:8-15;7:1-5,47-60; Galatians 1:11-19; Matthew 2:13-23; 21:33-42

12/28: Hebrews 8:7-13; Mark 8:11-21

12/29: Hebrews 9:8-10, 15-23; Mark 8:22-26

12/30: Hebrews 10:1-18; Mark 8:30-34

12/31: Hebrews 10:35-11:7; Mark 9:10-16

1/1: Colossians 2:8-12; Luke 2:20-21, 40-52

1/2: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Matthew 3:1-11

Words from the Saints -- December 24, 2020

"All those who belong to Jesus Christ are fastened with Him to the cross." --St. Augustine of Hippo

"Without contrition of the heart, it is altogether impossible to rid ourselves of evil. Now the heart is made contrite by threefold self-control: in sleep, in food and in bodily relaxation. For excess of these three things leads to self-indulgence; and this in turn makes us accept evil thoughts, and is opposed to prayer and to appropriate work." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Christian! Observe once and for all how the sunflower even on gloomy days pursues its circular course, following the sun with the unchanging love and attraction natural to it. Our sun, illuminating our path through this world, is the will of God; it does not always illuminate our path in life without clouds; often clear days are followed by gloomy ones: rain, wind, storms arise. But let our love for our Sun, the will of God, be so strong that we may continue, inseparably from it, even in days of misfortune and sorrow, like the sunflower on gloomy days, to navigate faultlessly on the sea of life, following the indications of the ‘barometer’ and ‘compass’ of the will of God, which leads us into the safe harbor of eternity." --St. John of Tobolsk

"Blessed the one whose mind the dark diabolical cloud has not been able to invade and deprive of the sweet light and joy of the just." --St. Ephraim the Syrian

"Silence is not a virtue when charity calls for speech." --St. Poemen

"We have learned to recognize as freedom that which the Lord alone confers on us when he liberates us from lusts and desires and the other passions. 'He who says, I know the Lord, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him,' says the Holy Apostle John." --St. Clement of Alexandria

Readings for the Week of December 20, 2020

12/20: Hebrews 11:9-10, 17-23, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-25

12/21: Hebrews 3:5-11, 17-19; Luke 20:27-44

12/22: Hebrews 4:1-13; Luke 21:12-19

12/23: Hebrews 5:11-6:8; Luke 21:5-7, 10-11, 20-24

12/24: Micah 5:2-4; Hebrews 1:1-12; Matthew 1:18-25; Baruch 3:36-4:4; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 2:1-20; Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10; Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 9:6-7; Hebrews 2:11-18; Matthew 2:13-23; Galatians 3:8-12; Hebrews 1:1-12; Luke 2:1-20; 13:18-29

12/25: Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12

12/26: Hebrews 2:11-18; Matthew 2:13-23

Words from the Saints -- December 17, 2020

"If I am to speak the truth, whatever can be expressed in human words is less than the praise given by Heaven; for Mary has been excellently preached and praised by divine and angelic heralds, foretold by prophets, foreshadowed by patriarchs, in types and figures, set forth and described by Evangelists, worthily and officially saluted by Angels." --St. Jerome

"Children, I beseech you to correct your hearts and thoughts, so that you may be pleasing to God. Consider that although we may reckon ourselves to be righteous and frequently succeed in deceiving men, we can conceal nothing from God. Let us therefore strive to preserve the holiness of our souls and to guard the purity of our bodies with all fervor. Ye are the temple of God, says the divine Apostle Paul; If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." --St. Nicholas of Myra

"Some men abstain from the passions because of human fear, others because of self-esteem, and others through self-control. Some, however, are delivered from the passions by divine providence." --St. Maximos the Confessor

"Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely enmeshed." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"There is nothing evil except that which perverts the mind and shackles the conscience." --St. Ambrose of Milan

"Accordingly, death is a harbor of peace for the just, but is believed a shipwreck for the wicked." --St. Ambrose of Milan

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." --St. Augustine of Hippo

Readings for the Week of December 13, 2020

12/13: Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 14:16-24

12/14: 2 Timothy 2:20-26; Luke 19:37-44

12/15: 2 Timothy 3:16-4:4; Luke 19:45-48

12/16: 2 Timothy 4:9-22; Luke 20:1-8

12/17: Titus 1:5-2:1; Luke 20:9-18

12/18: Titus 1:15-2:10; Luke 20:19-26

12/19: Galatians 3:8-12; Luke 13:18-29

Words from the Saints -- December 10, 2020

"He took what is mine in order that He might impart to me what is His. He took it not to overturn it but to fill it." --St. Ambrose of Milan

"God is nearer to us than any man at every time. He is nearer to me than my raiment, nearer than the air or light, nearer than my wife, father, mother, daughter, son, or friend. I live in Him, soul and body. I breathe in Him, think in Him, feel, consider, intend, speak, undertake, work in Him." --St. John of Kronstadt

"If then we have angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also." --St. John Chrysostom

"It is an insult to the intelligence to be subject to what lacks intelligence and to concern itself with shameful desires." --St. Thalassios the Libyan

"You who judge others, at some time be also a judge of yourself, look into the recesses of your own conscience; rather, because there is no shame, indeed, in doing wrong, and sin is so committed as if pleasure came rather through sins themselves, do you who are seen clearly and nakedly by all yourself also look upon yourself." --St. Cyprian of Carthage

Prayer List for the Week of December 6, 2020

For healing: Igumen Patrick, Fr. Daniel, Fr. Nikolaos, Fr. Serhii, Matushka Myra, Matushka Katherine, Monk Meletios, Ross, Justin, Steven, Marian, Roger, Nancy, Claire, Patricia, Mark, Nikolai, Anastasia, William, Annabelle, Alice, Kathleen, Walter, Jay, Denise, Denise, Heather, Alexander, John, Karen, Pamela, Robert, Eric, Michael, Melissa, Marianne, Ryan, Joanne, Rose Mary, Marianne, Timothy, Jon, Emily, Charles, Carlos, Hank, Nicholas, Katrina, Valentine, Mary Jane, Nicholas, Alicia, Kathleen, Thomas, Mary Jo, Margaret, John, Jennifer, Clara, Joan, Sarah, Alex, Nicholas, Barbara, Margaret, Alyssa, Danielle, Nicholas, Eliakim, Christopher, Ella, Angie

For God’s protection: all captives; all persecuted Christians throughout the world

For God’s protection: all those in the military

For God’s mercy and peace: those who are in hospice care

For God’s mercy, direction and protection: those who are unemployed, poor, hungry and/or homeless

*** We pray for: those who love us; those who hate us; those who have no one to pray for them; those who have asked us to pray for them, even though we are unworthy. ***

Departed: Patriarch Irinej, Metropolitan Amfilohije, Metropolitan Maximos, Metropolitan Theodosius, Archbishop David, Bishop Lazar, Eleanor, Carol, Marie, Andrea, Leocadia, Andrew, Ana, Marguerite, Ruth, Anna, Walter, Diane